Holden Monaro (GTO) didn't work...here comes the Commodore!

[Goodspeed]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/hold...21065.html
-Also http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Articl...19977&vf=3

Commodore heads for US car market
Joshua Dowling, Detroit, The Sydney Morning Herald, 09/01/07

General Motors let the cat out of the bag early at the Detroit motor show when it announced that Holden's VE Commodore SS would be exported to America, reports JOSHUA DOWLING.

Commodore: will be sold as a Pontiac.
Australia's biggest-selling car, the Holden Commodore, will be exported to the United States, it was unofficially confirmed at the Detroit motor show last night.

The announcement was not due to be made until next month's Chicago motor show. But the worldwide head of product development for General Motors, Bob Lutz, gave away more than he was supposed to during a press conference.

Just minutes after Holden officials refused to answer questions about the Commodore's export program, Mr Lutz revealed details about the deal.

The Commodore SS, a V8-powered sports sedan, will be sold as a Pontiac from late this year or early next year.

Holden expects to export 30,000 Commodores annually, about half what it sells locally.

"We are seriously planning to import a lot of Commodore SS sedans as Pontiac G8s," Mr Lutz said, adding that Holden could export up to 50,000 Commodores a year if the model was priced correctly.

Mr Lutz said the export of the Holden Monaro as a Pontiac GTO from 2003 to 2006 (during which 40,000 of the V8 coupes were sold) brought Holden's expertise to the attention of its parent company, General Motors in North America.

"We are yet to officially announce it," Mr Lutz said of the Commodore export deal, once he realised he had made a faux pas. He eventually admitted that selling the V8 version of the Commodore in the US was a logical thing to do as it filled a void in Pontiac's line-up.

"While (the Monaro's) export program may not have fulfilled all of our hopes and dreams in terms of profitability and volume, it did break the ice on global programs."

The export deal comes at a crucial time for the Commodore. It has been Australia's biggest-selling car for 11 years but sales are at a 16-year low as imports flood Australia.

Holden already exports to the Middle East five times as many Statesmans as it sells locally and exports are increasingly being viewed as a key to the Commodore's survival.

Sales of large, locally made sedans were at a 16-year low in 2006 as buyers embraced small cars.

Last year, sales of the Ford Falcon were their lowest since the late 1960s. Ford is yet to announce an export deal but an updated Falcon due in March 2008 will have the capability to be built in left-hand drive.

When Holden developed the new Commodore, released last August, it did so with American regulations in mind. This has made the transformation from a Commodore to a Pontiac relatively simple.





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With all the support the GTO seems to have among those in MM, I thought some of you would like to see this 8)

[D_Eclipse9916]

Old news, but I really like that sedan, I would consider, that, too bad they just dont bring it over as an exact copy except left hand drive.

[Feersty]

I would love to see that badging over here. I think that novelty would sell them like hotcakes. Pontiac G8? Boring!

[Ginger]

too bad they just dont bring it over as an exact copy except left hand drive.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Get ready for another vanilla-style car!

[CaptainHenreh]

too bad they just dont bring it over as an exact copy except left hand drive.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Get ready for another vanilla-style car!

Maybe they learned their less on with the GTO?

I mean, we should be getting a pedestrian G8 with a V6, and then a G8, uh, GXP I suppose with a V8.

Here's hoping.

[Hunter]

Yea, I do hope they realize that the process of "turning it into a pontiac" that they go through is the same as "sucking everything exciting out of a car" (I some how doubt the muscular body work will be left alone.)


I do think feersty is on to something with the badging, I mean whenever I see the pontiac badge I automatically seem to put the car in the "don't care" part of my brain. I'm not saying they dont make some decent cars, it's just my natural reaction. Selling it as a Holden would make it seem more exotic and exciting than just slapping a pontiac badge on it.

[Evan]

I think there is way too much pontiac-hate lingering from the days of plastic body cladding and azteks. The recent pontiacs have looked damn good. Solstice, GTO, G6 all have clean graceful lines and are great looking cars. In fact the GTO looks much better than the Monaro version.

If this thing is agile and cheap enough it will be hard to pass up.

[JustinG]

I think there is way too much pontiac-hate lingering from the days of plastic body cladding and azteks. The recent pontiacs have looked damn good. Solstice, GTO, G6 all have clean graceful lines and are great looking cars. In fact the GTO looks much better than the Monaro version.

If this thing is agile and cheap enough it will be hard to pass up.

i agree with you the styling has gotten much much better. But, all Pontiacs look the exact same, same ass end and same front end. i honestly have trouble telling their lineup of cars apart. Aside from the solstice they all just look the same. I dont want a GTO that looks like a grandprix, nor a commodore that looks like a bonneville. But we shall see, hopefully GM doesnt fuck this up like their current "SS" Impala.

[.RJ]

I dont want a GTO that looks like a grandprix, nor a commodore that looks like a bonneville.

But you drive a turbo awd eclipse that looks like every other chick car base model eclipse?

[JackoliciousLegs]

ouch... from a miata owner :roll:

[JustinG]

I dont want a GTO that looks like a grandprix, nor a commodore that looks like a bonneville.

But you drive a turbo awd eclipse that looks like every other chick car base model eclipse?

:?:

not my point, they are all the same model, my point is all their DIFFERENT models look the same. My car looks nothing like the galant, or any other car in Mitsubishi's lineup at the time.

[.RJ]

That is the point though. You want them to look different because one is cooler/faster than the other.

[JustinG]

im just trying to say they should try and make each car its own unique design

[Sijray21]

hmm...interesting.

i'm on the look-out for a sporty sedan that is priced within my range and this could potentially be in that range when i'm planning on buying a new car.

[G.Irish]

I dont want a GTO that looks like a grandprix, nor a commodore that looks like a bonneville.

But you drive a turbo awd eclipse that looks like every other chick car base model eclipse?

:?:

not my point, they are all the same model, my point is all their DIFFERENT models look the same. My car looks nothing like the galant, or any other car in Mitsubishi's lineup at the time.

I agree. This is one problem I have with Mercedes. I can't tell the difference between this class and that class except for the size of the vehicle. All of their sedans look basically the same.

Pontiac is not as big of an offender on this front but some of their models do sort of run together for me.

[CaptainHenreh]

I'm pretty excited about this. Zeta platform car would be say, slightly smaller than a CTS, same platform as the new Camerobird...I think it has lots of potential as long as the price point is correct.

GM has a real chance to steal the entry level sports sedan crowd, as long as they play their cards right.

[Goodspeed]

Its a shame the Holden brand name probably wouldn't work here since its not an established-in-America name, because "Holden Commodore" sounds so much better than Pontiac G8. American names suck.

[PGK]

So, I assume we get the hood scoops a-la GTO and kidney grill? Are they just going to keep throwing foreign-market cars at the US?

If so, then please bring this:

[Jeff]

I want the Holden truck...that thing is freakin sweet!!! But I have a soft spot for "truck cars"