Alpha platform for 21st Century Torana

Suddenly, push is better than pull; not in the snow states of the USA perhaps, but in many other parts of America. And by dint, the GM world.

Rear-wheel drive is gathering traction in the USA after three decades of front-wheel drive development. The success of the Chrysler 300C and the anticipation of the Holden-built Pontiac G8, pundits say, has led GM to consider a smaller platform with drive to the rear.

Pontiac's G6 is a mid-size car built on the Opel Vectra platform which can also be found under the Chevy Malibu, the Cadillac BLS and the Saab 9-3. Come 2010 the G6 is expected to be replaced by a car built on GM's new rear-wheel drive (RWD) Alpha platform.

According to US sources, from 2011, a host of other GM models are to be introduced with rear-wheel drive, courtesy of Alpha.

These possibly include an Epica-sized RWD car for Holden. Cut-price US-only brand Saturn is said to be developing a Alpha-based car to replace the current Aura, an Americanised Vectra. The new Saturn may be the basis for the mid-size RWD Holden.

If the Holden version of Alpha goes ahead, it will be significantly smaller than the current Zeta models and it is this smaller footprint that has led some to speculate that the new car might revive the Torana name. The Torana name was applied to the Torana TT36 concept (pictured) that was hawked around local motor shows prior to the introduction of the VE Commodore.

Interest in this original concept may be fuelling the development of the Alpha platform (more here), which uses some components from the smaller Kappa platform of the Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Sky (also pictured, along with G6).

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