Commodore aims for 8.4L/100km

Holden is about to put the Commodore on a crash diet and is working on a super-frugal engine to take on the four-cylinder Ford Falcon.

Internal testing by Holden has shown that its economy-buster sips just 8.4L/100km of fuel.

However, it is unclear when the model will go on sale -- and it is almost certain the company wasn't planning on announcing it just yet.

Speaking candidly at an end-of-year media luncheon in Melbourne today, the boss of Holden Mike Devereux let slip that his team of engineers were close to achieving a fuel economy number of just 8.4 litres per 100 kilometres -- less than the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord four-cylinder cars -- and better than the current Commodore's figure of 9.1L/100km.

"We're not going to talk about next generation Commodore today ... but we are bullish about the future of large, rear-drive cars," he said. "We know we can get very good economy levels. We were talking earlier at the table about what we would do to get better efficiencies [from engines] ... and whatnot.  And through our light-weighting of this program, over time, we'll get down to 8.4L/100km."

Holden engineers and PR minders looked stunned and their shoulders visibly slumped when the affable Devereux couldn't contain his excitement about the potential fuel efficiency improvements.

Devereux then openly checked with an engineer sitting across the room if the figure was right. "That's the metric isn't it? It is right, that's where we're headed, 8.4 to 8.5L/100km. That's great fuel economy [for a car of the size and space of the Commodore]."

As sales of large cars have fallen to an all-time low, the Australian arch rivals are finding new ways to extract finite levels of efficiency from their big locally made sedans.

In the cut-throat car world, fuel economy numbers are sacred. They are precious yet powerful marketing weapons -- and best kept secret from rivals, lest they know what target to aim for.

Given that Ford is due to release its four-cylinder turbo Falcon mid way through 2011, no doubt their engineers will be double-checking that model's fuel consumption figures to make sure it's better than the Commodore's.

With that in mind, perhaps Devereux has unwittingly delivered a new assignment to the Holden engineering team. Now that Ford knows the Commodore of the future will have a super-efficient engine capable of sipping 8.4L/100km, the engineers may have to go back to the drawing board and find a way to beat the already impressive target it is said to have achieved.

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