Holden Commodore News

It is the first five-star rating for any ute on the Australian market, according to the latest Australian New Car Assessment Program. The top score comes just a month after two imports, the Proton Jumbuck and Great Wall Motors utes, scored one and two stars. The five-star results has been hailed by motoring organizations and the Transport Accident Commission.TAC road safety manager Samantha Cockfield said after those disappointing results, the five-star rating was welcomed by the ANCAP partners. "This is great news for utility drivers, especially tradespeople, farmers and others who rely on utes for their work and lifestyle," she said. The ute result now means Holden has a five-star Commodore fleet.The RACV's chief engineer, vehicles, and ANCAP program manager Michael Case said the rating meant more choices for drivers who need a workhorse vehicle. "ANCAP has just awarded Australia's first five-star light commercial van rating for the Mercedes-Benz Vito and now the first five-star ute, so those motorists who need a work vehicle can now opt for five-star safety," Case said. "Having a five-star vehicle in this category means Australians can buy more home-grown vehicles that are the safest on the road."ANCAP council chair Ross McArthur said Australians would continue to see five-star ratings across a wider range of vehicles. "We know other local manufacturers are working hard to produce similar five-star utes for the Australian market and we look forward to testing those as they become available," McArthur said.The five-star ANCAP rating applies to all Commodore ute models. In testing, the ute's passenger compartment held its shape well and provided good airbag protection for the driver and passenger and no knee hazards for the driver.

It's the scene of the major law enforcement gathering where GM Holden confirms a renewed export deal for the homegrown VE Commodore.This time the red lion's hero car will be wearing Chevrolet badges, not Pontiac G8 warpaint, as it goes into action with cops in Los Angeles in a deal worth an estimated 20,000 cars a year. With more to come. It's the sort of deal which Ford should have landed years ago with the Falcon, if only Ford had killed the cop-favourite Crown Victoria a bit sooner.We have more on the police deal here but it's worth remembering the man who put it together, former GM Holden chairman Mark Reuss. He is back in the US now as the product guru for 'New GM' but before he left he promised there was something coming to keep the Commodore running as a major export after the collapse of Pontiac.Reuss kept his promise and there is more to come on the police car front, one of the biggest and most lucrative potential markets for Holden's hero across the Pacific.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

Car companies are about to be put to the test in the Global Green Challenge and Carsguide is going along for the ride. There are two key buzz words in today's world of clean, green motoring: more and less.Car buyers, pricked by an environmental consciousness, are driving demand for better efficiency to reduce the impact on their wallet and less emissions to reduce the impact on the environment.And there's an added caveat to this quest for green sustainability: it has to be affordable without robbing the family car of performance or driveability.Welcome to the challenge facing car designers as they chase motoring's holy grail — producing a workable, green friendly car for the future. A bookmark of just where the industry is at will be on display at the end of the month when the Eco Challenge for production cars, run in conjunction with this year's Global Green Challenge, sets out from Darwin on October 24 and heads south to Adelaide.It will be real-world 3000 kilometre reality check, albeit most of the driving will be on highways, to show buyers what more-for-less cars are available now, or the near future.This week car companies have been jostling as they line up for the starting grid — some have still to fully show their hand but organisers say 21 cars are expected to contest the Eco Challenge while a further 38 dedicated solar-powered cars will also follow the same route the following day in their own race.This year's production car field is an eclectic mix.Hyundai Hyundai is using the Global Challenge to launch its 2010 Santa Fe wagon, promising more power and reduced fuel consumption which will attract caravan owners looking for an alternative to heavier 4WDs.Hyundai's Team R has entered two Santa Fes, one of which will be driven by CarsGuide. The wagon gets Hyundai's new R turbo diesel and a new six-speed manual transmission along with a recalibrated suspension and steering package for our tougher road conditions. A six-speed automatic will be optional. The Santa Fe goes on sale at the end of the year.Skoda Skoda will use the event to showcase its new flagship, the Superb saloon. Skoda says the 2-litre direct injection turbo diesel is capable of 5.4l/100km on the highway, meaning you can marry luxury with economy.Suzuki will use the event to showcase the ability of the tiny Alto, which the carmaker claims can travel 100 kilometres on just 3.5 litres of precious fuel on the highway. Tests in India have already shown it can do better at 3l/100km.The car is being kept on the road by a team of apprentice automotive engineers from the Melbourne's Kangan Batman TAFE college.Holden Holden and Ford will be fighting each other in the Challenge. Holden had been tipped to show of a Commodore, which like Saab, can run on 85 per cent ethanol, or a diesel, but the General will instead showcase its recently launched 3-litre Omega Sportwagon, fitted with the new SIDI (Spark Ignition Direct Injection) engine and six-speed automatic transmission.Holden won't reveal what fuel economy goal it is aiming for but it maintains the SIDI is now the most fuel efficient Aussie-built six-cylinder in the market. Holden says the engine, rated at 9.3l/10km is 13 per cent more fuel efficient than the previous motor at 10.7l/10km.Ford Ford will come out fighting with an XR6 Turbo and a Fiesta Econetic which will be launched in November and has the potential to run at 3.7l/100km. Again, Ford won’t talk about economy goals.BMW BMW is another keeping its cards close to its chest until closer to race. It will have a fleet of three diesel Mini Ds, one of which is will be driven by former Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan. The 1.6-litre Mini diesel is capable of 3.9l/100km combined and 3.5l/100km on the highway.Tesla While all eyes will be on the known brands, one entry which will likely steal the limelight will be the all electric Tesla roadster — the world's first production all-electric car which is being entered by broadband company Internode.The company's managing director Simon Hackett imported the first car to Australia recently.Kia Kia has entered two LPG electric hybrid Fortes, which have a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a small electric motor and lithium-polymer batteries — a first for a mass-production small automatic car. Kia says it can return 5.6l/100km.Based on the Cerato, the Kia Forte has the potential to make it to the Australian market next year for less than $30,000. Based on the Cerato The Forte was launched in South Korea in August and displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month.NON-PRODUCTION AND EXPERIMENTAL CARS Independent team Deep Green Research has come to the party with an electric Honda.Students from South Australia's Annesley College have built a petrol/electric hybrid Holden Viva. The all-girl Annesley team has taken part in previous solar challenges but this is the first time they have entered the production car class. The students will be driving the car on the 3000km journey.Research and development company Intex is entering a four-cylinder petrol Ford Spectron Van with a retrofit hybrid system that converts the drivetrain to a plug-in hybrid electric.Absent This year Toyota is a notable non-starter after impressing in 2007 with its Prius.And there has been a late scratching with Volvo confirming it was withdrawn its two C30 DRIVe hatchbacks because they are stuck on a ship from Europe, a victim of stormy weather in the Atlantic. Volvo had high expectations for the 1.6-litre diesel which sips a claimed 3.8l/100km. The eco hatch will now be launched in Australia early next year. 

A Holden is being recruited to police the mean streets of Los Angeles in a deal that could eventually make the car the top choice with cops across the US. The multi-million dollar bid is for 20,000 cars and will be announced in the US today by GM-Holden chairman Alan Batey and Industry Minister Kim Carr. The law-enforcement lifeline renews the export potential of Holden's large car lineup to the US.The VE Commodore had been a major success as a Pontiac G8 until the American brand sank under the weight of General Motors' bankruptcy earlier this year.The latest deal comes after a successful pitch more than six months ago by a Holden team led by former president, Mark Reuss, who has since returned to the US to become the product development boss at General Motors.The sleek V6 and V8 Statesmans - badged as Chevrolet Caprices - are likely to replace the LAPD's ageing fleet of Ford Crown Victoria sedans. If successful, GM-Holden also stands a good chance of becoming a global supplier of GM cop cars for other countries. Batey, along with other Holden executives, are in Denver attending an international law enforcement conference.Carr said if successful, the bid would be a big money spinner. "They're talking about 20,000 cars immediately with the prospect of a much higher number in the future," he said. "I'm optimistic about the quality of the car and if accepted by the Los Angeles police it could enhance Holden's ability to sell more cars to other US police departments."Carr said the Holden police car was an opportunity for Australian initiative to be displayed ‘to show its true worth’. "I don't want to pre-empt the process though," he said. "It is quite rigorous. "However, we are very optimistic about the bid. "I'm quite sure they can persuade people how good the car is."Carr is already in the US to spruik the local car and component industry to Detroit's leading car executives. The LA police car idea was the brains of Melbourne-based company, National Safety Agency. Earlier this year it built a prototype based on the left-hand drive Pontiac G8 to show off to the LAPD. The car showcased new law enforcement technologies. It integrated many separate technologies used by police forces into a single platform to create a police station on wheels.The car has fingerprint recognition technology, video surveillance and CCTV access, traffic information and web access. It also boasted a police computer screen molded directly into the dashboard. The NSA specialises in innovative technology for emergency service vehicles. 

...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. 

Originally for solar vehicles only, the 3000km trial from Darwin to Adelaide now runs a parallel Eco Challenge. Carmakers are falling over themselves to include their latest models as fuel consumption and emissions become more important to consumers. Holden is the latest carmaker to put a car on the grid for the event. It will run a direct injection 3.0-litre V6 Commodore Omega Sportwagon on the 3000km drive from Darwin to Adelaide. Holden chairman and managing director Alan Batey says the decision to field a Sportwagon will serve as a practical demonstration of the car's fuel-saving capabilities. "Our strategy of providing customers with better fuel efficiency today, and next-generation fuel advances for tomorrow is driving everything we do," he says. Arch-rival Ford is running a Falcon XR6 and its yet-to-be-released Econetic Fiesta hatch, which promises real-world economy of 3.7 litres/100km. Ford Australia chief, Marin Burela, says it is not a publicity stunt. "We wouldn't be entering unless we had something to say," he says. It will be the first time this particular Fiesta will be seen on Australian roads as it does not arrive in showrooms until November. Apart from Ford and Holden, Hyundai, Kia, Peugeot, Mini, Skoda, Suzuki and Volvo are all participating. The world's first production fully-electric sports car, the Tesla, is also entered. The Eco Challenge is aimed at giving carmakers with conventional and alternative-engines an opportunity to showcase their advances in economy and low-emission technologies. A spokesman for the Global Green Challenge, Mike Drewer, says there are about 20 practical family cars taking part. "There is a greater emphasis on alternative fuel-efficient cars coming on to the market," he says. However, Drewer says the Eco Challenge part of the revamped Global Green Challenge will not take anything away from the 44 pure solar cars participating. "It's important for the solar cars to showcase new technologies," Drewer says. Since the South Australian Motor Sport Board took over the World Solar Challenge last year it has rebranded it and broadened its appeal. "There has been a push to get available relevant technology," Drewer says. Burela welcomes the Eco Challenge's broader take on new technology. "The have shifted as the market as shifted as fuel economy is more important." The Eco Challenge covers a series of set stages with overnight stops at Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Coober Pedy, and Port Augusta. The event kicks off from Darwin on October 24, ending in Adelaide on October 31.

What do you think is the best Australian built car of all time? Paul Maric gets behind the wheel of the new LPG Commodore ute and Troy Swindells-Grose reports on what are the cheapest and most expensive cars to repair.For all this and a lot more, listen to our podcast above...

Holden has already announced its plans to have E85 ethanol compliant engines across the Commodore range by next year but it is the behind-the-scenes work that could yet bring the biggest benefits for the company. "We are working hard for E85 ... and that is not just in regard to the engines themselves," GM Holden boss Alan Batey says. "There is a lot of work going on with suppliers and distributors to ensure that when the cars are available the fuel will be as well. We are leading that particular struggle and it is looking promising." While not prepared to name any potential E85 partners, Batey did concede that Holden's involvement in the Ethanol program could be far more integrated than simply supplying end-user engines. "Is it possible we could have an upstream involvement in E85? That's a good question and certainly one we have asked ourselves," Batey says. "It's not something I am going to comment on now, but there are possibilities." Part of that involvement is likely to come out of Holden's involvement with General Motors-backed US biofuel company Coskata and a consortium of Australian companies wanting to establish an ethanol plant in Australia. GM Holden's director of energy and environment, Richard Marshall, says ethanol is an important plank in the company's overall fuel efficiency strategy. "We are responding to today's energy challenges by looking at a range of technologies and alternative fuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Marshall says. "The 2008 World Energy Outlook describes the issue of declining oil supply very well. "It shows that demand for oil will reach 104 million barrels per day in 2030, meaning there will be a need for a further 64 million barrels a day to meet that demand. That is six times the current capacity of Saudi Arabia which requires $13 trillion in new investment." Marshall says an integrated fuel strategy is critical to the issue, a strategy that crosses the new spark ignition direct injection technology in Commodore, greater development of LPG, diesel and compressed natural gas as well as renewable sources like ethanol. "E85 is a clean burning renewable fuel that can be made from household garbage," Marshall explains. "Think of the Back To The Future movie where at the end of the film they fuelled the DeLorean time machine using banana skins. "Well, the science may be different but the principle is not. We are talking about using household rubbish to make fuel. "It is certainly exciting when you consider locally made ethanol could displace out use of petrol by up to 30 per cent and reduce Co2 emission by up to 86 per cent."  

"This is the first time a curtain airbag has been offered in a utility in Australia and it will be standard across the entire ute range," Steve Curtis, GM Holden's manager for vehicle structure and safety says. "That's a total of six airbags in every ute ... the first light commercial in Australia to offer six airbags standard across the range."Curtis wouldn't speculate on what the inclusion of the extra bags would mean for the utes' safety rating but it is understood that Holden is confident of a five-star rating when cars are tested by the ANCAP laboritories in the next couple of weeks. That would give the Commodore VE a full-range maximum five-star safety rating."We have an expectation of an outcome ... a good outcome, but it not something we predict publicly," Holden's director of marketing, Philip Brook, says. "The utes will be tested soon and that is when we will comment."The program for additional side protection in the utes was a two-year commitment for Holden's engineers with teams in Melbourne, Spain and North America involved in the development. "One of the trickier issues was packaging for the curtain airbag," Curtis says. "Given the individual structure of the ute (with the cabin ending at the B-Pillar) positioning the inflator was one of the challenges."While much of the program testing was computer simulated Curtis says that final validation was through real world crash tests to ensure correct calibration of the sensors located in the B-Pillar to recognise the impact and deploy the bag. "In side impacts with poles or other high-fronted vehicles a curtain airbag provides significantly more protection and the probability of occupant survival is considerably increased."Recently Mercedes-Benz were the first to win a five-star rating for a commercial van after adding airbags to its Vito models, however the ute advancement is even more significant given the number sold each year and the widespread use of the ute as a sportscar substitute. 

...to produce Holden race cars in time for next year’s season starting in early February. It follows the recent decision by Triple Eight’s TeamVodafone to switch from Ford next season. Team principal Roland Dane said yesterday’s announcement “formalised informal arrangements” over the past few months in which they had performed chassis work for Paul Morris Racing in return for engine development. Dane said they would have race cars built in time despite the early start to next season. “We can breathe and chew gum at the same time, you know,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do with the switch (to Holden) but this arrangement will help because it’s a two-way street.” The announcement coincided with Paul Morris Racing’s lead driver, Russell Ingall, re-signing with the team for two years. “I can start sleeping again now because I thought I would have to get a real job for a while,” the oldest driver in the field said. The 45-year-old, two-time Bathurst winner and 2005 V8 Supercars champion said he had another Bathurst win and championship in him. “People think as you get older you get slower, but I don’t think I’m getting any dumber and it pays to drive with a bit of sense.” Meanwhile, the Triple Eight team lit the wick yesterday on its campaign for four Bathurst titles in a row with an intense pitstop practice at Queensland Raceway. Dane said he was happy with the 14-second driver change between current champion and points leader Jamie Whincup and four-time Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes. “With these stops, it’s not just about speed, it’s about consistency,” he said. The drivers will race Lowndes’s 888 car and use his race engineer, Jeromy Moore, for the endurance rounds at Phillip Island next week and Bathurst next month. Moore said yesterday he was happy with yesterday’s testing, although there was little experimentation they could do on car set-up as the Ipswich track was so different from Phillip Island. The team’s 88 car will be driven by two-time British touring car champion James Thompson of the UK and Allan Simonsen of Denmark. Dane said the overseas drivers’ changes needed some work as Thompson had never done them before.