Confirmed: GM kills off the rear-drive V8

Any prospects of Holden offering a rear-wheel drive V8 model in Australia after it axes Commodore production in 2017 now appear unlikely, following confirmation that GM will not produce a right-hand drive version of the next Camaro or a replacement for Holden's export Commodore, the Chevrolet SS.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity at the SEMA aftermarket show in Las Vegas last week, a senior GM executive told motoring.com.au that – like the latest C7 Corvette – the new 2016 Camaro will remain a left-hand drive model.

Resurrected after a seven-year hiatus, Chevrolet's two-door Camaro coupe and convertible model emerged in fifth-generation guise in 2009, produced in Canada and based on the same Holden-engineered Zeta platform as the Commodore.

Despite its Australian roots it was never produced in RHD, but that situation had been expected to change with the sixth-generation Camaro, which could emerge as early as January's Detroit motor show.

The MY2016 Camaro will be based on GM's newer rear-drive Alpha platform and built at its upgraded Lansing plant in Michigan, but GM now appears to have quashed plans for a RHD export version.

The GM executive said the RHD Camaro program has not been cancelled, but is now "highly unlikely", all but eliminating any hope of it becoming a direct rival for Ford's new Mustang in Australia.

Interestingly, he said this was a shame since Holden carried out chassis tuning for the new Camaro, and that GM is now looking closely at fitting the suspension and carbon brake package from the existing Camaro Z/28 to the Commodore-based Chevy SS/Commodore.

Similarly, the well-placed GM exec said there was no plan to produce a replacement for the Chevy SS after imports ceased from Australia at the end of 2017, which would leave Chevrolet without a large RWD sedan in US showrooms.

The Chevy SS was launched as Chevrolet's first rear-drive V8 sedan in 17 years and the basis of its high-profile NASCAR campaign in 2012.

More importantly for Australians, the lack of a Chevy SS replacement means Holden will cease to offer any RWD V8 sedan in Australia – despite the fact V8s currently comprise a sizeable 37 per cent of Commodore sales.

That's because the Commodore's replacement will almost certainly be imported from Germany and based on Opel's next Insignia, which will remain a front- and all-wheel drive, four- and six-cylinder model.

Holden had been tipped to continue to sell a V8 RWD sedan beyond the current Commodore's demise in 2017 in the form of an imported replacement for the Chevy SS, built in the US.

Earlier, former Holden chief and now GM North America president Mark Reuss had courted a 'Zeta legacy' plan in which Holden would continue to build the 'Holden SS' in Adelaide and sell it alongside the imported Commodore, which may or may not continue the Commodore name.

As we've reported, Holden will produce the VF Commodore – which will be facelifted for MY16 by this time next year, when the SS should be fitted with HSV's upgraded 6.2-litre LS3 V8 — until late 2017 and expects to continue selling vehicles into 2018.

Similarly, Toyota Australia will release a facelifted Camry early next year before it too ceases local production in 2017, after which a redesigned Camry is expected to be imported from Thailand.

A year earlier in 2016, Ford will end production of the final Falcon and Territory, both of which will be released next week. At that point its largest passenger car will become the new Mondeo, which will be launched next year alongside the all-new Everest, New Mustang and facelifted Focus.