The Pontiac G8 wasn't enough. Even before we got our all-too-brief sample of Aussie engineering, the land down under held a special place in the hearts of rear-drive American enthusiasts; Australia was still doing proper, full size, rear-drive sedans.
The biggest name Aussie rear-drive goodness is the Holden Commodore which is designed and engineered by Australians for Australia. But that may all be coming to an end.
While the Commodore has been the best-selling car in Aus for the last 15 years, there are grumblings that the car will be switching to a global, front-drive platform by 2017. The rumor began when Chris Walton, chief of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers union and not our chief road test editor of the same name, said that senior Holden management told him that the car being worked on now -- set for a 2014 release -- would be the last made in Australia.
"The members heard a rumor after someone from Detroit came out and so we approached Holden and they advised us that it was highly likely the next Commodore, the 2014 model, will be the last Commodore engineered and designed in Australia," said Walton to News.com.au, a Newscorp publication.
Holden, of course, was quick to deny that anything was changing or that any decision had been made. Spokeswoman Emily Perry told Australia's Drive, "We're committed to designing, engineering and building cars in Australia and nothing has changed."
If Holden were to move production of the Commodore from Australia and onto a global front-drive platform, as many as 350 jobs could be lost from the Fisherman's Bend facility in Port Melbourne and thousands more in local supply jobs.
Beyond lamenting the potential death of a car we don't get to play with anymore, the team from Holden was instrumental in the development of the current Camaro. Abandoning a talented engineering team that can build cars both Australians and Americans crave seems like short-sighted bean-counting.
This fight is just starting, don't expect final word on this any time soon.
haub says:
06:49 PM, 11/ 3/11
Wouldn't this nullify the "new" Caprice for Chevrolet and as well, the Middle East versions of the platform? Unless it all gets moved to Canada with the Camaro production line... which I don't see happening.
Senseless rumors are senseless.
teampenske3 says:
07:30 PM, 11/ 3/11
Wait...wait...wouldn't this make V8Supercars (and Bathurst) a one-make series?
Also, does this mean the end of the Holden Ute? And various HSV and Walkinshaw performance versions? Noooooooo...
But seriously, there is no way that GM Aus is dumb enough to make the new Commodore front-drive. They'd basically be conceding V8Supercars to the Ford Falcon. Plus, GM spent a ton on a new engineering facility in Australia as well. We were discussing this in Jalopnik yesterday, I don't think GM can afford to let that facility go to waste.
ed124c says:
06:57 AM, 11/ 4/11
Really, guys. Do you think that good old/new GM cares about any of the above comments? GM will just go ahead and do whatever the beancounters say will be best for the corporation.
gregnv says:
09:26 AM, 11/ 4/11
At some point someone needs to remind GM that bean counters got GM into its previous mess. The Roger Smith years were marked by a view that profits ruled, thus reducing cost and maintaining margins while loosing marketshare was a virtue. When the market stopped buying sufficient numbers of uncompetitive cars from GM, they found that recapturing market share is difficult and expensive. Sounds like they are doomed to repeat the past, focusing purely on cost and margin rather than on vehicles the market wants.
deagle13 says:
10:49 AM, 11/ 4/11
All that Chris Walton said was the next Commodore might not be "engineered and designed in Australia". He doesn't mention assembly (he represents an engineer's union, after all). Interpreting this as a move to FWD reeks of media fear-mongering.
Did anyone think to consider that the next Commodore could be based on the global RWD platform that will also support the next gen Camaro, Cadillac ATS, Cadillac CTS, etc...?
stovt001 says:
12:39 PM, 11/ 4/11
I think the V8 Supercars are changing to be less production based next year, so perhaps they're thinking of going the NASCAR model and branding their V8 powered RWD race cars as everyday FWD family sedans. I would hate to see that happen, but that is one way that they could move to a FWD platform while keeping their V8 supercars presence.
scottyscooter says:
11:08 AM, 11/ 6/11
I actually do believe that GM is stupid enough to do this. What a shame.