More orders roll in for US Police Caprice

Holden is yet to start exporting the Police Caprice to North America, but the early signs are good, the company says.

So good, in fact, Holden has started hiring again -- 165 new employees last week -- and has an "open" sign on the recruitment office door at its Elizabeth factory near Adelaide.

Chevrolet has just started a 20-city ride and drive program with police agencies across North America -- and several divisions have already placed orders.

"A number of states have already accepted our tender which augers well for strong orders," Holden boss Mike Devereux said. "California, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan and North Carolina, to name a few. They placed orders and more are expected."

However, Holden still would not disclose a final figure on how many cars will be shipped in the initial batch early next year.

"We're not in a position to disclose the number of orders in the system at this time, but we're confident the orders will continue to ramp up in the new year as we complete the road show and start taking orders for the much higher volume patrol model."

Holden confirmed a V6 version of the Police Caprice will join the V8 from next year.

The car maker also revealed that it has developed an offset auto gear selector to counter criticism that it occupied valuable space in the centre console. The Ford Crown Victoria, the police car of choice for almost two decades, has a column shift auto lever to make room for police ancillaries.

Just like in the Blues Brothers movie, the Police Caprice has "cop brakes, cop tyres, cop suspension". While the brake package may make it onto the Commodore SS at some point in the future, the rest of the modifications are unique to police use.

"The police do some of the hardest testing we've seen," said Devereux, "even harder than our engineers would ever put a car through. But we've been told we've got the best driving vehicle, best brakes, best grip and the biggest, most comfortable car. We know the competition's tough but we believe we have the best option out there right now for police."

The Ford Crown Victoria has 90 per cent of the police car market in North America but that model is due to be phased out of production by the end of 2011.

There is strong competition for the 70,000 police fleet orders each year, with Ford and Dodge also releasing police packs of their popular sedans in recent months.

Devereux said that the strong Australian dollar hurt Holden's export hopes but it was still charging full speed ahead on the export program.

"Yes, with the Australian/US dollar the way it is, we will make less money but the price to the police [in North America] will not change," he said. "We believe in being there for the long haul. A lot of the components that go into the [Police Caprice] come from America, so we get those cheaper when the currency is the way it is. We are determined to make this work."

Although the police sedan business may be worth 70,000 sales a year, Holden is believed to be targeting between 20,000 and 30,000 sales annually at its peak.

And while there has been speculation about an export program for a civilian version of the Commodore or Caprice in North America, Devereux said: "There's nothing to announce yet."

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