General Motors, maker and distributor of quality Pontiac parts has previously announced their plan of exporting Commodores and selling them in the US in the guise of Pontiac. Now that plan is finally going to be realized since last week General Motors has confirmed an export deal to sell up to 50,000 Commodores in the US badged as the Pontiac G8.
Holden Commodores has become Australia’s best-selling car since it entered the market in 1978. The Commodore is 5 meters long and 1.9 meters wide and provides a spacious seating space for five. It is also one of the biggest volume-selling sedans in the world.
Holden Chairman and managing Director Denny Mooney says that after Commodore’s expansion it is already big enough and definitely is not going to get any bigger since it doesn’t need to. Instead the Commodore is set to lose weight after its latest VE model was criticized. It should be noted that the Commodore is gaining 100 kg in one generation.
It’s been three decades and the Commodore has grown 19cm in length, 18cm in width and 10cm in height.
According to Mr. Mooney, "The Commodore may get lighter,” since he is aware of the 10.9 L/100 km official fuel economy for the 3.6-litre V6. But real-world figures recorded by Drive put the figures at the mid-11 L/100 km mark.
Reducing the Commodore’s weight is an expensive exercise but can improve fuel consumption and performance. The present VE Commodore weighs 1.7 tons and almost half a ton more than the original VB Commodore of 1978. It has a 3.6 liter engine which is more efficient than ever. It’s also much bigger compared to the entry-level VB Commodore with 2.8 liter six cylinder engine and revving 181% more power.
Mr. Mooney has also acknowledged the fact that unstable fuel prices have affected the sales of the VE Commodore which was made available last August. Although the Commodore has remained Australia’s best selling car, its sales has suffered and right now it’s at a 16-year low.
Mr. Mooney has also stressed that the current Commodore didn’t need to be as big as it is. According to him, "If you would have taken the old (VZ Commodore) footprint it was probably big enough.”
However the American Holden executive doesn’t want to make the Commodore any smaller with future generations pointing to the fact that current car size are just right for both Australians and the rest of the world.
Commodore competes in the large-car segment which is experiencing waning sales as most buyers are shifting to smaller cars and higher fuel prices, increased competition and reduced import tariffs. But Mr. Mooney still believes that there is still a strong market for large cars stressing the fact that Commodore is still Australia’s best selling car. "There are still a lot of people who want to buy large cars," he says. "It's still the one advantage we (Australia) have. We can export these."
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