Holden Commodore News

Ford is the latest manufacturer to join the rush to space-saver spare tyres. From October the Falcon range will come with a temporary space-saver spare tyre as standard despite the company's insistence last year that there were no plans to follow Holden's lead.“There was criticism of Holden when the VE was launched without a full-size spare and some of it was from us,” Ford Australia President Tom Gorman conceded in announcing the Blue Oval's move.Holden launched its VE range with a standard space-saver spare, an industry first for the Australian-made family-car market.“Since then we have been watching the market and this is where the market is moving. Consumers are telling us by what they are buying that a temporary spare tyre is not a major issue.”Gorman says a full-size spare will be available as an option in line with Holden's marketing, and the price of a full-size alloy has been cut from $400 to $150, while a 16 inch steel spare is $100.“It has become obvious that the full-size spare gave us no commercial advantage in the market,” Gorman says. While the move will trim 5kg from the Falcon's overall weight, Gorman says it will not provide any significant savings for the company in production costs nor shift the Falcon's fuel-economy rating.“There are some small savings but nothing that is going to make any real impact,” he says.While the last of current Falcons will be made with a spare tyre well capable of holding the optional full-size wheel, that will not be the case when the new Orion range arrives early next year.Gorman says the market's acceptance of space-savers spares will provide extra flexibility for the Orion cars with the possibility of two boot configurations, one for customers who are satisfied with a space-saver and want extra storage space and another for those who specify a full-size spare.Ford has also deleted the Barra 220 and Barra 230 V8s from its engine range.The decision to no longer offer the 5.4-litre 24-valve engine was driven by the Ford North American's decision to close the Essex plant in Windsor, Ontario, where the engine is made.“In reality it is not that big a decision,” he says. “We were only selling around 10 of those engines a month. We are not talking big numbers.”The affected models are the Fairmont Ghia, the Fairlane G220 and G8 and the LTD. The XR performance cars will not be affected as they use the 32-valve V8 which is still freely available.Gorman says Ford Australia has stockpiled enough of the three-valve engines to meet model demand until the arrival of the Orion. While Ford struggles to bolster its Falcon sales in the run-up to the arrival of the all-new model early next year, Gorman says he still has faith that the new car market will tip one million sales this year.“There are a couple of factors that could impact in the latter half of the year,” Gorman says. “Interest rates (rising) will have an effect. The federal election is another factor out of our control, but in any event the market will be one million and that will be a record.” 

The next-generation Ford Falcon will go better and use less fuel than the current BA model.The Orion-series Falcon will be on the road in March and take Ford's elderly in-line six into its final years before it is replaced by an imported V6 in 2010.But Ford Australia has not given up on the engine, company vice-president of product development Trevor Worthington promises CARSguide some significant improvements for next year, when it appears in the Orion.“The engine has a lot more opportunity in it and we are going to wring its neck for all of that opportunity,” Worthington says.“I'm not going to sit here and say what we are doing, but every time we have improved the engine since BA, (including) performance, fuel economy and refinement and you can be guaranteed we are going to continue down that path.”The Falcon's in-line six was substantially upgraded for the introduction of the BA Falcon model range in 2002 with a package that included twin-overhead camshafts with variable valve timing, as well as the turbo for the XR6.The engine was further improved for the introduction of the 2005 BF Falcon, when camshaft revisions increased power to 190kW and torque to 383Nm.Significantly, fuel consumption was reduced and the six-speed ZF automatic transmission added.That gave the six-speed BF Falcon an official fuel economy figure of 10.2 litres for 100km - 0.7 litres less than the leanest model in the VE Commodore range, though still 0.3 litres more than Toyota's locally developed Aurion V6.GM Holden's $1 billion VE Commodore did not deliver a significant improvement in fuel economy last year and some models actually used slightly more fuel because of extra weight, than the models they replaced.Worthington does not name the VE, but hints at Holden's competitor to the Falcon when he says it is imperative that any new Ford model should deliver fuel savings over the last.“That is what the customers want. If you are not moving forwards, you are going backwards,” he says.“You can't introduce a new car and (have) worse fuel economy. Some of our rivals have done that, but if you were a customer, what would you say?”He says other elements of the car must be as good or better than those of the previous models and it is the same with the engine.“If I get into a car and I have worse ergonomics or worse brakes . . . if you are trading in the old one, you expect everything to get better, and the powertrain is a really big part of it.”Though some improvements will be introduced for the Orion Falcon, others include design changes that would have seen the in-line six upgraded to satisfy Euro4 emission requirements, which were frozen when Ford Australia decided to switch to a US-sourced V6 from 2010. 

The traditional six-cylinder family sedan is clawing its way back into the minds of car buyers.In doing so, family car buyers are helping the market continue its record run, according to the latest Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries sales figures.Last month, large-car sales rose 1945 vehicles, or 18.6 per cent, medium-car sales increased 1323, or 21.7 per cent, and compact crossover-wagon sales were up 1468, or 23.7 per cent.The Holden Commodore continues to be the most popular six, and 5134 sold last month. Ford sold 3186 Falcons, Toyota's Aurion managed 1925 and Mitsubishi sold 949 of its 380.Vfacts industry figures for July show that a record 86,291 cars, trucks and buses were sold, up 8729 vehicles, or 11.3 per cent, on the same month last year.Though most segments enjoyed reasonable growth, the strongest additional sales were in the family-oriented segments of large and medium cars and compact off-roaders.FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar says sales growth this year is more widely spread across segments than last year.“In 2006 the dynamics of the automotive market were dominated by small and light-car sales but this year sales action has been more broadly based,” he says.So far this year the market total of 610,667 vehicles is running 8.9 per cent ahead of the same period last year.The FCAI continues to forecast a record sales year of more than one million vehicles.McKellar says the continued sales buoyancy is pleasing, but he is cautious about the future because of economic challenges ahead.“The overall strength of the market in July is a tremendous result and we are on track for record annual sales, but we shouldn't take the strength of the motor-vehicle market for granted,” he says.“In particular, there is nothing in these sales figures that in any way supports the case for an interest-rate increase. There is no evidence of excess demand in the motor-vehicle market.“Supply has responded strongly to meet consumer demand, competition is intense and vehicle affordability is at record levels.”  Top 10 makes1 Toyota 19,0472 Holden 12,3433 Ford 90064 Mazda 64565 Mitsubishi 53086 Honda 56327 Nissan 45978 Hyundai 40059 Subaru 300710 Volkswagen 2383 Top 10 models 1 Holden Commodore 51342 Toyota Corolla 44603 Toyota HiLux 33004 Ford Falcon 31865 Mazda3 29096 Toyota Yaris 24497 Toyota Camry 19908 Toyota Aurion 19259 Hyundai Getz 172010 Mitsubishi Lancer 1676(Source: VFACTS) 

Check out the our feature story on the VE Ute launch, including great images and video.

It is nearly a year since Peter Brock left us. Memories of him still burn and will burn even brighter thanks to a new book on the great man.Peter Brock is an innovative and original sports book, thanks to the creative approach of HyperActive Inc.The company collected personal pictures, press clippings and race pictures and has assembled them in a book covering Brock's life from start to finish.Added spice comes from personal introductions to each chapter by Brock's family, friends and racing rivals.It is a big book, bold and bright and straight to the point, much like the man himself.Turning the pages is like flicking through a family album, from school pictures to Brock's early racing days and his incredible Bathurst successes.There are some great memories from his brothers, Neil, Phil, Lewis and his race mates."The first time I met Peter Brock was during the 1971 Hattah Desert Rally," race rival Larry Perkins says. "He was broken down on the side of the road in a Torana as I flashed past in an EH wagon."“I stopped and towed him back to the finish at a hundred miles an hour. We arrived in a cloud of dust, much to the excitement of the event announcer who thought it was one of the closest finishes ever! Life with Brock was always interesting.”Fellow Holden driver Mark Skaife says: “Like Muhammad Ali, he matched ordinary technique with freakish skills, hand speed and reflexes — the bloke was an absolute superstar.”CARSguide is giving away six copies of Peter Brock. For a chance to win a copy, email the word 'Brocky' to carsguide@heraldsun.com.au with your name, address and a contact phone number. Winners will be notified by return email.If you miss out, buy one anyway. Peter Brock is $79.95 it's a wonderful tribute to a fallen hero. 

With only weeks before Holden pulls the covers off its VE ute the internet is buzzing with speculation about just how the tradesman's sports car will look. And it doesn't stop there. One particularly clever blogger with time and talent to burn on a computer graphics program has come up with a range of possible VE models that may not be too far off the mark.Now circulating via email, the blogger's series of pictures reveal a new Monaro, hatch-back Commodore, utes, a sporty wagon and Crewman.The computer generated images are not pinched from a secret file in the heart of the Holden design centre, but rather morphed out of official Holden press photographs from the launch of the VE Commodore last year. The images take plenty of licence with Holden's corporate design language but have enough reality to them to raise an eyebrow or two.The Holden aficionado site LS1 has been running hot with comment on the CGI models, with most web chat centred around the proposed Monaro comeback styling and the sleek-looking sportswagon.Reaction has been split about the look of the cars but the overall impression is that any Monaro would be a good Monaro and that the wagon should come with the mystery designer's low-riding sporty styling.“Ooo, I like the wagon,” says LS1 poster belz-V8, while dazz5.7 takes the view: “Not much cargo area in the back of the wagon! Needs to be strrreeettccchhhed.”The General “killed off” Monaro as a model with a much publicised auction of the last VZ car, but Holden management was evasive enough at the time to leave open the possibility of some type of future Monaro.Holden will officially reveal its new ute, based on the VE Commodore, on August 22.It is unlikely that the real-world ute will have the apparently-truncated load area evident in these artist's impressions.It is also expected that as well as the standard ute shape, Holden will add the twin-cab Crewman to the line-up. And it is probable that a commercial range of one-tonne derivatives will also be on the market by next year.While there has been no confirmation of a wagon model in the VE line-up, it has been a key player in Holden fleet sales in previous Commodores and speculation is running high that one will join the VE family early next year.“With only a matter of weeks until the VE ute is officially revealed, it's very encouraging that there is already so much excitement ahead of its launch,” says Holden South Australia corporate affairs manager Andrea Matthews.“There's certainly been a great deal of speculation about what it might look like, and all will be revealed soon enough.”While Holden VE ute production is taking place at the Elizabeth plant, the only images of the new machine to emerge have been of heavily disguised vehicles.“Beyond the ute, Holden has not confirmed any other VE derivatives,” Matthews says. 

With the local car industry now at the halfway point in the 2007 sales race, it is easy to see who's winning and who's losing.Toyota is basking in the glory of not only being No.1, but also cementing its sales lead so convincingly that — barring a catastrophe — it will take out the sales crown this year.The Altona-based Japanese company is 40,404 vehicles clear of its nearest rival, Holden. It is also relishing the positive spin of the Corolla knocking off the Holden Commodore last month.But apart from Toyota, other players are also revelling in the good times.Of the importers, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Peugeot managed strong June sales.Mazda sold 6932 cars, with the Mazda3 being the strongest seller on 3037.The company experienced the biggest market share gain of any importer.Its record half-yearly result is 20.3 per cent up on the same time last year, lifting market share from 6.7 per cent in 2006 to 7.5 per cent, a gain of 0.7 percentage points.Subaru's tally was 4085 for the month, with the Forester, Impreza and Liberty all breaking through 1000 sales.Suzuki, like many importers, was buoyed by keen end-of-financial year deals.It sold 2368 cars for the month, bringing its year-to-date tally to 10,910 vehicles, a 43 per cent lift over last year.Of the French, an ever-expanding Peugeot line-up continues to bolster sales, but Renault flops around due to a lack of new product.Peugeot sold 1016 vehicles last month, bringing its year-to-date run-rate to 4549, a 13 per cent lift over last year. The 307 continues to be Peugeot's best seller.By contrast, Renault has a year-to-date total of 1431 vehicles, 32 cars fewer than last year.Even Saab experienced some solid growth, albeit off a low base, as the 9-3 turbodiesel helped lift the marque's appeal.Saab sold 336 cars last month, its best month for 10 years, taking its year-to-date tally to 1148, a 170 per cent lift over last year.The X-Trail, Tiida and Navara continue to drive Nissan sales. The Japanese importer sold 5845 vehicles last month with 31,176 year-to-date, a 20 per cent lift over last year.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries monthly Vfacts figures show that most of the extra volume last month was generated by the light, small and medium car segments.A breakdown of large car sales shows that Holden sold 5588 Commodores last month, Ford 3206 Falcons, Toyota 2626 Aurions and Mitsubishi just 877 380 V6s.All three were eclipsed by the new four-cylinder Corolla, which secured 5890 sales.But a finer look at the figures shows that much of the Corolla's success was down to fleet purchases and pent-up demand for the new car, which spiked figures.But a sale is a sale. Holden's own figures point out that 29 per cent of VE Commodores are bought by private buyers, as opposed to 18.6 per cent for the VT Commodore.Apart from the Corolla, other small car stars were the Mitsubishi Lancer with 2143 sales, Holden Astra 1763 and Ford Focus 1550.Of the tiddlers, Toyota again ruled last month. The Yaris managed 2926 sales against 2486 for the Hyundai Getz, 1361 for the Kia Rio, 1351 for the Suzuki Swift and 1392 for the Honda Jazz.Despite the dominance of the light, small and medium segments, large cars were up 3.7 per cent in June and, in year-to-date terms, are running 5.1 per cent ahead of last year.However, Ford's overall market share has slipped 2 per cent and Holden's by almost 1 per cent, despite its Korean strategy, which was hoping to deliver an increased share.Mitsubishi is a bit stronger, experiencing a 0.6 per cent overall drop in share and, despite Toyota's increasing sales, its share has increased by only about 0.6 per cent.One of the more interesting results was for the Ford Fairlane.Ford sold 149 Fairlanes, bolstered by the news that the long-wheelbase sedan will be axed at the end of the year.Dealers are also reporting a slight pick-up in interest for the car from fleets.Overall, the year-to-date sales figure of 524,376 means that a record 1 million market is likely by December.   Top 10 makes  1 Toyota 24,5392 Holden 14,2563 Ford 10,3044 Mitsubishi 81945 Mazda 69326 Nissan 58457 Honda 57508 Hyundai 50239 Subaru 408510 Volkswagen 2848 Top 10 models1 Toyota Corolla 58902 Holden Commodore 55883 Toyota HiLux 42494 Ford Falcon 32065 Mazda3 30376 Toyota Yaris 29267 Toyota Camry 26458 Toyota Aurion 26269 Hyundai Getz 248610 Mitsubishi Lancer 2143 

Something special is simmering at Holden Special Vehicles as the clock counts down to its 20th-birthday celebrations.

The Holden Commodore is facing the toughest challenge yet to its long reign as Australia's favourite car.An all-new version of Toyota's Corolla has landed and took less than a month to overtake the Commodore.More than 5800 Corollas were delivered in Australia last month, against around 5500 Commodores, although official Vfacts sales figures will not be public until later today.It is the fourth time in the past year that the Corolla has stolen No.1 spot from Commodore for an individual month.However, the GM Holden flagship has not been beaten over a full year, since it ended the last serious challenge from the Ford Falcon more than a decade ago.But the change to an all-new Corolla means Toyota will be able to mount a sustained threat to the Commodore, instead of relying on value prices and rising fuel costs to lure converts and win occasional months.The Vfacts results will also show the best half-yearly industry total on record, at more than 525,000 vehicles, with industry forecasts of the first one-million year looking increasingly accurate.Ford did well with its Falcon and Territory, sales of Mitsubishi commercials were strong, and many brands will claim record months.Toyota and GM Holden are playing down the potential for a Corolla-Commodore contest.“We're pleased at the large car market stabilising, and showing some growth. We've never had a stronger mix and we're getting fantastic retail response,” Alan Batey, Holden's executive director of sales and marketing, said yesterday. 

When talking show cars you usually expect lots of bling, shiny paint jobs and a beautiful but often one-purpose vehicle. Its role is usually to sit there, show off its beauty and draw envy and admiration from impressed onlookers. Rob Godfrey's 10-year project doesn't necessarily have the bling of some other show cars, but it's definitely an eye-catcher and not just in the showroom.His 1972 HQ Holden one-tonner is at home in the showroom, on the road and the drag strip.Over the past 10 years, Godfrey has undertaken three complete rebuilds of his ute because he was never completely happy with it.“There's nothing worse than looking at a car parked next to yours and seeing how much better it is than your own,” he says.“I'm not a trophy hunter but I want to be able to look at a car and say, `That's the best I could do'. Now I did it myself ... that's the best I can do on my time and budget.”Having grown up on a property, Godfrey learned to drive at the age of 10, and bought his first vehicle, this ute, when he was 15.And he's had it ever since.Godfrey used the ute as his daily driver for the first five years, but then took the decision to make it a little more special.Modifications stretch far and wide on this beauty, including a 655 cubic inch big block Chevrolet engine, with a massive 895kW (1200hp), 730kW (930hp) of it at the tyres.And the car wasn't the only thing to undergo a transformation from its original form.“You evolve with the car,” he says. “It takes years of knowledge and experience to know how to do it, 10 years probably to get that knowledge.”He enlisted the help of three friends. A panel beater, a spray painter and one who could teach him all he needed to know about engines.“I definitely couldn't afford to build the car without these guys,” the 30-year-old says. Godfrey says the engine alone would probably be worth the price of an average family car.“It's the type of vehicle you can't put a price on. It's older than me but it's only worth what someone is willing to pay,” he says.Godfrey's one-tonner received a wildcard entry into the Meguiars Superstar final at this weekend's MotorEx. “My car isn't 100 per cent detailed underneath,” he says. “It's driveable and a drag racing car as well. It's not built to push around, it's built to drive.”Godfrey says being invited to be a part of the high-profile show is rewarding enough.And it will bring some variety to the Superstars event, which sees 27 cars from the street machine, hot rod and hi-tech tuner scenes compete for the top awards and a total prize pool of $61,500. Godfrey's ute already has 12 trophies to its name, but this is its first MotorEx.“People seem to really like it. It has a mountain of an engine in it and I think Aussies like the old utes,” he says.“It appeals to the average guy. He can look at it and it's not out of his reach. Some show cars are so pristine, so perfect. I'm very happy ... it's exceeded all expectations.”Godfrey says he only finished the one-tonner at Christmas, so hasn't taken it out much.But he also uses the ute for special occasions such as weddings and says it's not rare for people to follow him and pull over when seeing it.After MotorEx, he will race the car for the first time since the final rebuild.While his wife understands how much dedication is involved and appreciates the car, Godfrey says she is “pretty much over it at this point”, especially since they now have a 12-month-old daughter.So as you can expect for a new father, there aren't any more projects around the corner for the motoring enthusiast.“Not at this stage, one's enough. I'd have to get a divorce,” he jokes.Snapshot1972 HQ Holden One-TonnerOwner: Rob GodfreyEngine: 655 cubic inch big block Chev engine, 895kW at the motor, 730kW at the wheels where you can see it: MotorEx, at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush Bay this weekend.Highlights: 27 street machines, hot rods and hi-tech tuners will compete in the Meguiars Superstar finals and more than 500 hot rods, street machines, performance and classic cars, valued at more than $60 million are on show.