Life Beyond New Model for Commodore, GM Holden Says

GM Holden’s long-running Commodore nameplate is to live on in Australia.

Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux puts an end to a constant stream of speculation about the iconic Aussie nameplate at a media preview for the heavily revised VF Commodore.

The VF is to be replaced at the end of 2016 by a new vehicle, based on a global General Motors platform, to be manufactured at GM Holden’s Elizabeth plant in South Australia.

“A lot of folks have been speculating about whether this is the last Commodore,” Devereux is quoted as saying by The Age newspaper in Melbourne.

“I can categorically tell you we have already begun working on the Commodore that comes after this one. People love this nameplate. We're going to have another one of these.”

Devereux says GM Holden is “obviously involved” and that the development team is “working on all sorts of different things, and I will say no more of it.

“We will launch another Commodore after this one. This thing will run through end of '16. After that time we're going to be putting two architectures into the plant – one of them will underpin the Commodore that replaces the VF.”

The newspaper says the next Commodore will be very different from the VF that goes on sale later this year. It is likely to be smaller and could be based on the Malibu midsize car, which could mean a switch to a front-drive layout and 4-cyl. engines, putting it in head-to-head competition with the locally built Toyota Camry.

Meantime, GM Holden calls the new VF Commodore, to go on sale in May, the most technologically advanced car ever created in Australia.

It was designed and engineered at GM Holden’s headquarters in Port Melbourne, Victoria, and will spearhead a new export campaign to the U.S. in the form of the Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan. It also will be the basis for Chevrolet’s NASCAR racing program.

“The VF Commodore really is a class above,” Devereux says in a statement. “No other car created in Australia is as technologically advanced and we’re very proud that not only was the VF designed and engineered here, but it will also be exported to the U.S.A.”

Thanks in part to an Australian government grant of A$39.8 million ($41 million) through the Green Car Innovation Fund, it features lightweight aluminum panels along with other fuel-saving features such as electric power steering. It also is about 10% more aerodynamic than the VE Commodore it will replace.

The changes lower its claimed average fuel consumption figure by about 10%.

Key convenience features include park assist on all models, where the driver operates the pedals but the car effectively parks itself. Unlike many similar systems, it allows drivers to choose between a parallel or 90-degree-angle park.

The new model incorporates the latest version of GM Holden’s MyLink infotainment system and keyless entry and start.

Safety features include blindspot detection, a system that warns of cross traffic when reversing out of parking spaces, forward-collision alert, lane-departure warning and a head-up display.

Pricing will be announced closer to launch.