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Commodore or Insignia, what's it to be?
We have talked about this before saying that Holden Australia will look to Opel in Europe to source vehicles to be sold in Australia and New Zealand. As we get closer to the time we are seeing more information coming through.
It now looks like the new start for Holden in 2018 will be back where it all began with Commodore in 1978 from General Motors’ European division. For those who can still remember the first Commodore was of course a rebadged, restyled European German Opel.
This will mean no V8 vehicle in any Holden showroom for the first time since 1968 and no Ute for the first time since 1951 with the only choice a four-cylinder or V6 engine under the bonnet.
Holden did think initially to source the Commodore’s replacement from China but heavy demand by Chinese consumers and their hunger for motor vehicles, it’s expected that every car made in China will be snapped up by the local market.
Officially Holden has yet to confirm their final plans but news stories we have seen, are saying that senior Holden executives have already test driven the new generation car in Germany during the early phases of its development. They are not keen yet to discuss future models but the replacement Commodore has to come from the General Motors’ global vehicle portfolio.
We think the debate must have started by now within the Holden team if they will keep the Commodore name or adopt the European Insignia name from Opel. We have read that some people at Holden want to keep the Commodore badge and others want the change. It depends which way you look at it. It will be a different car outside and inside so maybe a new Insignia name will work best.
However the biggest change of all, apart from a possible name change, is that the new generation 2018 Commodore or Insignia engine will drive the front wheels. Every single Holden Commodore since 1978 has delivered its power to the rear-wheels. This is something the hard-core Commodore fan will find the hardest to deal with even more than a change of name.
November 2014
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| Holden Commodore | Opel Insignia |
It now looks like the new start for Holden in 2018 will be back where it all began with Commodore in 1978 from General Motors’ European division. For those who can still remember the first Commodore was of course a rebadged, restyled European German Opel.
This will mean no V8 vehicle in any Holden showroom for the first time since 1968 and no Ute for the first time since 1951 with the only choice a four-cylinder or V6 engine under the bonnet.
Holden did think initially to source the Commodore’s replacement from China but heavy demand by Chinese consumers and their hunger for motor vehicles, it’s expected that every car made in China will be snapped up by the local market.
Officially Holden has yet to confirm their final plans but news stories we have seen, are saying that senior Holden executives have already test driven the new generation car in Germany during the early phases of its development. They are not keen yet to discuss future models but the replacement Commodore has to come from the General Motors’ global vehicle portfolio.
We think the debate must have started by now within the Holden team if they will keep the Commodore name or adopt the European Insignia name from Opel. We have read that some people at Holden want to keep the Commodore badge and others want the change. It depends which way you look at it. It will be a different car outside and inside so maybe a new Insignia name will work best.
However the biggest change of all, apart from a possible name change, is that the new generation 2018 Commodore or Insignia engine will drive the front wheels. Every single Holden Commodore since 1978 has delivered its power to the rear-wheels. This is something the hard-core Commodore fan will find the hardest to deal with even more than a change of name.
November 2014
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