Holden Commodore News

V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup starred instead as his team, Triple Eight Racing, confirmed a switch from Ford to Holden and revealed a Commodore in TeamVodafone's racing colours.Lowndes avoided the event to continue a commitment with Ford which does not finish until his personal contract with the blue oval brand ends on December 31. He was not even answering his phones yesterday."I'm expecting we'll have him in a Commodore on January 1," Triple Eight boss, Roland Dane, joked yesterday as he explained the absence of his star driver."Craig stayed away out of respect to his existing contract. That is very fair. And a measure of how he conducts himself. I would expect nothing less."But it was still a letdown for the Holden faithful, who are already trumpeting the return of the V8 Supercar hero who made his name and fame in Commodores before defecting to Ford in 2001.Lowndes is easily the best-known and most popular racing driver in Australia, a crown he claimed reluctantly after the death of his good friend, mentor and former team mate Peter Brock.He has now done a similar mentoring job on Whincup who, like him, began his V8 Supercar career with Holden before switching to Ford to get on the fast track to wins at Bathurst and in the championship."We are very excited about working with TeamVodafone and are thrilled to welcome back both Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup to the Holden family," the man who signed the multi-million deal, Holden's sales and marketing boss Alan Batey, said yesterday.He is expected to confirm a renewed deal with the Holden Racing Team as early next week as the red lion brand consolidates its V8 Supercar spending on teams it believes can win. The loser is likely to be Kelly Racing, which was set up this year by Todd and Rick Kelly with backing from Jack Daniels.As the deal was confirmed, Dane finally admitted he had fielded a call from Holden this year about bringing Triple Eight into the red team. But he denied signing as a get-square with Ford after it cut its funding to the team at the end of last year."That would be completely meaningless. I see it as a great opportunity to be aligned with one of the most iconic brands in Australia," Dane said. "And I see it as a challenge to Triple Eight. The sort of challenge we like. And a return to our roots with GM."Dane forecast early wins for the Vodafone Commodores in 2010 but said his company would continue with its existing supply contracts with Dick Johnson and Paul Cruickshank, which switched this year to the latest Triple Eight-built FG Falcon."Wins? That's the plan," he said. "We will continue our supplier relationship. We supply parts to every team in the V8 Supercar pitlane, bar two."Triple Eight already has a Commodore in its Brisbane workshop and its wizard chief engineer, Ludo Lacroix, has begun work on the team's racing version."He is excited about it. He likes the challenge," Dane said. 

Triple Eight Racing will become a Holden team in 2010, joining the Holden Racing Team as one of the company's two official racing arms in a deal worth at least $3 million.Ironically, the move will also put Lowndes back into a Holden Commodore. A three-year deal will be confirmed at 11am today in Melbourne, although no-one at Holden or Triple Eight was prepared to discuss the details yesterday."No comment at the moment. Try me again later tomorrow," the owner of Triple Eight and pitlane general for TeamVodafone, Roland Dane, told the Herald Sun yesterday.Holden's motorsport manager Simon McNamara would not return calls, although there has been open discussion inside the company since the start of the year about a plan to get the company back into the winner's circle."We do not like to lose," says one senior manager.The Triple Eight defection comes after the team was sacked by Ford at the end of last year, partly because the TeamVodafone racing colours were considered too close to Holden's red and too far away from the corporation's blue oval. Ford switched all of its funding to two teams, Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers Racing, which have failed to win in 2009.Dane retaliated by removing all Ford badges from the Falcons raced by Lowndes and reigning V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup, replacing the one in the grille with a Hog's Breath Cafe logo.But he still pushed ahead with development and construction of all-new FG Falcons for TeamVodafone, as well as Triple Eight's customers, Dick Johnson and Paul Cruickshank. How the Holden switch will affect those deals is not yet clear.The timing of the move to Holden has been made easier because Lowndes' personal contract with Ford ends at the end of 2009. Direct manufacturer deals with V8 Supercar drivers are banned but his was allowed to run its course, forcing Triple Eight to field him in a Falcon this year.Triple Eight's move to Holden is, in some ways, a homecoming.Its British division has run the official touring car team for Vauxhall - the equivalent of GM Holden - for many years and the new head of Holden, Alan Batey, is a former Vauxhall employee.The signing of Triple Eight will not have a significant impact on the Holden Racing Team, although it could take a funding cut. But other teams in the red camp, including Kelly Racing and Garry Roger's Valvoline team, could see their support trimmed or ended.HRT is moving towards a renewal of its long-term deal with Holden, which is tied to its relationship with Holden Special Vehicles, with an announcement likely as early as next week."We hope to have some good news on that in the next couple of weeks,"says a Holden spokesperson. "Holden has a great history with the team and it is the factory team." 

The Chevrolet Camaro might be built and sold in the USA, but it was designed, developed, tested and approved down under as a spin-off from the VE Commodore. It is named this week among the 31 finalists for the World COTY (see gallery above for full shortlist), and will be judged by a global panel of 60 motoring journalists before the winner is named at the New York Auto Show in April next year.The finalists carry badges from Audi to Toyota and are as diverse as the latest green-power Honda Insight and Toyota Prius to the super luxury Porsche Panamera."The list came from the manufacturers, who sent us their eligible cars for the year. There may be one or two more yet, because a couple of companies might have some extra models before the end of the year," says WCOTY co-chairman, Peter Lyon. "For example, there is the Mercedes SLS Gullwing. We don't know yet when it will go on sale."Apart from the World COTY contest, the same judging panel also decides the World Performance Car of the Year (see gallery), World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the year.So far there are 18 potential winners in the performance category, from the Aston Martin V12 Vantage to the Renault Clio 3 Renault Sport. Judging on all fronts now advances to the semi-finals, three cars in each case, which will be named at the Geneva Motor Show at the start of March. Then it is over to the judges to drive, assess and vote."This year we have 60 judges altogether. We've capped at that number, after adding a couple of new judges this year," says Lyon. "Originally we had about 44 judges. But 60 is the basic number of the North American, European and Japanese COTY awards and that seemed like the right number.""We've got judges now for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We've basically covered 25 or 26 countries, from Australia to Russia and everywhere between."Lyon says the basics of the award have not changed for the sixth judging and he makes no apologies for the list of contenders. "The German and Japanese cars are romping it in again. It's basically a reflection of the quality of car manufacturing today. The Japanese and Germans are making the best cars in the world, full stop," he says."But we think, of all the Car of the Year awards, this is the most natural. There is no pressure on any of the judges. They just vote for the best cars as they see them in their countries." 

The Pontiac G8 program finishes at the end of the year but there was hope of a new direction with trans-Pacific shipments from GM Holden under the luxury Caprice nameplate for use in the Chevrolet family.GM's product guru Bob Lutz, flagged a fresh opening for the Commodore last week when he said it was being considered for a born-again export deal.But Lutz has now back-flipped."The G8 will not be a Caprice after all," Lutz says.He has just been lured from the brink of retirement, at 77, to become the marketing and public relations chief for the company now known as 'New GM'. It is emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the USA much faster than anyone predicted, although there are still doubts over some sales — including Opel of Germany — and questions about the future product line-up.Lutz was expected to finish with GM in December and there has already been a serious shake-up among the heads of his former engineering division. But he still has big clout and is a major fan of the Commodore and its G8 clone."I'd mentioned it, and said we were studying it, giving it a serious look, because a car like the G8 was just too good to waste. That's all still true," Lutz says."But I have to say that, with my new 'marketing' hat on, upon further review and careful study, we simply cannot make a business case for such a program. Not in today's market, in this economy, and with fuel regulations what they are and will be."With budgets being what they are for the time being, the resources must be allocated elsewhere."Even so, Lutz has not ruled out some future role for Commodore-based cars in the USA.We have a tremendous rear-wheel drive team in Australia that gave us the beloved G8, a team that we will tap into at some point again in the future for its expertise and sheet metal." 

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. 

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.

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."

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