Holden Commodore 1991 News

Tim Lee, the Shanghai-based president of GM's international operations was quoted in reports in the business press today, which speculated that the Holden Commodore would be phased out in favour of a ‘global’ car. Lee reportedly said while visiting Melbourne that Holden had been one of the car giant’s strongest sellers in local markets, but that the GM business plan – like that of Ford – was moving towards global platforms. However he said that GM would maintain "full-line capacity in Australia with designing and engineering, building and selling vehicles", according to reports in the Australian Financial Review and other business media. The reports also quote Lee as saying that the "In the body shop the best way to do that is to have flexibility and to build two architectures and platforms. Maybe a mini car and a small car or maybe a small car and a compact car, or maybe a compact car and mid-sized car." "We're going to build a s**t load more great Commodores,” he was quoted as saying.  “It’s still an outstanding motor vehicle and one that we intend to produce for a long time.  But if you look at the motorway here in Melbourne, you see a lot of small cars. You see a lot of more fuel-efficient vehicles on the roads than Commodore.” The comments come after the release of a South Australian report, detailing that Holden's Elizabeth car manufacturing plant alone is worth more than $1.5 billion to the state economy each year and closure would lead to the loss of up to 16,000 jobs. Premier Jay Weatherill released the report last week, after the State Opposition called for a cost-benefit analysis before the handover of more taxpayer money to the company. The study by University of Adelaide Business School head Barry Burgan, dated February 4, was handed to the state Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy Department. It does not comment on the merits of further taxpayer backing. Holden is in negotiations with the state and federal governments over a bailout to keep the Elizabeth plant operational beyond 2016 and economists have forecast a $200 million price tag. The Federal Government will contribute the bulk of the funding. Associate Professor Burgan's report finds there are 2700 people directly employed by Holden in Elizabeth. The company purchases $530 million of goods from ``core'' local suppliers, supporting 5610 jobs and prompts extra employment in retail, transport, construction and other manufacturing. But the report says closure at Holden would also lead to some growth in other industries and reduction in worker wages as supply of labour and resources currently invested in auto manufacturing shifted. ``Note that this report does not consider the issues around what is required to underpin the longer term sustainability of the operations at Holden,'' Prof Burgan writes. ``Nor does this analysis consider the full gamut of benefit and cost considerations in terms of policies to mitigate the risks identified.'' Opposition industry spokesman Steven Marshall said the Government had spent taxpayer money to deliver a report backing its political argument. Taxpayer support for car making needed to be based on a full cost-benefit study, he said. Mr Weatherill told the South Australian Parliament the Elizabeth plant had long been ``the cornerstone of our state's industrial strength''.  

SEVENTEEN of the top 20 cars stolen in Australia in the past year are early model Holden Commodores that can be started with a dipstick. The other three cars in the top 20 are the 1997 and '98 Hyundai Excel (eighth and 17th) and the 1991 Toyota Camry (20th), according to National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction figures. Executive director Ray Carroll says Commodores are over-represented because there are so many on the road and the early models lack adequate security. ``In some of the early models you only need a key vaguely of the same make and model; the locks are so worn anything with a similar profile will start them. Some even start with a dipstick,'' he says. ``Holden introduced immobilisers to Commodores in 2001 but the early versions were pretty poor quality in terms of effectiveness.'' The Commodore has been Australia's most popular-selling car for more than 10 years and the models which top the theft council's ``most-stolen'' list range from 1989 to 2003. Most stolen is the 1992 Commodore with 393 going missing in the past year. Of these, 332 are short-term thefts for joyriding, vandalism, transport or to commit a crime while the other 61 are classed as ``profit-motivated thefts'' where the cars are ``rebirthed'' and sold, usually interstate, or broken up and sold as parts. Carroll says V8 and six-cylinder Commodores are an attractive target for joyriders because they are ``good for doing wheelies and donuts''. They are also targeted by thieves for their value as parts on the black market, he says. Theft council figures show car thefts have plummeted 65 per cent in the past 10 years from a peak of 129,923 in 2000-01 to 53,588 last financial year. ``There is a lot of speculation about the reasons for this trend,'' Carroll says. ``One is that the fleet is becoming more immobilised, but there are still something like five million unsecured non-immobilised cars in the country. ``Also, as the theft rate comes down, there are less offenders doing it which means police can concentrate on more intelligence-led policing of high-rate offenders. ``There is a small number of offenders committing a large percentage of car theft, so police can have a big impact on theft rates if they take these criminals out of action.'' Carroll says another major contributing factor to the drop in car theft is the increasing vigilance of motorists. ``When we started 10 years ago the typical old-fashioned statement was `no one would ever want to steal my old bomb','' he says. ``There has been a lot of work done by us, the police and others to educate people that it's the older cars - or bombs - that get stolen the most. ``People are more security conscious now.'' MOST STOLEN CARS 1992 Commodore 393 1990 Commodore 343 1991 Commodore 330 1998 Commodore 323 1989 Commodore 319 1995 Commodore 295 1999 Commodore 294 1997 Hyundai Excel 282 1997 Commodore 282 1996 Commodore 275 2000 Commodore 266 2002 Commodore 261 1993 Commodore 257 1987 Commodore 245 1994 Commodore 240 2001 Commodore 229 1998 Hyundai Excel 229 2003 Commodore 220 1986 Commodore 219 1991 Toyota Camry 215 (2010-11 National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council) CAR THEFTS Fin Year     Short term    For profit 2000/01      114,766          15,157 2005/06       55,995           12,231 2010/11       34,155           11,659 BIKE THEFTS Fin Year     Short term    For profit 2000/01        2295              3863 2005/06        2392              4263 2010/11        3036              4738

Don't you love the way Holden's PR machine handles bad news - namely the possible end of a locally designed Commodore - by preceding it with good news the day before. In this case it was a feel good yarn about the restoration of the first 48-215 Holden, built in 1948 and owned by legendary BHP boss Essington Lewis. Clever, but we saw straight through it. Cynics might suggest Holden is simply kite flying to see how much heat a possible end of local large car production might bring. And there's been plenty already from all quarters, including government and unions. Is it pure chance that Ford is hinting at something similar in a similar time frame - canning local production of Aussie designed (and built) six cylinder rear wheel drive sedans to be replaced by rejigged front wheel drive American imports. In Holden's case the donor country could even be Korea. After Mitsubishi's "death by a thousand cuts'' withdrawal from local production, could we be seeing the start of a protracted strategic withdrawal from Ford and Holden - a PR campaign aimed at letting us down slowly (but surely). Or is it a case of sabre rattling to scare up more subsidies. Neither Holden nor Ford would be happy with the Federal Government when the Green Car Fund was boned. It was essentially a bribe paid to the Australian car industry to maintain car production in this country. The Green Car sweetener cost tax payers tens of millions of dollars for which they get Aussie jobs. Naturally, all profits are repatriated to parent companies in the US and Japan.

The battery-powered Commodore is the first of seven being built by EV Engineering in Melbourne. Chief engineer Tim Olding, who spent 19 years with Holden, says the first test car is completed and would conclude validation testing by February. It will be joined in June by six more test cars built as a "proof of concept project to demonstrate technical viability". The eight-year project is a partnership with companies specialising in electronics, charging infrastructure and fleet vehicles and has been partly funded by a $3.5m government grant under the now-axed Green Car Innovation Fun. Olding says they have also received assistance from Holden but "no promises". "Holden gave us all the CAD (computer-aided design) for the base vehicle, access with their engineers to make the car function in the same way and access to their proving ground at Lang Lang," he says. "But there have been no promises from Holden about building an electric car. This is a feasibility project to look at all the components. No promises are guaranteed." Olding also said their conversion architecture could effectively be transferred to a Ford Falcon but refused to comment on approaches to, or from, Ford or any other manufacturers. For the first time, Olding provided details of the electric car concept and the reasons for choosing the Commodore. He says the Australian car industry's strength is in large rear-wheel-drive cars and the ability to build a variety of different models from the same architecture such as sedans, wagons and utes. "It (the EV) should be able to be built on an existing production line alongside ICE (internal combustion engine) models," he says. "Rear-wheel drive is perfect for balance and for the placement of the electric powertrain." Their EV Commodore concept replaces the Commodore's engine and transmission tunnel with 210 40amp-hour cells from Bosch; the same as used in BMW's electric concept cars. Olding says the modules can be built into the unusual engine/transmission tunnel shape. The fuel tank is replaced by the power electrics module and the differential is replaced by the electric motor and gearbox between the rear suspension. "Even the upcoming Tesla Model S has a similar configuration," he says. "There should be no major change to the engineering; that's the key component. This is the most cost-effective way to make an EV in Australia. "They should cost about the same as an ICE car, plus the cost of the battery." Olding says the battery is anchored with quick-release connections so it can be swapped easily to alleviate anxiety over the estimated 160km range. The car would also be chargeable from a home mains output. EV Engineering's consortium includes Bosch, Continental, Futuris, Better Place, Air International and GE, one of the largest owners of feet vehicles in Australia. The consortium is headed by Rob McEniry, former CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Olding says GE will help conduct testing over the next two years. However, he says it is also feasible that an EV car could be produced for public sale before the official end of testing. While Holden has no current plans for an EV Commodore, it will release the Volt next year which has an electric motor with a small petrol-powered "range extender" motor.

... as the Australian car industry returned to normality last month. The official Vfacts figures for July are released tomorrow and are expected to show that the Japanese-based carmakers have finally shaken off the production delays arising from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. That was evident in June when the mid-sized Mazda3 led sales on the back of orders taken after the natural disasters that the company hadn’t been able to deliver. That spike dropped in July but the Mazda3 was only just beaten into top spot by the Commodore and the duo are battling for bragging rights as the best-selling model of 2011. The Commodore is about 120 vehicles ahead in the year-to-date sales race but should get another shot of sales when the LPG versions go on sale later this year. Ford’s new turbodiesel Territory outsold the petrol model for the second consecutive month since its launch. The result proves both the pent-up demand for a diesel in the big SUV and that Australian buyers are accepting diesel as a smart alternative to petrol. Diesels are an increasingly popular choice, BMW's diesel-engined vehicles are outselling petrol versions for the first time this year. See this week's Carsguide for the full Vfacts details and a rundown on the diesel v petrol debate.

The company last week announced plans to suspend production of the car for two weeks in July and August to run out the current model and make way for a refreshed Commodore. Apart from engine tweaks and an E85 model, the Commodore is set to get a new interior. But the next Commodore’s crown as best could be overtaken by the rising star in the GM-Holden ranks. New GM-Holden chairman and managing director, Mike Devereux, says the chance of the Cruze small car knocking off the Commodore as the nation's best-seller will be decided by buyers. "It really comes down to consumer preferences," he says. "You have to follow what people want. People want great style, value and quality and fuel efficiency is obviously becoming important. Our SIDI engines in Commodore are critical to that, we've got ethanol Commodores coming... but Cruze versus Commodore, that's going to be up to the marketplace." In recent years the Commodore sedan has often been beaten by the Toyota Corolla in the monthly sales race. By contrast, the Korean-built version of the Cruze has been a strong seller since its introduction last June with the company regularly selling more than 2000 a month. Devereux, who has just taken over from Alan Batey, says Holden is on track to launch the locally-built four-cylinder Cruze early next year. After the Cruze was launched, Batey was bullish about the small car's potential. "I can see a time when Cruze will be eating Epica's lunch," Batey said. Since then it has consistently outsold the Epica. The Cruze is currently imported from Korea but GM-Holden is on track to start local production early next year. Apart from the sedan, it is well advanced with a hatch version to compete in the hotly contested small car segment, which is traditionally a strong hatch market. However, Devereux is not too worried about the Cruze ending the Commodore's 14-year reign as the country's best selling car. "If folks want to buy more Cruzes than Commodores then I guess that's okay but it will be up to the marketplace," he says. Last month, Holden sold 2125 Cruzes, about half the number of Commodores retailed. The Commodore still remains overwhelmingly the most popular Holden. So far this year 11,364 Commodores have been sold versus 6418 Cruzes.

Last year, the Commodore retained its title of Australia’s best selling car for the 13th year in a row, albeit by a diminishing margin.

Previous Bathurst 1000 Winners 1963 Harry Firth/Bob Jane Ford Cortina GT 1964 Bob Jane/George Reynolds Ford Cortina GT 1965 Bo Seton/Midge Bosworth Ford Cortina GT500 1966 Rauno Aaltonen/Bob Holden Morris Mini Cooper S 1967 Harry Firth/Fred Gibson Ford Falcon XRGT 1968 Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland Holden Monaro GTS