Holden Commodore 2009 News

The company is expected to ramp up production from 6000 engines a year to 20,000 over the next four years.The engines will go to Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture partnership between General Motors and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. They are expected to be used in a range of GM China cars, including the Buick Park Avenue, a model based on the locally built Holden Statesman.Apart from its engines, GM-Holden's North American export plans for its Commodores could also be back on the agenda. General Motors vice chairman, Bob Lutz, has told US media that GM-Holden was poised to recommence exports of a Commodore-based car to North America. Lutz is being widely reported in the US as saying the Commodore would return as a Chevrolet.However, GM-Holden spokesman, Scott Whiffin, was unable to confirm Lutz's comments. "The priority for GM has been exiting chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings," he said.GM-Holden cancelled its export plans for the Commodore-based Pontiac G8 when GM axed its Pontiac brand in May. However, within hours of the New GM emerging from chapter 11 bankruptcy last Friday, Lutz was on the offensive.He said Commodore exports were likely to recommence because of existing export agreements with GM-Holden and the fact that it already built the Commodore as a Chevy for the Middle East.The car industry this week has been buoyed by Federal Industry Minister, Senator Carr's visit to China spruiking the local industry. Carr said several Chinese carmakers were keen on Australian know-how. "There are opportunities for expansion in transmissions through Geely and new investment opportunities with Chery Motors," he said. "We're seeing quite a wide range of possibilities of new technologies and new markets for Australian suppliers. "There are huge opportunities here in terms of broadening our collaborations and diversifying our opportunities."The Chinese vehicle market is defying the global auto downturn as it continues to fast-track its own industry. Vehicle sales are set to hit 10 million sales this year. 

GM-Holden's executive director of sales and marketing, Alan Batey, says the V8's active fuel management system, on sale since January, has helped spur on sales. However, he concedes that lower fuel prices coming off the highs of last year may also have helped."There is really not one single reason for the lift in V8 sales," he says.Batey says Holden's AFM system has been well received. "It's got momentum," he says.Last month, GM-Holden sold 6570 Commodore sedans, utes, wagons, including the long-wheelbase Statesman and Caprice and of those 1682 were V8s."We've had good sales of V8s in the last two or three months but in June we recorded 1682 V8 sales, the best V8 sales since November 2004," Batey says."Primarily they were automatics, and we think one of the main reasons for that is the introduction of AFM."Holden says it could have sold more V8 Commodores and Statesmans but stocks are running low."Our inventories are pretty tight," Batey says.Holden's order bank is up 50 per cent compared to the same period last year and Ford too is experiencing increased traffic for its Falcon models, particularly the G-Series cars.AFM is only available with automatic transmission cars but Batey credits the fuel saving technology as having a positive impact. Holden says AFM can conservatively save up to 1.0 litre/100km on its 6.0-litre V8.In past years, eight-cylinder Holdens have accounted for 20 per cent of the mix of Commodore and Statesman sales. A Holden V8 with AFM cuts the fuel supply to four cylinders when coasting to improve economy and lower emissions.When it is working, mostly at consistent highway speeds or coasting down hills, a "4-cyl mode" light illuminates in the car's dashboard display.GM-Holden's AFM system is similar to that used in other General Motors vehicles, particularly its luxury Cadillac brand, in North America. GM uses the system in 15 of its North American models with V6 and V8 engines.Other brands, like Honda and Chrysler, have similar cylinder deactivation systems in their Accord and 300C models.

...after posting a $70.2 million loss for 2008.Faced with a parent in Chapter II bankruptcy in the United States and the collapse of new cars sales locally, Reuss, said the company's senior leadership team was doing everything possible to get the company back into the black."This includes attacking the revenue and cost sides of the business with equal enthusiasm," he said.Reuss said GM-Holden had a small after-tax net profit of $6.6 million for the year ending December 31 before a series of special, on-off charges wiped this out.The charges amounted to $76.8 million, which related mainly to the decommissioning of the Family II engine plant in Melbourne."In addition to this we made top-up contributions of $50.3 million to our Defined Benefits Scheme as the world financial markets began to deteriorate," Reuss said.Softening Holden Commodore sales, as well as other Holden models, reduced revenues from $6.1 billion in 2007 to $5.8 billion last year."This result was disappointing because the organisation was well placed to make a healthy profit in Australia before world markets fell in the third quarter of 2008," Reuss said.The company's total sales revenue was $5.4 billion compared to $5.7 billion in 2007.Commodore and V6 engine exports held up well, helping lift revenue from $1.6 billion to $1.9 billion, reflecting a full year of Pontiac G8 sales in the United States.Reuss said GM-Holden remained committed to research and development locally, spending $360 million.He said the company was focused on its long-term future.It intends rolling out more fuel efficient Commodores powered by LPG and E85 ethanol as well as introducing other fuel saving technologies and building the Cruze four-cylinder sedan from next year at its Adelaide plant.After the collapse of its G8 exports to the US, it is also pursuing new export markets for its cars. 

Ford is expected to decide by the end of next month on its future fuel-saving technologies for its six cylinder Falcon and Territory to go head-to-head against the Holden Commodore and Toyota Aurion.With GM-Holden tipped to show off new fuel economy tricks in the Commodore update due later this year, the pressure is on Ford to reply with its own strategies.Ford president and CEO, Marin Burela, says the company will make a decision on its technology within two months."We will get to a powertrain decision by the end of July," he says."If we go beyond that we will not be able to get the powertrain strategy deployed in time to meet the requirements that we need to meet internally as well as those we need to meet to satisfy the Australian market.“Burela says there is some fine tuning to be done but the importance of the decision cannot be under-estimated."Derrick Kuzak, the global product development head for Ford, is personally involved in working with us to help us get to the best solution," Burela says."That shows you the level of focus that Ford Motor Co is applying to make sure we get this right."With fleets and governments identifying fuel economy among the key drivers in purchasing decisions Burela is keen to make sure the Falcon keeps pace with consumer demands.More than 70 per cent of all Falcons and Commodores are bought by fleets.Burela says there is still room for fuel economy improvements in the Falcon's in-line six cylinder engine, which cracks 9.9 litres/100km combined for the optional six-speed automatic XT sedan and 10.5 litres/100km for the five-speed automatic model."We're continuing to work on that," he says.The I6 engine remains a part of the Falcon and Territory's future even though Ford is looking at turbo-diesel engines and a range of eco-saving technologies like stop-start and dual-clutch transmissions as well."The I6 it's part of our plans," Burela says.Burela says it will remain a part of the local landscape until the next-generation of fuel emission standards are identified "and we don't expect that to be clear for some time".Ford has not yet approached the Federal Government for access to its Green Car Fund to help fast-track these new technologies."We've been very quiet and the reason we've been quiet is that we take the view that we don't want to go to government every five minutes and asking for their support or engagement on things that we're not ready to make a statement on," Burela says."I want to make sure that once we're ready to move forward with our powertrain strategy that it's a very cohesive, very comprehensive and very thought-out plan."And how we then engage government in terms of the green car fund will be an important part of that overall strategic direction and discussion."

In the blue corner, Ford is getting to within a whisker of Holden in the red corner in the passenger car sales race. Last month Ford came to within 1 per cent of Holden's share of vehicle sales. Ford had 11.2 per cent of the May market versus 12.2 per cent for Holden.Holden is still ahead in year-to-date terms with a total vehicle share of 12.5 per cent against Ford's 10.3 per cent but the individual model count shows the gap is closing.Sales of the tradies' favourite, the Falcon and Holden utes, are with 0.1 per cent of each other this year. The Falcon ute has a 17.2 per cent market share and the Commodore ute a 17.1 share.In overall terms Ford has experienced a modest gain in passenger car market share, up from 9.5 per cent last year to 10.5 per cent this year. By comparison, Holden's passenger share has remained relatively stagnant since last year but the Red Lion brand is still ahead by 3.9 per cent.Ford is soon to ramp up its marketing message by launching a Fiesta and Focus assault on its toughest market, Sydney, to go head to head against Toyota."Sydney remains our toughest market," Burela says.At the other end of the Ford scale Burela says the FG Falcon, after a slow sales start at launch last year, is gradually winning over large car buyers.In overall terms both sedan and ute sales are still down 2 per cent and 14 per cent, but importantly Falcon, along with the VE Commodore, is improving its large car market share. The Falcon's share of the large car sales pie has increased this year to 31 per cent against 25 per cent for the same period last year. The Commodore's share has increased from 42 per cent to 47 per cent.Burela says the FG is also bringing younger buyers to the brand. The average age of a Falcon owner has also come down from 55 to between 35 and 45. Although it is still too early to forecast full-blown large car recovery, Burela believes the signs are good.A key indicator for Falcon's climb back into buyers' minds is that Ford is selling a richer, more profitable, mix of high-end FG Falcons than the previous model.The XR sports models are the most popular, accounting for more than 50 per cent of FG sales, followed by the luxury G-Series cars, with 43 per cent and the XT accounting for 4.5 per cent. In the previous Falcon the XT was by far the most popular car, accounting for 60 per cent of sales.With Holden's new VF Commodore around the corner, Ford plans to respond with a range of initiatives to maintain its FG sales momentum by promoting the car's economy and technology.

Australia's most popular family sedan has topped an insurance poll of the most stolen cars across the country.An analysis of AAMI insurance claims showed that early model Holden Commodores filled seven of the top 15 most stolen models in NSW, rising to nine out of 15 on a national basis.The most popular target for thieves was the 1999 VT Commodore Executive with 90 claims in NSW and 150 across the country. Hyundai's 1996 Excel (87) was second in NSW while another Commodore, the 1998 VT Berlina took silver on a national basis.Ford's Falcon was ignored by NSW thieves missing a spot on the top 15 table but the Blue Oval's 1999 AU Forte was ranked third nationally with 128 stolen.AAMI Corporate Affairs Manager Mike Sopinski said it wasn't surprising 1990s makes and models featured so prominently on the list."Vehicle theft has dropped remarkably over the past 10 years, primarily because of advances in technology and theft deterrents such as engine immobilisers increasingly being a standard feature on new cars," he said.Mr Sopinski said the dominance of Commodores on the list had nothing to do with a particular lack of security on the Holden model."If anything they are a victim of their own popularity with professional thieves seeking to cash in on strong demand for spare parts," Mr Sopinski said.The AAMI data mirrored figures collated by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRD) which reported three times as many Commodores than Falcons were stolen in the first three months of this year. According to the NMVTRD figures 1767 Commodores were stolen compared to 507 Falcons and 288 Hyundai Excels.While industry figures point to a 50 per cent reduction in car theft over the past five years, Mr Sopinski said there are some simple steps owners can take to make their cars less appealing to thieves."At a very basic level, drivers can be doing a lot more to keep their car safe and secure, such as parking in well-lit visible places, always locking doors and windows, and keeping personal items like sunglasses, handbags and portable music devices hidden from view," Mr Sopinski said.NATIONAL THEFT FIGURES1999 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VT F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1501998 COMMODORE BERLINA VT F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1311999 FALCON FORTE AU F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1281998 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VT F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1251996 EXCEL SPRINT F/INJ 3D HATCHBACK 1051997 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VT F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1041990 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VN F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1021996 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VSII F/INJ 4D SEDAN 1012002 RAV4 CRUISER 4X4 ACA21R F/INJ 5D WAGON 1001999 EXCEL SPRINT X3 F/INJ 3D HATCHBACK 982001 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VX F/INJ 4D SEDAN 981999 PULSAR SSS N15II F/INJ 5D HATCHBACK 931992 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VP F/INJ 4D SEDAN 911997 COMMODORE EXECUTIVE VSII F/INJ 4D SEDAN 911997 EXCEL SPRINT F/INJ 3D HATCHBACK 89 

Where will it all end? Australian automotive manufacturers and importers are hoping the answer is: right here, right now.For the first time in months, there's a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel that may not be another oncoming train.The Federal Government's cash handouts have helped the Australian economy dodge a recession on a technicality, consumers are spending again and car showrooms are beginning to fill with a whole lot of shiny new offerings.With a fresh financial year dawning, something in the order of 60 all-new or refreshed models are waiting in the wings before the end of 2009.Ranging from the first of the Chinese invaders to a couple of machines from the supercar stratosphere, these are the recession-busters the automotive industry is relying on.Here are a handful of the key players in this revival.Great Wall Motors AFTER what seems an age of yes-we-are, no-we-aren't games, the first of the Chinese-made brigade will be in showrooms next month.A pair of workhorse utes — the 4x4 V240 (known as the Wingle in China) and the 4x2 SA220 — will come as single-specification models with prices expected to be "around two-thirds of their logical competitors".That could mean a starting figure of $17,000 to $19,000.Alfa Romeo MiToTHE classic Italian marque's new baby, which arrives next month, has the task of taking on BMW's iconic Mini in the quest for buyers with more cash than responsibilities."It's a growing market as people downsize their cars to achieve better fuel economy but don't want to give up performance or style," Alfa Romeo Australia's Edward Rowe says."Our aim is to beat the Mini on both price and equipment."To that end, Rowe says the newcomer — which sits on a Fiat Punto platform — will launch as two models: the 88kW MiTo and a sparkier, 114kW MiTo Sport.Both have turbocharged, 1.4-litre petrol engines with six-speed manual gearboxes. Expect a starting price in the low $30,000 range.Hyundai i20AFTER the success of the i30 hatch and wagon, Hyundai has high hopes for its German-designed, Indian- made small car.Expected to hit showrooms towards the end of this year, the three-door and five-door i20s will sit at the higher end of the light-car segment, beginning at $16,000 to $17,000.This will leave the popular Getz as Hyundai's entry-level model, but will likely spell the end of the Accent.VW Golf GTITHE sixth-generation Golf GTI arrives in October with all the shiny new technology seen on its more mundane stablemates but lots more go.With 155kW driving through a new limited-slip differential, it promises all the attitude of its predecessors wrapped into a more refined package."It has all the safety and enhancements of the Golf VI and more power than the outgoing GTI, yet it's quieter and more efficient," VW Australia's Karl Gehling says.Pricing isn't yet set, but should be close to the outgoing model's $39,990.Holden VE CommodoreTHE first mid-life makeover for GM-Holden's "billion-dollar baby" is likelyto be remarkable for what ishappening under the skin rather than for any cosmetic body changes.A founding member of the Large Family Car segment — the hardest- hit sector of the industry over the past couple of years — the Commodore will celebrate GM's survival with a much more focused and fuel-efficient engine package.Although a four-cylinder option isn't on the cards, a smaller V6 is. That could be a three-litre or even a version of the 2.8-litre that has recently been shipped to Mexico for the Cadillac SRX.Expect to see it around October.

Some people have attacked us for bias, particularly when we point out Ford's failings with its locally-made Falcon and Territory, but a lot of people want to know what's really happening at Fishermans Bend.Holden has survived the giant purge which came when General Motors filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy but there is a lot more to come than just a 'jobs are safe' declaration from the trump.Mark Reuss has done a great job since he became chairman at the red lion and he makes a lot of sense as he talks about everything from the future of the Commodore to the financial situation at Holden.But he really gets riled if you ask about the need for a car industry in Australia and the support the industry gets from Canberra."We pay $420 million a year in R&D . . . create almost 7000 jobs and we pay wages of $500 billion back into the economy every year," Reuss says."We make Commodore here and we pay a lot of wages here and we actually create a tax basis for the industry. That's what manufacturing's all about, it's about making things."I'm not sure this is looked at the right way . . . this is a reinvestment in the scheme of things to make sure that jobs pay back into the tax basis here."It gets really negatively reported, unfortunately, by people who don't really understand the dynamics of how the business creates value in Australia and it creates huge value."If you don't make cars and you don't make wages and people don't make livings then you can't really buy things.”      

The Carsguide diary has been full for more than a year with the latest and greatest from the 40-plus brands with showrooms in Australia, but June is quiet. And it's not just the winter chill.We're seeing things go quiet as all the big brands concentrate on doing big numbers through one of the two biggest months of the year. They know June is the time to cash-in on end-of-financial-year splurges, boosted this year by the Federal government's 50 per cent investment allowance.June is also the time to take stock and plan for a second-half splurge, with Toyota and Holden planning major back-end action on the Camry and Commodore and everyone from Alfa Romeo to Volkswagen — the MiTo and Golf GTi — promising something good before the end of 2009.We're also moving into the mid-summer launch season in the northern hemisphere, and will be reporting soon on everything from the new Kia Sorento coupe to the Porsche Panamera and BMW's super SUV, the X6.And then there is Great Wall, which is just about to preview the first Chinese utes and cars to be sold in Australia.So it's quiet now but the chill will fade fast in coming months.

Even an economical compact like the Hyundai Getz pokes a $100 hole in the weekly budget.