Holden Commodore 2007 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.

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.

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. 

And it signals that Holden and Ford's new battle ground will be at the bowser. GM-Holden yesterday fired a salvo across Ford's bows by launching what it describes as the most fuel-efficient Australian-built six cylinder car available. It has unveiled two new hi-tech six-cylinder engines for the Commodore range just a week after Ford said it would build a four-cylinder Falcon. GM-Holden chairman, Mark Reuss, said Holden was going to ‘out-engineer’ its rivals with cutting-edge technology. "Dropping cylinders would be the last resort," he said. The new direct-injection 3.0-litre and 3.6-litre V6 engines will hit showrooms next month in the face-lifted Commodore and Statesman range. Not only is Australia's best-selling family sedan now cheaper to run, it emits less harmful greenhouse gases, Reuss said. "We've been listening to what the customer wants," he said. "We've invested in changing what matters most to motorists, increasing fuel efficiency, improving refinement and developing performance." The new petrol engines will be joined by a more economical LPG Commodore engine. Reuss said the new 3.0-litre Commodore was so efficient, families could drive from Melbourne to Sydney, a distance of 870km, on one tank of fuel. "We know because we've done it," Reuss said. "The car we drove actually got 7.5l/100km in actual real-world driving, that's right in there with our four cylinder entries in the smaller car market." Owners will also be able to save $325 in annual fuel costs too, he said. Reuss said the Commodore's direct-injection technology was a big step forward for the local car industry and Australian manufacturing and was applauded by the Industry Minister, Senator Kim Carr. "We are defining our own future, creating our own luck," Reuss said. "It places a more refined Commodore amongst four cylinder competitors while delivering the space and flexibility which Australian car buyers clearly want." Both V6s adopt what Holden calls spark ignition direct injection, to deliver up to 13 per cent better economy and up to 14 per cent lower CO2 emissions, combined with a new six-speed automatic transmission. The new Omega 3.0-litre gets 9.3 litres/100km, more than 13 per cent better than the existing model's 10.7 litres/100km. This engine also produces 600kg less CO2 emissions than the existing engine. Apart from lower fuel consumption, power is up. The 3.0-litre develops 190kW, up from 175kW of the previous engine, while the 3.6-litre develops 210kW, up from 195kW. Holden's popular dual-fuel LPG range will retain the 3.6-litre AlloyTec V6 but it has been reworked for better economy and lower CO2 emissions. Apart from powering local Commodores, GM-Holden plans to export the engines to several other GM plants globally, including Mexico where it is expected to go into a new Cadillac off-roader. New Holden Global V6 direct-injection engines 3.0 and 3.6-litre double overhead cam alloy V6. Uses 91RON ULP, Euro IV+ emissions rating Power: 3.0 - 190kW @ 6700rpm 3.6 - 210kW @ 6400rpm Torque: 3.0 - 290Nm @ 2900rpm 3.6 - 350Nm @ 2900rpm Fuel economy (l/100km)/emissions: 9.3/221g/km - 10.3/245g/km. Between 9 and 13 per cent fuel consumption improvement, 9-14 per cent emissions improvement. Superceded V6 3.6-litre double overhead cam, variable inlet camshaft, 24-valve alloy V6 (High Feature in top-spec models). Power: 175kW @ 6500rpm HF 195kW @ 6500rpm Torque: 325Nm @ 2400rpm HF 340Nm @ 2600rpm (ECE, Nm) Fuel economy (l/100km)/emissions: 10.6/252g/km -11.6/274g/km  

The new car is hiding more under the skin than on top. A new, high-tech direct-injection V6 could be destined for the big sedan late this year when the car gets a refresh. The VF Commodore is likely to get a range of improvements designed to lift fuel economy and further develop the company's ‘Ecoline’ strategy. Visually the car may also borrow some design elements from Holden's Coupe 60 concept car, like the repeaters in the rear view mirrors, deeper grille and restyled lower bumper air intake to give a smoother look to the front end. The interior is also likely to get a styling make-over to better compete against the FG Falcon's stylish interior. GM-Holden is not revealing details yet but the company has a choice of two DI engines of either 3.0-litre or 3.6-litre capacity that substantially reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. The 3.0-litre delivers 190kW/298Nm, which is 15kW more than the current 3.6-litre Commodore engine but 27Nm less torque. The bigger 3.6-litre DI engine delivers 225kW/369Nm and is available in GM's Cadillac models. However in an effort to respond to changing consumer tastes, GM-Holden may also choose to downsize the Commodore V6 by introducing a smaller capacity 2.8-litre version of the Alloytec engine that could be badged ‘Ecoline’, part of Holden's solution to tackling fuel efficiency. The entry engine could be available as a ‘fleet’ model on the base Omega to help bolster Commodore sales. A 2.8-litre V6 with variable valve timing is available in some General Motors vehicles and generates 151kW at 6800 revs and 246Nm at 6300 revs. More economical V6s are just some of the initiatives GM-Holden chief, Mark Reuss, is instituting to lure buyers back to the Commodore and ensure the car rebuilds its credentials from the current car slump. These include E85 ethanol engines, dedicated LPG cars and frugal turbo-diesels. The DI engines could be mated to six-speed automatic gearboxes to deliver sub-10.0 litre/100km fuel economy. GM's direct injection technology not only improves fuel economy but quietness. Rubber isolators are used with the fuel rail to eliminate metal-to-metal contact that would otherwise transmit noise and vibration from the high-pressure fuel system. Along with direct injection, the 3.0-litre gets variable valve timing to improve power and economy. GM-Holden is confident the new engine technologies for the V6 can deliver fuel economy comparable to some of the larger capacity Japanese four-cylinder engines. The facelifted Commodore may also have gone on a diet to help improve economy.   GM-Holden's high-feature Alloytec V6 is truly a world-class engine... Apart from powering a family of Commodores, versions of the company's Fishermens Bend engine finds their way into various Cadillac, Saab and Alfa Romeo models. The Saab engine is a single turbo 2.8-litre variant developing 188kW/350Nm. A 294kW twin-turbo version was developed for the Saab Aero-X concept car. Alfa Romeo's 190kW/322Nm 3.2-litre version of the Holden V6 is heavily modified and uses direct injection and lean-burn technology.