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The Chevrolet Camaro is a sell-out across North America, making an early arrival in local Holden showrooms models unlikely.  GM-Holden vice chairman, Alan Batey, now says the sexy two-door will arrive in 2011 ‘at the earliest’.Other right-hand drive markets like the UK and South Africa will also have to go into bat for the car so that GM-Holden can make a strong business case locally.  "The original plan was that it would go to us and the UK and a small volume to South Africa as a halo Chevy," he says."It will help if they want the car too."However, Batey says that because of the strong North American demand, lower volume right-hand drive markets are now a low priority.  "The car won't happen in 2010. And we've got our hand up saying we want to do it but we'll have to watch it really closely," he says.  "It would be 2011 at the earliest."The Camaro was engineered and designed in Australia both as a right hand and left-hand drive car, using Commodore underpinnings.  "If you like, the car is right hand drive enabled," Batey says.  However, the global financial crisis and GM's bankruptcy challenges got in the way of the sleek coupe becoming a true global car."It was decided that from a prioritisation perspective it wouldn't hit the priority lists so it fell backwards," Batey says.  "From our perspective we've always wanted to do the car."However, Batey says that like the Monaro "all those type of cars have a very limited lifespan".  "They're very, very hot and then they go off," he says.  "They do go off fast as the must-have latest thing."Batey says the car is still on Holden's wishlist "but it's really not in our court, it's really in the court of America".  "They are in the situation where the car is red hot over there and the plant is at full capacity," he says.The Camaro is built at GM's Oshawa plant in Canada.  Both V6 and V8 models are available but demand has been strongest for the high end SS V8 models.  Currently 80 per cent are V8s.The plant also builds an entry level direct injection 227kW 3.6-litre V6 that powers some Australian Commodores. A SS shares its 6.2-litre V8 with HSV models sold locally. In the Camaro it develops 318kW.More than 70,000 Camaros have been sold since it went on sale in March last year. A convertible version is expected to go on sale this year.

A right-hand drive version of the Commodore-based coupe is now cleared for takeoff and only needs a money-making plan from Fishermans Bend to make it happen.  The worldwide product boss of General Motors, Bob Lutz, confirms the right-side steering plan for the Camaro during a comprehensive new- model update for Australian reporters during the Detroit Motor Show, showing his usual enthusiasm for anything spun from the VE Commodore on the go-faster front. "I think you can pretty much count on a right-hand-drive Camaro," says Lutz.  "The Camaro at some point will be factory right-hand-drive. That is what we are currently looking at ...  with a great deal of focus, built in the plant in Canada and shipped to right-hand-drive markets from Canada." The original GM plan for the Camaro called for right-hand drive and a convertible in 2011, but the extensions from the basic coupe — which was engineered in Australia for North American production and sales — were delayed by the impact of the global financial crisis and last year's GM bankruptcy proceedings. But the convertible is now back on the map and the Australian import plan is also picking up pace.  Even so, the head of GM Holden is sounding a warning.  "It's not a done deal yet. We still have to put together a business plan," says Alan Batey, president of Holden, also speaking in Detroit. Batey is worried that enthusiasm will overtake commonsense on the Camaro and wants to wait until his sales and marketing team is able to complete some serious customer research. He is also worried about the long-term future of a Camaro in Australia, because of unstable exchange rates, and worries about introducing the Chevrolet brand following the failures of Daewoo, Hummer, Saab and Cadillac — which never even get off the launch pad — as brand extensions for Holden. Batey knows there is a strong call for the Camaro and only has to look at the success of the home-grown Monaro to know a Commodore coupe can work. But he refuses to get carried away.  "Let's wait and see. It's early days," he says.  "We've had our hand up for this car since we did the engineering work in Australia. It now depends on how quickly we can get it. We've always wanted it. We'll take it, but it depends on how soon it becomes available." Lutz is, typically, rushing ahead and can see no reason to delay a right-hand drive version of the Camaro. He knows Australia is the key but can see export potential to Britain and South Africa. "With the currency and so on we now have a golden opportunity to export from the United States, and with the excellence of the product we really should be pushing exports," Lutz says.  "Most of the parts are there. All we have to do really is reverse the instrument panel. All of the right-hand drive bits are a given because of the Holden architecture."

There have been droptop Camaros at GM Holden's proving ground at Lang Lang for well over 18 months but now, with a firm timetable for production and sales, the car is getting serious mileage in the USA.This convertible Camaro prototype is caught by Carparazzi close to GM's worldwide development headquarters, the Milford proving ground outside Detroit, during on-road testing.It's a V8-powered SS model, just like the coupes which are becoming a sellout success across America.  The plan for the convertible Camaro has production beginning at GM's Oshawa factory in Canada in the first quarter of 2011, according to a one-line confirmation in the press pack for the 2011 Buick Regal.Carparazzi says the actual start-up will be February, 2011 and that points to sales of the Camaro convertible as a 2012 model later in the year.  And perhaps an on-sale date that coincides with the Camaro coupe in Australia ...

The upcoming Camry hybrid is an obvious prospect for overseas sales, with New Zealand already committed, but the real key for Australia is everything from car parts to engineering brains and design skills. Toyota believes local brainpower could help fuel its growth in the Asian region over the next 10 years with many emerging economies linked through a re-organisation that puts Australia into the same region as China and India.  "Australia is very much in a strategic position for this growth belt for automotive," said Yukitoshi Funo, one of only five executive vice- presidents of global Toyota, during a flying visit to celebrate production of the first petrol-electric Camry at Altona in Melbourne. "Australia is very much strategically well positioned in terms of taking advantage of this growth belt. That is China, Asia, India, the Middle East and even Africa. Australia is not an amateur, if you like, in terms of doing exports for other destinations."  But Funo stopped well short of pushing for more Camry exports and said Toyota Australia had other possibilities which would also be open to other local companies, including component makers, in coming years. "How to integrate this automotive industry with those Asian neighbours is the key question. What is the advantage, what is the weakness, what is the area that should learn more? These are the issues that the Australian automotive industry should address," he said, before focussing on Toyota Australia. "We have to look at Camry, we have to look at other models, we have to look at components, we have to look at components in components. Like, for example, to reduce the Yen component.  "Of course, there are other areas. Like we have engineering units here. They could do organise a closer relationship with sister organisations located in Bangkok." This would be a similar approach to the one which has worked successfully for both GM Holden and Ford in Australia.  Ford has done a number of regional development programs, including two small cars for India and a pick-up for Asia, while Holden engineered and developed the Chevrolet Camaro which is now built in North America. Toyota Style Australia, run under the direction of Paul Beranger, is already linked into Toyota's global design process and the company makes extensive use of proving ground facilities at Anglesee near Melbourne.  Toyota is hopeful that its exports to the Middle East will rebound in 2010 after a major slump this year which has cut output at Altona from a peak of 148,000 to around 110,000 cars. But, with just 10,000 hybrid Camrys on the books for next year, it is unlikely to be more than a trickle feed to any customers outside the country until at least 2011.  Funo also outlined a program to try and make Australia the first 'currency free' operation inside Toyota, removing the peaks and troughs of exchange rate fluctuations that make it so tough to do business as both the country's biggest automotive importer and exporter. "This company exports many, many cars to other destinations like the Middle East. But at the same time we import many.  "I think if we apply a little bit more aggressive effort in terms of the exports, or reducing the currency, or something like that, from Japan to a weaker currency. By doing that we can maybe make Australia the first currency-free operation in the world for Toyota." "We can expect some counter-measures ... if you want to call it that, with development of small cars and suchlike."

It will also challenge your skills against the car's autonomous drive systems. Its designers say the concept will actually teach a beginner to drive or challenge the experienced driver to improve their skills. Getting started is easy.Drivers can enter their destination into the navigation application on a smart phone and the car takes care of the rest. It will let you ‘play along’ and try to match the skill level of the system. As you become more proficient, the Car Hero ‘unlocks’ vehicle controls to the point where the autonomous system is overridden and the driver is in complete control.This is where things start to get interesting. As the Car Hero gamer demonstrates skill and mastery, the car's ‘transmorphable’ architecture turns up the intensity by creating a more challenging driving experience.Car Hero's configuration will reward a driver's increasing skills by gradually changing from a four seater, to three seats and then the ultimate challenge, a single-wheeler. Car Hero also has peer-to-peer applications like ‘friends drive’ where anyone can come along for a digital joyride.GM likens the experience to having a Twitter with wheels. For those bored and stuck in peak hour traffic, ‘fantasy drive’ gives the driver access to insane environments such as running with the bulls in Pamplona or taking on ace US rally driver Ken Block in a drifting contest.

Melbourne-based right-hand drive conversion company, the Corvette Clinic, is about to start work converting the new Chevrolet Camaro for an eager local audience.Company owner, Peter Whiston, says his first Camaro - a range-topping 2SS V8 - is on the water and due in Melbourne in weeks. "We have quite a few interested people keen to get one," he says.With the Holden Monaro gone, Whiston reckons the Camaro will slide right in for those buyers looking for a high-performance General Motors two-door V8 coupe.Whiston says he will concentrate on converting the luxury V8 models only. "I really don't think there would be a market for the V6," he says. "However, if someone wanted one we'd probably do it."The 2SS sells for just over $35,000 in California but landed here and with all the engineering work required to convert it to right-hand drive, including the new dashboard, Whiston expects to sell the cars for between $130,000 and $140,000. At that price, he says people are still queueing up. The rear-drive 2SS gets a 6.2-litre V8 that develops 318kW/569Nm in a power package that almost goes toe-to-toe with the HSV GTS.The car gets standard Bluetooth, leather upholstery, Boston Acoustics stereo and climate control air conditioning.Despite its underpinnings being based on the VE Commodore and sharing the same V6 and V8 engines, Whiston says the Camaro uses a different steering rack as well as heating and ventilation systems. "From a conversion point of view, there is really little interchangeable between the Commodore and Camaro," he says.Whiston is confident he will have the small, but lucrative, Camaro business to himself for the time being. However, GM's vehicle line executive in charge of global rear-wheel-drive vehicles, Gene Stefanyshyn remains a big enthusiast for a right-hand drive version of the muscle car.In an interview with Carsguide earlier this year he said getting the Camaro to Australia was not a lost cause. However, building volume right-hand drive versions would cost about $35 million to engineer.Given General Motors’ financial situation and the global economy, a right-hooker Camaro remains a low priority. The Camaro has been a welcomed hit for downtrodden General Motors in the US.More than 80,000 are expected to be sold this year and order banks are growing for next year.You asked for it. So Carsguide has obliged. We have received more than 200 requests from readers to bring the Camaro to Australia. So we've handed on all your letters and thoughts to GM-Holden chairman Alan Batey. We'll keep you posted on how the campaign goes.  

A Holden is being recruited to police the mean streets of Los Angeles in a deal that could eventually make the car the top choice with cops across the US. The multi-million dollar bid is for 20,000 cars and will be announced in the US today by GM-Holden chairman Alan Batey and Industry Minister Kim Carr. The law-enforcement lifeline renews the export potential of Holden's large car lineup to the US.The VE Commodore had been a major success as a Pontiac G8 until the American brand sank under the weight of General Motors' bankruptcy earlier this year.The latest deal comes after a successful pitch more than six months ago by a Holden team led by former president, Mark Reuss, who has since returned to the US to become the product development boss at General Motors.The sleek V6 and V8 Statesmans - badged as Chevrolet Caprices - are likely to replace the LAPD's ageing fleet of Ford Crown Victoria sedans. If successful, GM-Holden also stands a good chance of becoming a global supplier of GM cop cars for other countries. Batey, along with other Holden executives, are in Denver attending an international law enforcement conference.Carr said if successful, the bid would be a big money spinner. "They're talking about 20,000 cars immediately with the prospect of a much higher number in the future," he said. "I'm optimistic about the quality of the car and if accepted by the Los Angeles police it could enhance Holden's ability to sell more cars to other US police departments."Carr said the Holden police car was an opportunity for Australian initiative to be displayed ‘to show its true worth’. "I don't want to pre-empt the process though," he said. "It is quite rigorous. "However, we are very optimistic about the bid. "I'm quite sure they can persuade people how good the car is."Carr is already in the US to spruik the local car and component industry to Detroit's leading car executives. The LA police car idea was the brains of Melbourne-based company, National Safety Agency. Earlier this year it built a prototype based on the left-hand drive Pontiac G8 to show off to the LAPD. The car showcased new law enforcement technologies. It integrated many separate technologies used by police forces into a single platform to create a police station on wheels.The car has fingerprint recognition technology, video surveillance and CCTV access, traffic information and web access. It also boasted a police computer screen molded directly into the dashboard. The NSA specialises in innovative technology for emergency service vehicles. 

All the work to convert the VE Commodore-based American coupe from a set of plans into a road-going reality here has been done, but the project is on ice until the global financial crisis clears and 'New GM' gets a clearer picture of its future. It's the same story with the Camaro convertible - which is also iced until financial conditions improve. But Camaro chief Gene Stefanyshyn, who drove the project on both sides of the Pacific, is keen to get the car into Australia and says it is not a lost cause. "All the basic engineering is done. It would cost about $35 million to do the production engineering," says Stefanyshyn, the global vehicle line executive at GM in charged of global rear-wheel drive vehicles. He is talking about the cost of converting the plans into parts for the production line but, sadly, the spend would not stop there. It would also take millions on shipping, spare parts and a local dealer network to really get the Camaro going. "They are like children. You have to feed them and clothe them and send them to school," Stefanyshyn says. And GM Holden is still refusing to even admit the Camaro could be a goer down under. "There is no business case for the car," says official spokesperson, Kate Lonsdale. But the Camaro is picking up speed in the USA and headed for some export success. "We will build about 80,000 this year. That's pretty good," says Stefanyshyn. "We are also about to start exports to Europe. We've got the parts done and we're ready to go. The car is also going to Japan, still in left-hand drive." Stefanyshyn was speaking at an exclusive drive of the Camaro at Holden's Lang Lang proving ground for World Car of the Year judges. The car is included on the list of contenders for the 2010 award. The briefing included significant details on the Camaro and the VE Commodore program - officially called Zeta at General Motors - which led to its creation. "When Zeta started it was a flexible architecture based around VE.  There have been all sorts of opportunities we've looked at," says GM Holden designer, Peter Hughes. "We always had visions about doing another couple of cars off the architecture. But we were hoping for a Monaro." The success of the Camaro project means no chance for a Commodore, even though the American retro muscle car was a much bigger job than it looks. "Monaro was a VT Commodore cut-and-shut with a new back end. This is a whole car. The Monaro was basically a Commodore coupe but the Camaro is two-plus-two, not a four-seater, and completely different from VE," says Hughes. Do you want the Chevrolet Camaro in Australia? Carsguide will mount a campaign if enough readers get behind the car, and we're happy to pass the push to GM Holden's new chairman, Alan Batey. Write to Batey, give him your thoughts, and we'll pass the messages to the top man at the red lion. Email to: karla.pincott@carsguide.com.au

This was my first hands-on exposure to the American coupe that has been created from the bones of the VE Commodore and I was hopeful of something special. The car is great, and is now one of my favourites as a voter in the World Car of the Year contest, but it was the in the Camaro which is now truly memorable. It came at the hands of Rob Trubiani, who is one of the most talented wheelmen I have met. And I mean Brock-type talent. I had never heard of Trubiani and he has never raced, but he has an incredible gift for speed with poise and precision. Ok, so he knows the Camaro and Holden's ride-and-handling track as well as anyone, but he still conducted the car around the course at incredible pace with zero fuss - even when he was totally sideways. It turns out he is the only Holden driver who is qualified to test at the Nurburgring in Germany, which is one of the tracks where he helped to hone the Camaro. And he is talented engineer as well. "I guess I'm an engineer who is able to drive fast. But I'm an engineer first," Trubiani says modestly as we head into our third lap. It's thanks to Holden people like Trubiani, and talented young designer Peter Hughes who was also part of the Camaro experience, that the company does so well. It is packed with incredible skills. And I still cannot fathom how Trubiani has such a light touch at Lang Lang while driving with the klumpy steel-cap boots which are compulsory in his job. "I guess I've just adjusted. They're not my first choice, but they get the job done," he laughs. Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!