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Holden working overtime on new Commodore

It is still too early to measure the sales success of the first new Commodore in seven years.

The Holden factory is working an overtime shift this weekend for the first time in more than two years as demand for the new Commodore ramps up. The last time workers had to give up eight hours on a Saturday for extra pay was when the locally-made Cruze small car launched in 2011.


The news is a mixed blessing for Holden executives who’ve been told they may not get a new Commodore company car until early next year because customers must come first. “It’s a good problem to have,” said Holden sales and marketing director, Phillip Brook. “But as always we want to get as many cars out there as possible and into customer driveways.”

It is still too early to measure the sales success of the first new Commodore in seven years because the VF has not been on sale for a full month. But dealers across Australia are scrambling to get enough stock to sell and display, which is one of the main reasons the Holden factory is cranking up the volume this weekend.

The production run tomorrow should inject an extra 400 Commodores and Cruzes into the mix “with a skew towards Commodore”, said Holden manufacturing spokesman Sean Poppitt.

“The early signs for VF Commodore are encouraging and initial demand is strong,” Poppitt said. “As we continue the ramp-up to full production volumes at our Elizabeth plant, we will be working a full overtime shift this Saturday to ensure we maintain our production schedule and get cars out to dealers and customers.”

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling