Holden exports Commodore to the USA

In synchronized (almost) announcements in the USA and Australia, General Motors has confirmed it will sell Australian-built large cars in the USA.

The announcement Down Under took place this morning at Holden's Port Melbourne headquarters which played host to assorted federal, state and US politicians and GM Holden's own heavy hitters. In the USA, as reported last night on CarPoint/Carsales, GM Chairman for North America and product boss (and unofficial Holden 'ambassador') Bob Lutz unveiled the plans to badge the VE Commodore as the new Pontiac G8 at the 99th annual Chicago Auto Show.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director Denny Mooney (pictured with the G8) called the announcement "a very significant event for the local auto industry and the Australian manufacturing sector [as a whole]." He stated it was "further confirmation of how globally competitive our [Holden's] cars really are."

"The announcement highlights GM Holden's expertise in developing, designing, engineering and manufacturing great rear-wheel drive products. This is recognition within the GM world that is well deserved," Mooney said.

Production of the left-hand drive Pontiac G8 will begin at Holden's Elizabeth (SA) plant in the last quarter of 2007.

The program to develop the car cost Holden around $25m, largely due to the requirement to tweak internal and bumper details to satisfy US crash regulations. The deeper structure of the VE Commodore already included USA and other world market requirements.

Mr Mooney said that G8 program would continue for the lifecycle of this Commodore model and stated he believed the car was the start of a "longterm relationship" with the US-based brand.

That said, GM Holden's stylist have not yet penned a facelift for the G8 model.

He stated that as one of GM's smaller US brands, the Holden-Pontiac fit made sense.

"Pontiac is a local brand, just like we're a local brand and to get the kind of inertia required within the [GM] corporation to get the investment levels you need to do a new car you're better off having a partner," Mooney opined.

"As GM develops these global architectures you could see Pontiac and Holden teaming up on some other programs," he said.

Mooney would not be drawn on volume estimates for the G8 program which include both V6 and V8-engined variants of the Commodore SS/SV6-based car.

"I'm not going to give a forecast, because I will be wrong," Mooney joked.

"We think it [Pontiac in the USA] has the potential to be our largest export market," he said. Then, commenting on Lutz's early statements of between 30,000 and 50,000 G8s being sold per year in the USA, Mooney called the estimates: "Not too bad."

He went on the state that he estimated G8 would account for upwards of 20 per cent of Holden's total production. Mooney said Holden would hold short of reinstating a three-shift cycle at its Elizabeth plant, but that he was looking towards "fully utilising" production capacity there, boosting production if required, via overtime shifts.

The Elizabeth plant has a capacity of around 145,000 cars per year, he said.

The announcement today stopped short of confirming the next stage of export plans for Commodore and its WM long-wheelbase variants, however.

On speculation that Holden would announce an export program to Korea today, Mooney initially declined to comment but relented saying: "There's probably more to come on Korea, but not today."

CarPoint/Carsales sources suggest that such an announcement could be made as soon as the Melbourne Motor Show next month, and that further, an announcement that GM will commence production of a WM long-wheelbase based car in China is also imminent.

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