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The new Commodore will look little different to the existing VE model which was launched four years ago and has continued to be Australia's No1 selling new car. Photo Gallery
We get photos of the new Holden Commodore VEII at the Adelaide plant.
Holden is ready to start building the new car it hopes will remain the mainstay of its existence as a car manufacturer in Australia. Photographers from The Adelaide Advertiser have shot several early-build models of the coming new Commodore and Caprice range getting final road checks near the production plant at Elizabeth in northern Adelaide.
The new Commodore will look little different to the existing VE model which was launched four years ago and has continued to be Australia's No1 selling new car. Holden management have declared the new Commodore will be called VE Series II but have declined to confirm any changes. The Series II name and our photographs indicate little or no difference in body panels to the existing VE model.
"We are not in a position to discuss changes to the new car, but the changes will make a great car even better," Holden product communications manager Jonathon Rose said yesterday.
However, it's understood some versions of the new Commodore will run on bio-ethanol fuel of up to 85 per cent blend with petrol. Many cars can run on E10 up to 10 per cent ethanol in the petrol but Holden has experience making Commodores for export to Brazil where higher ethanol blends are used.
The Commodores with the E85 engines would be able to run on any blend from zero ethanol-100 per cent petrol to 85 per cent ethanol-15 per cent regular petrol. Ethanol is produced from sugar cane and other vegetable crops and so is a renewable energy. Already, V8 Supercars use E85 in their racing.
Revisions to the Series II VE are expected to include changes to the front end styling and shaping and the rear end, as well as updated interiors. The new model can be expected in showrooms by late next month or early October. As production cranks up, the Elizabeth plant will resume its second full shift, on November 15.
Versions of Commodore sedan, Sportwagon and long-wheelbase Statesman and Caprice will be released simultaneously in VE Series II.
