For once, the Chevrolet badges are meant to be here. Unlike the thousands of Commodores in Australia adorned with a ‘bow-tie’ by their owners (a nod to the Chevrolet-sourced V8 under the bonnet) this, er, Commodore is the real deal.
Except it’s not a Commodore here, in the Middle East it’s a Lumina.
Holden has been shipping Commodores and Statemans to this region since the late 1990s, soon after the VT Commodore came out. The export deal was designed to boost output of Holden’s factory in Adelaide – and it was reasonably successful while the Australian dollar was worth somewhere between 50 and 75 US cents.
That all changed a couple of years ago when the value of the Australian dollar began to climb as other currencies tanked in the wake of the GFC. When the AUD passed the 90 cent mark and then eclipsed $1, it was great for anyone wanting to go on vacation to North America – but it was no holiday for Holden. All of a sudden the selling price of the vehicle in the Middle East had to go up – and what little profit Holden managed to eek out took a massive hit.
So in many ways it should come as no surprise that the Holden Commodore export deal to the Middle East ended late last year (2011). Coincidentally this was just months after the planned export deal to Brazil of about 600 cars per annum also folded because of changes there to penalties applied to big cars with big engines.
The Middle East export numbers weren’t huge; Holden shipped about 150 Commodores there in 2011 (and about 4000 Caprices), both of which are way down from the peak in excess of 12,000 cars per annum in the mid-2000s.
Losing the Commodore export program (the Caprice will remain as a luxury vehicle) is akin to Holden losing a small fleet sale – but it is symbolic of our changing taste in cars, even in countries where petrol is cheap and plentiful.
GM executives in Dubai said the void left by the departure of the Commodore will be filled with the Malibu, a four-cylinder, front-drive, mid-size sedan designed to compete with the (Australian-made) Toyota Camry.
What this means when the Malibu goes on sale in Australia mid 2012 – alongside the Commodore – remains to be seen. The Malibu has almost as much interior and boot space as a Commodore yet is cheaper to buy and operate. Holden’s spin team will be in overdrive on that one.
In the meantime, we were lucky enough to go for one last blast in the Commodore, er, Lumina SS in the Middle East desert just outside Dubai.
Apart from the sand blowing across the road, the freeways are like those in any other in the developing nation: brand-new, pitch black and smooth. Presumably there’s not much water around to cause any land subsidence beneath the tarmac crust.
It’s the middle of winter and it’s still 30 degrees and sunny. In summer it gets so hot, locals leave their cars running with the air-conditioning on while they pop into the shops. Theft in Dubai comes with severe penalties, plus there appears to be no shortage of wealth.
Although the Commodore is a family car in Australia, in the Middle East it was most recently sold only as an SS sports sedan; with so few on the road it’s rarer than a Ferrari or a Porsche in these parts. That explains why it turns more than a few heads, although mine nearly spun off my dial when I saw a HSV Clubsport. I almost forgot about those; in 2008 HSV exported a handful badged as Chevrolets.
Dubai itself seems about as big as Melbourne or Sydney CBDs, surrounded by a few sprawling suburbs. But within five minutes of the tallest buildings in the world, you’re in the desert.
Face one way and you have one of the biggest metropolises on the planet, face the other way and you may as well be on the moon. It’s quite surreal.
But being in a Commodore on death row brought me racing back to reality. It occurs to me that if the Middle East – a land with vast open spaces, wide roads, suburban driveways, and plenty of shopping centre parking – hasn’t embraced the Commodore in the same way that Australians have, then where does that leave the future of Holden’s biggest selling nameplate?
Personally, I hope the Lumina makes a comeback to the Middle East when a newer, fitter Commodore arrives some time in the next few years. It deserves a second chance…
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