Holden's US cop car to go civilian?

The resurrection of Holden's US export program took a new turn this week.

An accidentally leaked email between General Motors engineers has sent enthusiast websites in the US and Australia in a spin about the possibility of the Pontiac G8 being revived wearing a Chevrolet badge. Again.

Ever since General Motors announced six months ago it would axe the Australian-made Commodore-based Pontiac G8, senior GM executives have been busy contradicting each other about the export future of the large sedan.

The boss of GM Fritz Henderson says Holden's US export program has a future as a police car only, and Holden is busy developing the vehicle to suit US law enforcement needs for a frontline debut in 2011.

But former GM product chief and now marketing guru Bob Lutz has said the car is "too good to waste". Indeed, enthusiast websites rated the Pontiac G8 as the best Pontiac of all time -- just days before it was axed.

This week former Holden boss Mark Reuss, who has returned to North America for a senior posting there, appeared to be supportive of a retail version of the Commodore and/or Caprice during an extensive online interview -- but stopped short of confirming such a plan exists.

He told Autoline After Hours: "We'll see how people like it [the police Caprice] with a Chev badge on it and see how that goes first."

Confused? So are we. It's best to think about the current situation like this: the export version of the Holden is in a hospital emergency room. The chief doctor is outside telling family and friends the prognosis doesn't look good and to expect the worst. But meanwhile the hands-on surgeons are working flat out behind the scenes to try to keep the export Holden's heartbeat alive.

This week's development unearthed a leaked email trail which traces a discussion about a potential seatbelt upgrade to the Chevrolet Caprice police car -- and another vehicle that appeared to be a civilian version of the Commodore or Caprice, referred to simply as the Chevrolet SS.

But the timing and the accuracy of the email have not been confirmed.

What we do know is this: Holden is working on an export version of the Caprice for North American police forces after the Commodore was deemed too small.

It is due to go into production in late 2010 for an early 2011 police debut. GM representatives in the US are in the process of showing the car to various police forces across North America.

Holden would presumably like to offer a retail version of either the Caprice or the Commodore because it would help add sales (after all, the work to meet US standards will have been done), but there are significant hurdles to overcome, not least of which is some sensitivity around the Australian origins of the cars, even though they are powered by American V8s and Holden is wholly owned by GM, an American multi-national company.

Nervous about what impact the Caprice might have on Ford's lucrative police car business, Ford executives in Detroit have begun obliquely throwing mud at the Caprice, taking time recently to highlight the point that the replacement to the aging Ford Crown Victoria police car will be made in North America.

What will likely happen? Our guess is that the police Caprice will get to North America first. And then maybe, just maybe, some analysts, dealers and motoring journalists might get to drive it around the same time as it begins working the beat.

Then, and only then, might there be a groundswell of support for a retail version of the vehicle, depending on other factors such as the economy, exchange rates and oil prices.

In the meantime, everything else is speculation.