GM's go-fast VXR badge will live on post PSA Group's takeover of Opel and Vauxhall, with the performance tag to be used for the French group's future hybrids and EVs.
Australia's history with the VXR badge doesn't run quite so deeply as it does in the UK, where it was applied to the HSV Clubsport and GTS models exported to England, as well as locally produced performance vehicles.
In Australia, it was glued to the rump of the Astra VXR, and is currently in use on the fastest version of the new Holden Commodore, which is powered by a V6 engine good for 235kW and 381Nm.
But while French manufacturer PSA Group's takeover of the Opel and Vauxhall brands means that the VXR badge will live on in Europe, whether Holden, which is still owned by GM, will be able to use it in the future remains to be seen.
“With the strict rules on emissions now, we’ve gone with the middle ground,” Vauxhall Product Manager Naomi Gasson told UK outlet AutoCar. “There’s a lot of talk with electrification and hybrid, which could still get the higher power but without the emissions and CO2 being affected.
"It doesn’t mean VXR is dead by any stretch".
Is the VXR badge dead and buried? Or should Holden fight to keep it? Tell us in the comments below.
Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
Andrew Chesterton should probably hate cars. From his hail-damaged Camira that looked like it had spent a hard life parked at the end of Tiger Woods' personal driving range, to the Nissan Pulsar Reebok that shook like it was possessed by a particularly mean-spirited demon every time he dared push past 40km/h, his personal car history isn't exactly littered with gold.
But that seemingly endless procession of rust-savaged hate machines taught him something even more important; that cars are more than a collection of nuts, bolts and petrol. They're your ticket to freedom, a way to unlock incredible experiences, rolling invitations to incredible adventures. They have soul.
And so, somehow, the car bug still bit. And it bit hard.
When "Chesto" started his journalism career with News Ltd's Sunday and Daily Telegraph newspapers, he covered just about everything, from business to real estate, courts to crime, before settling into state political reporting at NSW Parliament House.
But the automotive world's siren song soon sounded again, and he begged anyone who would listen for the opportunity to write about cars. Eventually they listened, and his career since has seen him filing car news, reviews and features for TopGear, Wheels, Motor and, of course, CarsGuide, as well as many, many others.
More than a decade later, and the car bug is yet to relinquish its toothy grip. And if you ask Chesto, he thinks it never will.
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