Commodore to USA - again

Commodore gets another shot at the American market — and VF will debut earlier than expected?
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Commodore and Holden are back in business in the USA. The local manufacturer will start shipping the Chev-branded production VF Commodore across to the US from late 2013. It has been confirmed now that in America the car will be sold as the Chevrolet SS, a name long associated with the Chevy brand.

The announcement ends months of speculation that the Commodore would fill a premium niche in the Chevrolet range. That speculation grew apace with Chevrolet's official confirmation it would enter a new model in NASCAR from next year, based on a new platform with a new nameplate.

Chevrolet has declared its existing NASCAR campaigner, the Impala, will definitely be put out to pasture at the end of this season. The new race car will debut at Daytona on February 24 next year, raising the prospect of Holden revealing the VF Commodore before then. As the picture here shows, the race car is already being tested for NASCAR racing, camouflaged to the hilt. The Daytona 500 will be a fitting launch venue for the car, given Commodore's Aussie motor sport heritage and successes over the years.

“Holden has a great track record of producing performance cars for GM and the world,” said Greg Tyus, Holden's Executive Director of Engineering, as quoted in a press release issued by Holden yesterday. "We were responsible for the design and engineering of the Chevrolet Camaro, VE Commodore was sold as the Pontiac G8 and we are currently exporting the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle - so we understand the needs of the North American market."

Kate Lonsdale, Holden's Senior Product Communications Manager, was not in a position to reveal much about the export program to motoring.com.au — and certainly not from the Chevrolet perspective — but she did confirm the SS will be a "high-end" model when it goes on sale in the US.

"This vehicle's going to be a top-end, premium vehicle; it's a high-performance sedan, so it's a really niche-volume product," Ms Lonsdale said. Holden is not revealing how many cars it hopes to export to the US, with Ms Lonsdale simply reiterating it will be a "niche product". Nor could she say how Chevrolet will price the car in the US.

"That's a question for Chevrolet and they're not announcing pricing until closer to the launch. It's still some way off."

Holden is sticking to the "icing on the cake" line the company trots out whenever talk turns to exports, but it's clearly good news for the folks at Fishermans Bend.

"We will continue to pursue targeted, profitable export programs, however... we're making sure first and foremost we're profitable domestically. Any export program on top of that is a lovely bonus," said Ms Lonsdale. "[The export program] shows confidence in our product and I think the US are excited as we are about this, and we're getting some good feedback from some of the speculation that's been out..."

If there's one hurdle to overcome, it's the viability of the program with the Aussie dollar at historically high levels, although currency exchange rates have been considered in establishing the framework for this deal.

"If [we] had a crystal ball it would make our jobs a lot easier," said Ms Lonsdale. "Our feeling is that we've taken into account the current exchange rate with this program and the fact that it is sort of a more high-end, less price-sensitive market [sector] does help. It's not easy to export to the US at the moment, but that's been taken into account."

The VF model is shaping up to be significantly lighter than the current VE model Commodore — which indicates major changes to the platform, the underpinnings and sheet metal to reflect the depth of those changes. But how different will the Chev SS look, in contrast with the Commodore?

"[We're] Not announcing anything specific about the product," Ms Lonsdale replied, "but it will have Chevrolet cues."

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