Next Holden Commodore To Be Made In China, Sport 4-Cylinder Engine
Just as TTAC predicted in earlier editorials, Holden will be receiving vehicles imported from China as part of its future product plan – the vehicle slated to be imported from China is no less than the next generation Commodore.
Previous reports suggested that the next-gen Commodore would be a Camry-sized front-drive model that would also be sold as a Buick. Now the details have become clearer. The car was slated to be twinned with a Buick model made exclusively for the Chinese market and built in both China and Australia. But now that Holden has lost its Australian factories, China will be the sole location for the car’s production, and the Commodore will go ahead as a “Made in China” vehicle.
Holden will also offer a 4-cylinder engine for the first time since the 1980s, and Holden personnel are fighting to have a V6 available as an option. Holden last offered a 4-cylinder Commodore in the 1980s, and sales were dismal. Ford recently offered a Falcon with a 2.0L Ecoboost, but it accounted for less than 10 percent of sales.
According to NewsCorp, Holden feels that it’s easier to stick with the Commodore nameplate despite the drastic changes, rather than launch a whole new nameplate. The new car is said to be 196 inches long (one inch longer than the current car), and just as wide as today’s VF Commodore, but will look more like a European pseudo-coupe rather than the brawny, slab-sided look of the traditional Commodore.
There’s little doubt that a Commodore of this nature will be poorly received, with what’s left of the full-size Aussie sedan cohort rejecting this car as being an unworthy successor to the Commodore legacy. Holden’s marketing team is going to have a seriously difficult task on their hands come 2017.
More by Derek Kreindler
Comments
Join the conversation
I realize that's a Chinese market car and does resemble lesser US models (ie Merc Sable) but with minor changes I think its an attractive car. TTAC has helped me appreciate at least some Chinese new car drivers have excellent taste. I wish I could say the same of my countrymen.
A minor correction, there was a 2.0 4-cyl engine in the VN Commodore, for some export markets (NZ included), the VN ceased production in 1991, so this will be the first 4 in a Commodore since the 90's.....