Holden Commodore 2006 News

That's the message from chairman and managing director of GM Holden Mike Devereux, who has hit back at claims by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers (APESMA) the next-generation Commodore - due in 2014 - would be the last Australian-designed model. "Actually the claim that was made on radio - and I'm reading a transcript - was that the 2014 Commodore is not designed and engineered in Australia - first of all I needed to dispel that, even though that is not what Chris Walton meant to say, it is what he said, so I needed to dispel that myth," he said. Devereux says no design and engineering decisions have been made for Commodore beyond the 2014 vehicle, but the long-term future for manufacturing in Adelaide - where hundreds of millions has been recently spent by GM - is not in question. "Where GM engineers anything has no bearing on what we build in Adelaide - the two things are unrelated, in our recent past we've had VE locally-engineered but way back at the start of Commodore, it was an Opel, Holden has evolved from adapting architectures, to VE and so the manufacturing business case is quite separate from what we engineer," Devereux says. APESMA chief executive Chris Walton claimed yesterday Holden insiders had suggested the Commodore beyond the 2014 model may not be created in Australia, which would result in up to 300 engineers in Melbourne losing their jobs. "We're trying to have very transparent conversations about the options for the talented engineering base we have here in Australia," Devereux says. "Those conversations, if they're productive, ought to remain confidential in order to secure great outcomes." Devereux says Holden is still in "formulation mode" on what happens beyond the 2014 Commodore. "No, we haven't made a decision on what we will build in Adelaide post our current range and post model-year 2014, I won't speculate on the timing," he says. The claims of job losses have cast a shadow over the company's Elizabeth manufacturing facility as it gets underway with production of the new Cruze hatch. The Adelaide factory employs around 2500 people building Commodore and Cruze - Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary John Camillo says there is reason to be confident in job security at Elizabeth. "For the next three to five years I'm quite happy and comfortable with that going forward," he says. "We always looked to the five-year plan, in terms of 2018/19/2020 - it is probably too far out to see now - we will be sitting down with senior GM executives next week and thrashing out the issues then." "We have always looked at future plans as part of negotiations. Given the investment they've made here I'm very confident in regards to job security at Elizabeth. But there are no guarantees ... we could have another GFC," he says. Minister for Trade and Manufacturing Tom Koutsantonis says Holden has confirmed its strong committment to it South Australian operations. "I will be meeting Mr Devereux in the next couple of weeks to clarify matters but he assured me that Holden is committed to SA and the workers at the Elizabeth plant," he says.

The tiny device that led to Peter Brock's sacking from Holden in the 1980s is back on a Commodore and heading for the road. An Energy Polarizer identical to the eighties originals - and built once again by Bev Brock - is part of the package on a new homage car from HDT Special Vehicles. The VL Retro Plus Pack Commodore is unveiled this week and company owner Peter Champion, a personal friend of the late race ace and owner of 45 Brock cars, says he has plans to build up to 250 cars in the series. The unveiling at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney includes a side-by- side display of the 2011 car and the HDT Director that triggered the split between Brock and Holden. The carmaker demanded that Brock remove the Energy Polarizer or it would not sanction the car while Brock said he would not build the car without a Polarizer. Brock was out in the cold for more than a decade, even racing BMWs and Fords during his exile, before being reconciled with Holden for the final phase of his motorsport career and his final Bathurst starts including his final event at Mount Panorama with the Holden Racing Team. The VL Retro is the latest in a series of homage models from HDT Special Vehicles, a company that Champion bought originally to close but then rebuilt under a new business model. It has created three previous retro models and even builds hotrod Commodores with supercharged 7.0-litre V8 engines and pricetags topping $150,000. "The VL retro is the fourth car in the series. We've had the VC, VH, the Blue Meanie and now we have this one," says Champion. "This car marks 25 years since Peter got the bullet. It is great to have it alongside the Director. A total of nine directors were built and mine is the one he actually unveiled." Champion says the Polarizer-equipped VL Retro is his idea and he always planned to have it with the device, which Brock said harnessed Orgone Energy to align the molecules in a vehicle. "The VL SS is probably the the most popular HDT car that Brock built,"  he says. "The Polarizer was my idea. The reason for that is that I couldn't do a VL Group A without it being a Plus Pack. And you have to do it with a Polarizer for it to be a Plus Pack car." The project has backing from Bev Brock, who retains a few original Polarizers and is happy to make new ones for the Champion cars. The VL Retro is based on a current VE Commodore, like the other models in the HDT Special Vehicles lineup, and owners must first buy a donor SS from Holden before it is converted. The work includes everything from a special body kit and mechanical upgrades to a re-spray in the Retro red colour. Champion says the VL Retro is the end of the road for the current HDT lineup, but not the finish for the company. "We've come a long way in three years," he tells Carsguide. "This is the last of the Brock Heritage series. Then we're going to start on our new ones, the Champion series."

... as small car rivals nip at its heels in the battle for overall sales leadership. The Aussie-made fleet favourite has found itself locked in a life or death battle for most of this year with the darling of private-buyers, the Mazda3. But auto industry sales figures set to be released tomorrow are expected to show that the Holden Commodore is now also fending off a late surge from the Toyota Corolla, as the Japanese giant ramps up promotion and stock levels return to normal following the tsunami earlier this year. The Corolla is expected to take the number one spot ahead of the Commodore, with the newly facelifted Mazda3 relegated to third spot after having claimed victory in January, June and August. Despite the challenges Holden is not about to surrender the prestigious number one spot easily and Commodores solid September performance is expected to kick it clear of the Mazda3 in the close-fought battle. Holden insiders said the Commodore had put in another consistent performance last month to return to the number one spot in year-to-date terms with the Adelaide-built Cruze again performing strongly with sales in excess of 3000 units. Toyota is still the clear overall market leader despite being down on last year's tally to the same point. Toyota's sales and marketing executive director David Buttner said the company was pleased with its recovery post-tsunami and earthquake. "We're delighted with the pace of our recovery following the earthquake and tsunami, our share I believe is in excess of 20 per cent for September and we're looking forward to a big last quarter," he said. Mr Buttner said the June-August market was down about 30,000 - 27,000 of that was Toyota - and he expected the market to top one million units. "We're back to normal availability levels, Japan has been supportive of our efforts to pull back some of the losses, we want to finish the last quarter strongly to put us in a stronger position for 2012," he said. "I'm sure it will be a good last quarter for consumers," he said. Mazda public relations manager Steve Maciver wouldn't elaborate on specific sales figures ahead of the official release but said the company was happy with its supply from Japan and its rate of sales. "We are pretty happy with our September result off the back of record August, the key thing for us is to measure the months either side of our M-Day Sale, we're happy with our running rate and we're on track for the rest of the year," he said. Among the segments being watched by industry pundits will be the medium-car segment, sales of which is now closing in on the once-dominant large car market. One of the key cars in the medium segment will be the new Camry, which has been slowed by industrial action at Toyota's Altona plant. Mr Buttner said the industrial action had not greatly delayed Camry's changeover to the new model, expected in November. "At this stage there's no further industrial action planned, there's a secret ballot and that result will be known next Monday. We haven't had to change many dates, we've only pushed wholesale out by one week, at this stage we're pretty well on track," he said.

The Holden hero known as Peter Perfect is being commemorated in a new hero colour for the company's top selling Commodore. Perfect Blue is a fresh take on a colour used by Brock in the 1980s when his HDT Special Vehicles operation was at the peak of its powers and he was still a regular winner at Mount Panorama. It was sprayed on the HDT SS Commodore in 1984 and has been reworked for 2011 with metallic highlights as part of a limited-run colour program that began with a bright gold called Tiger. "We've been doing hero colours, particularly on sports models, for a number of years. They're obviously attractive to customers that want something different, something a bit more extroverted," Holden's colour expert Sharon Gauci says. "We designed Perfect Blue around Peter Brock's colour. We went back to the archives and this was perfect." Brock was killed on September 8, 2006 when he lost control of his car during a road rally nearly Perth in Western Australia. But the Holden salute is not the only tribute as HDT Special Vehicles, a Queensland company owned by one of Brock's close friends, Peter Champion, also announced yesterday that it is building a VE Commodore with a 'plus pack' inspired by Brock's work in the 1980s. HDT is already building small numbers of current-model Commodores tweaked with retro styling that recalls Brock's work on the VC and VH Commodores, and now there is a hint that it will even include a born- again Energy Polariser as part of the upgrade.

Holden managing director Mike Devereux told the first Alternative Fuels Summit in Brisbane yesterday that "the little old internal combustion engine has come a long way," pointing out that the average fuel efficiency of Australian vehicles has improved 15 per cent in the past decade. "When we launched VE (Commodore) in 2006 we had about 10.8 litres per 100km in the Omega and over the last five or six years we've been able to take that down to 8.9. That's an 18 per cent improvement in fuel economy. It's largely due to our approach to things like direct injection, a smarter approach to the way air flows underneath the vehicle and tiny things like a change last year to the tailgate of the vehicle to make air flow more efficiently off the back of the vehicle. So there are ways to improve the old internal combustion engine and right now our fuel economy targets of 8.9 we are trying to take down to the mid 8s as we go forward into our next gen of Commodore which is about two years from now. We are going to do that through significant light weighting, significant uses of things like aluminium for the panels, things like electronic power steering, looking at every component in the car and trying to make it in a much more lightweight fashion.'' Devereux also declared all V6 and V8 Commodores will be E85 compliant from next month. That's not free,'' he says. "Holden has actually invested ahead of wide availability of the fuel (ethanol) across the country. I don't want you to cry for Holden because it's a strategic decision we're making, but it costs us about $100 per car to make those vehicles capable of running on E85. We put a stake in the ground and said every Commodore will be capable of running on E85.'' Devereux told the conference he was encouraged when he came to Australia 18 months ago (from his previous position as president and managing director of GM Middle East) by "how involved the local manufacturers were in promoting of alternative fuels''. "Ford actually have a fantastic new LPI system in their Falcon and we are launching an all-new mono-fuel LPG system in our Commodore next year,'' he says. For the first time, he confirmed that the mono-fuel Commodore will have the LPG tank under the floor instead of in the boot. He says the barriers to LPG acceptance include the loss of cargo space, the "bomb-like'' tank and the availability of LPG. "For some people it's kind of disconcerting when you open up the back of the car you see this very high-tech looking tank full of LPG. Our Commodore early next year will take the tank out of the back of the vehicle and put it under the vehicle, freeing up that space. It's all about removing the barriers and the perception that 'oh my god, there's a bomb in the boot' thing and making LPG seem like a very reasonable, easy to adopt technology.'' He says there are also barriers to acceptance in the limited supply and the slow pumping process. Devereux also told the summit that Australia could become a world centre for LPG expertise over the next five years. "It is incredibly naturally abundant and the technologies to run this fuel are all here in this country,'' he says.

Even at a time when fuel economy is top-of-mind with a growing number of Australian drivers there is plenty of space on the roads for Commodores and Falcons with old-fashioned V8 muscle under the bonnet. They burble menacingly at idle. They are the backbone of V8 Supercar racing.Yet V8s in the 21st century are not what they were in the days when they first conquered Mount Panorama and a GTHO Falcon or a Monaro - or even a Valiant V8 - was a dream machine for a generation of Aussie youngsters.Since 1970 the crude oil price has exploded from $20 a barrel to double that amount during the Iran revolution, over $70 during the first Gulf War, broke through the $100 barrier ahead of the Global Financial Crisis and has now settled at just below $100.In Australia, petrol prices have correspondingly risen from about 8c a litre in 1970 to about 50c in 1984 and almost $1.50 today.Despite all this, and despite one attempt at a death sentence by Ford in the 1980s, the V8 has not been wiped from Australian showrooms. Holden and Ford have continued to produce large cars with a V8 alternative and continue to slog it out at Bathurst.But Australian cars, even the ones that now have American V8s imported for local use, are not the only bent-eight blasters on the road.Germans are prolific builders of V8s and produce some of the most powerful engines in the world thanks to AMG-Mercedes, BMW and Audi. English V8s are built by Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguar, while the Americans provide V8s in the Chrysler 300C sold here. Even the Japanese luxury brand Lexus has a V8 in its IS F hero and its luxury saloon LS460, as well as the LandCruiser-cloned LX470.Most V8s are powerful enough breathing ordinary air, but there are many forced-induction models with either turbo or supercharging to liberate even more power. Walkinshaw Performance does the job in Australia for Holden, BMW is going down the turbo V8 road for its latest M cars and Benz had a time with a supercharged AMG V8.But V8s are not just about unrestricted power. The push for greater fuel economy has also reached V8 land and so Chrysler and Holden have V8s with multiple displacement technology which shuts down half the cylinders when the car is just cruising to improve fuel economy. Formula One racing engines now do the same thing when they are idling on a grand prix starting grid.Holden's Active Fuel Management (AFM) was introduced on the V8 Commodore and Caprice in 2008 and the red lion brand is committed to the engine - with future technology updates - despite near-record fuel prices."It is incumbent on us to keep it relevant and continue introducing new technology that delivers on our customers' needs," says Holden's Shayna Welsh.Holden has the biggest stake in V8s with more models than any other company selling in Australia. It has a total of 12 models with V8 engines across four nameplates and four body styles, including Commodore SS, SS V, Calais V, Caprice V and the recently introduced Redline range. V8s account for about one quarter of Commodore sedan sales and almost half of Ute sales."We see it as being more than just the V8 engine - it's about the entire car. It's the whole performance package that appeals to people and we want to continue making cars that people are proud to own," Welsh says."The combination of features and technology, great handling and braking and outstanding value is consistent across our V8 model range."Ford fans are also committed to V8s, according to company spokesperson Sinead McAlary, who says a recent Facebook survey was overwhelmingly positive."We asked whether they worry about petrol prices and they say 'No, it's the sound of the V8 we love and we are prepared to pay the price'," she says.Both Ford and Holden also have performance divisions where the V8 was, and still is, king. Ford's is Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) and Holden's is Holden Special Vehicles (HSV).HSV marketing manager Tim Jackson says their sales are "on par" with last year."That's despite the fact that last year we had the limited edition GX-P which is an entry level product for us," he says. "We don't have that model in our range at all this year and you would expect numbers to come off, but we've been able to maintain sales volume."All of HSV's range are powered by a naturally aspirated V8 engine (6200cc 317kW-325kW), while the opposition at FPV has gained the kilowatt advantage with forced induction (supercharged 5000cc 315kW-335kW).Jackson says their LS3 V8 has been "validated" by customers."We're not getting guys screaming at us to go turbocharging. The LS3 is an extraordinary unit. It's a light engine with a good power-to-weight figure. There is not a turbo engine that would do it for us at the right development cost. But I wouldn't rule it (turbo) out or rule it in."Jackson says there have been no repercussions from the rise in petrol prices."Our customers don't have other choices in their repertoire," he says. "A small car doesn't suit them and they're not into an SUV. They're of a certain level where the whole cost of running the car is easy for them to absorb."The top-selling HSV is the ClubSport R8, followed by the Maloo R8, then GTS.However, the greatest HSV in history is debatable, Jackson says.HSV engineering boss Joel Stoddart prefers the all-wheel-drive Coupe4 and sales boss Darren Bowler the SV5000."The Coupe4 is special because of its engineering but I like the W427 because it's the fastest," Jackson says.FPV boss Rod Barrett says they are also experiencing strong sales growth. He says they sold about 500 cars in the first quarter, which is up 32 per cent on the previous year. He also says sales of the F6 have slowed since the launch of the supercharged V8 engine variants late last year, as customers "opt for power". Ford no longer offers a V8 with the demise of the XR8 sedan and ute last year."Our middle name is performance so we have all the V8s," Barrett says. "When we were launching this new supercharged car all the V8s came across here."Barrett says their supercharged engine has changed people's minds about "dinosaur V8s"."The turbocharged F6 was a cult hero car in its day and people thought a V8 was a low-tech dinosaur," he says. "But when we produced a high-tech all-alloy five-litre supercharged V8 built in Australia people started to think that V8s aren't all that bad after all. I'm not seeing the demise of the V8 just yet, but for us, the future is hi-tech."The supercharged 5.0Litre V8 335kW FPV GT continues to be FPV's top-selling vehicle followed closely by the supercharged V8 5.0 litre 315kW GS sedan and GS ute.Barrett believes the current GT is the best FPV car yet with its segment-leading power, light weight and improved fuel economy."However, I think our most iconic car was the 2007 BF Mk II 302kW Cobra in white with blue stripes. That car brought back the passion of '78 with the original Cobra. If you have a look at the second-hand prices, they are still holding up very well" he says.

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.

A Mustang is a wild brumby in the USA but also one of the all-time best muscle cars; the LandCruiser does just what the name says, even if the land is the worst of the Australian outback; and the Enzo is a tribute to the man who founded the world's best-know supercar company, Ferrari.But the name game can go badly wrong.  The Nissan Cedric was never going to be a hit in Australia with a name that creates a picture of an aging uncle Arthur in a cardigan, Taurus is tough in the USA but was always going to flop against the Falcon, and the Skoda Roomster has just been dumped after failing to find a home down under.Holden was careful to avoid the VD in its Commodore line, but why did it start with the VB and not the VA? And what about the Statesman, which went well as the WB but was never updated into the WC?  Just this week I was following a Citroen Jumpy delivery fan in Portugal, and wondering if the name was a reflection of the driver's behaviour or the way it runs on the road.The craziness goes on and on, like the Citroen Picasso people mover which is anything but an oil painting.  Today's showrooms also have cars whose names have more numbers and letters than a cryptic crossword, with just as much meaning. Who really knows the difference between an A7 and a C350?But head back in history and there are some absolute clangers.  Henry Ford named the 1950s Edsel after his son, but is now recorded as one of the biggest flops in blue-oval history.  Japan has given us everything from the Daihatsu Rocky and Rugger to the Honda Ascot and Acty Crawler and on through the Isuzu Big Horn to the Subaru Justy.Nissan created the Tiida name from nothing, even though it claims it has something to do with waves breaking on a beach, and Lexus is even a made-up brand name, in contrast to Mercedes which was named after an early Daimler customer's daughter.  Over in America, the AMC Gremlin was a flop, the Dodge Neon never went up in lights, Plymouth Reliant never lived up to its promise, and the Lincoln Town Car was so big it needed its own postcode.Even some of the names which have worked create more questions than answers about their creation.  The Kia Mentor is more likely to need one, the Honda Jazz is not much of a music machine and the Suzuki Cappucino was too frothy to sell in Australia.Some names also paint a picture because of their history.  Mention Celica and lots of people in Australia think hairdresser.  Ask about the Nissan GT-R and you'll hear about Godzilla.Camry is shorthand for fridge-on-wheels, Kingswood is classic sixties kitsch, and then there is the Goggomobil.  So, what's causing a Rukus today? The Toyota Rukus, for a start.We could also get the Nissan Cube, which is as boxy as its name, although Nissan Australia is also pushing for a return of the Pulsar badge which worked so well before the silly switch to Tiida.  Right now we have the Skoda Superb in Australian showrooms. If that's not a name which creates a serious expectation then we don't know our Falcodores.When Toyota was looking for a new name for a mid-sized car alongside the Camry it thought it had the ideal choice. It settled on Centaur - the mythical man-horse - because it sounded tough.  But no-one at Toyota Australia had taken into account a nasty incident in World War II during the battle for the Pacific.A hospital ship called the Centaur was sailing towards Brisbane when it was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. The idea of a Toyota Centaur sunk even faster.  The Centaur badges were crushed, all the paperwork was changed and so was the advertising. The Centaur quickly became the Avalon for Australia.  How do we know? Carsguide made the call to Toyota to warn about the problem. Japanese cars have always led the way in the silly-names race.  How about the Mazda Bongy Brawny? No, not the name for an off-road tough SUV, it was the badge on the back of a city delivery van with a 1.3-litre engine.Everyone has heard the story about the Mitsubishi Starion, and whether the company's sales team actually meant to call the turbo coupe the Stallion.  And then there is the Pajero. It's called the Montero in Spain, because Pajero is the word for something usually done alone in private.

GM Holden is focussing on E85 ethanol compatibility as the next step in its fuel economy push for its full-sized family fighter, expecting the decision to help drive stronger demand for the plant-made fuel. E85 is a global fuel and General Motors has made it a priority around the world, starting with the Saab brand which once helped lead its prestige push.  Saab was one of the first companies to go E85 in Australia, although supplies of the fuel are still relatively limited. The E85 engine upgrade comes as the Commodore gets its first significant cosmetic tweaking since the arrival of the all-new VE model in July, 2006.  The nose and tail get a re-work and the cabin is significantly different, with more equipment and a more luxurious look and feel. GM Holden refuses to comment on the car, even though it is less than six months from showrooms.  "We will be introducing an update to the Commodore range later in the year. We're not in a position to discuss what that entails at this stage, other than to say that we think the changes will make a great car, even better," says Holden spokesman, Jonathan Rose. But Holden insiders admit the car will not be called the VF, despite widespread rumours.  Holden has usually gone down the Series II path in the past and that will happen again in 2010, with VF reserved for more than just a mid-life facelift. The company also refuses to comment on the showroom timing but, with a plan for factory stoppages in August - most likely to update the production line in Adelaide for the VEII - the most-likely start of sales is early in October. This also gives Holden a chance to stock its dealers and would coincide nicely with the first running of the new-look Australian International Motor Show in Sydney from October 14-24.

...that is leaving some Holden Commodore owners stranded. Even GM-Holden is stumped by what's causing batteries in late-model VE Commodores to run flat. The company's product communications manager, Kate Lonsdale, says the battery bugbear is now being treated as a priority.However, GM-Holden is unsure how many cars are affected, or which models. "We need to see if there is a pattern or a common link," she says. Lonsdale says the electrical problem was proving difficult to pinpoint. "There are so many reasons why a battery can go flat," she says. "What we're hearing is that it is not the battery so much as something draining the battery."Nationally several dealers have experienced intermittent battery problems with customer cars but they say these have largely been fixed. South Gippsland oil rig worker, Rob Flannigan, says his $55,000 Calais wagon has left his family stranded five times since he bought the car new last year. "I'm fed up," he says.Flannigan says he is so worried the 2008 luxury wagon will not start he now carries a recharge pack in the car. "When you spend that amount of money on a car you don't expect 1950s levels of reliability," he says.Despite his local dealer admitting there was a problem, Flannigan says has had little luck with Holden's customer assistance centre. "I really would like it fixed," he says.The battery problem became critical when Flannigan's 17-year-old son needed urgent medical help earlier this year because of a broken hand. "My wife Julie tried to start the car and the battery was flat," he says.They phoned Holden roadside assist to jump start the car but then had to borrow a car to rush his son to hospital. Various state-based motoring organisations say the problem is an old one. The NRMA, which handles Holden's premium roadside assist, says there has been a small increase in flat batteries in the VE ‘but nothing that would be categorised as a major issue’.One popular theory on the cause is a software problem with the alternator, which is not providing enough charge to the battery on short journeys, causing the battery to run down.Lonsdale urges worried owners to contact their dealers or Holden's customer assistance centre.