Next Holden Commodore could be a Buick

GM Holden is yet to make a decision about the on-going supply of the imported ZB Commodore due on sale in February, but will do so within 18 months.

Managing director Mark Bernhard told journalists at the launch of the Equinox SUV last week that Holden enjoys a cordial relationship with PSA – the parent company of Citroen, Peugeot and, now, Opel following its sale from General Motors.

"PSA's really comfortable selling products to us, and we're working closely with them," he said.

Bernhard added that Holden has 12 to 18 months before it needs to make a decision whether to maintain its trading partnership with PSA, or shift production of the Commodore to Buick.

The American brand is a fellow GM subsidiary that builds not only the Regal (pictured, a rebadged version of both the German-made Opel Insignia and ZB Commodore), but also the Astra, which is sold here as a Holden too.

Based on the same transverse front/all-wheel drive E2XX platform as the Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu and Impala, the Buick Regal is built in both China and Canada.

Meantime, the Opel/Holden Astra hatch is based on GM’s smaller D2XX platform and built in the UK and Poland, and its twin is the Chinese-made Buick Verano.

D2XX also underpins the Korean-built Holden Astra sedan, a twin model to the Chevrolet Cruze also built in the US, Mexico, Argentina and China, where it’s called the Verano sedan.

"At this stage both [Opel and Buick] options are still on the table; we're not at that point in the product lifecycle where we need to make those decisions," Bernhard explained.

"Frankly, I'm pretty excited by the opportunities that we'll have. The two products that we're getting from Opel/PSA at the moment – the Astra and the Commodore – both come in Buick versions.

“And we know General Motors is not going to walk away from Buick, so we get to piggy-back on Buick, or we can continue to work with Opel PSA. Either of those things are available to us at this stage."

As for the timing, Bernhard indicated the company was in no hurry to make a decision.

"Product-wise, it's probably about another 12 to 18 months."

That hints that sourcing from Buick – if that actually goes ahead – may not commence for perhaps three or four years from now.

For any other model that would coincide roughly with the midlife refresh, but PSA has already indicated it wants to end Opel production of existing GM platforms as early as 2021.

That may be due to PSA paying a licence fee to GM for building GM designs on GM platforms in Opel factories, but Bernhard admitted that he couldn't shed any light on that.

"I honestly don't know the answer to that; I'm not into the details of the agreement."

Naturally, that would have some bearing on the decision to move Commodore production over to Buick, or stay with PSA.

Holden product plan intact
Despite PSA expressing the desire to move all current Opel models across to Peugeot/Citroen platforms, Bernhard said the acquisition of Opel by the French firm has had zero impact on Holden's forward planning for its product portfolio.

The company promised to release 24 new or facelifted models between 2015 and 2020, including next year’s ZB Commodore and seven-seat Acadia SUV, plus the rear-drive V8 sports car expected to be the next-generation C8 Corvette.

"It had no effect on our product portfolio,” he said.

But asked whether there was a sunset clause on that aspect of the agreement, Bernhard couldn't say.

"Again, it's one of those details I'm not sure about."

Bernhard appeared to close the door on speculation that the company would add other models to its forward plans – particularly those likely to be built by Opel in the near future, such as the European brand’s new flagship SUV. But he didn't rule it out altogether.

"It gets back to that whole portfolio – and what we want and what we don't. We can't have a portfolio that's overly complex, for the volume.

"But whether it's Opel PSA or whether they're products from General Motors, we look at those things on a regular basis."

Sourcing cars from Buick could involve some arm-twisting to convince the American/Chinese brand to build cars in right-hand drive for Holden.

But Bernhard and Holden's Director of Communications, Sean Poppitt, say the Mexican-made Equinox and US-built Acadia show GM isn’t backing away from right-hook markets.

"Equinox is specific investment for us," Bernhard commented. "Acadia with right-hand drive… I'm not sure what else we can do to convince people that this is not a question that's being asked internally."

"You're about to drive a right-hand drive car [Equinox] that was designed in the US for us," said Poppitt, who was also present for the round-table discussion.

"Acadia... was done specifically for us. Just because Camaro's not here, right now, I don't think [it] really means anything."

Since that comment was made, HSV has announced it will convert the Chevrolet Camaro for Australian consumers.

Holden engineers and the locally-built Commodore's Zeta platform were key elements of the previous generation Camaro – and there's obviously a passion for performance cars in Australia.

GM's reluctance to offer Camaro in right-hand drive form from the factory is therefore questionable, even more so with arch-rival Ford offering the Mustang with the steering column on the right.

"Compliments to Ford -- they've done a great job with the Mustang," Bernhard admitted. "But... when the decision was made we still had a local car to sell – and that was the priority.

“If you go back and look at the numbers I think you'll see we did pretty well against the Mustang over the last couple of years..."

Now, however, Holden's transition to full-line importer leaves a gap in its model range. That gap is a muscle car, which is being plugged in the short-term by HSV converting the Camaro.

Interestingly, Bernhard wouldn't confirm that the Camaro was out of the question for mainstream, ex-factory right-hand drive importation at some point in the future.

Nor would he categorically deny that Cadillac was being reconsidered for launch in Australia.

"Everything's an opportunity... [but] I'm not here to talk about any future products that haven't already been announced," he replied to the question of introducing the luxury marque after GM’s abortive attempt in 2009.

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