Swansong Holden Commodore SS goes upmarket

Miss out on Holden’s new limited-edition Commodore range? There may be a silver lining.

Details of the MY17 regular Commodore fleet, including the flagship SS models that will help see out decades of proud Australian manufacturing for the Lion brand, have emerged via Holden’s official website. And the news is mostly good.

While none of garden-variety models score the cooling, suspension and track certification upgrades shared across the newly-announced Motorsport, Magnum and Director varieties, Holden has introduced more equipment to its large sedan, a move that coincides with increased pricing.

The MY17 range also sees the deletion of the formerly-offered SS-V middle-tier performance model, with the regular SS adopting much of its equipment.

As such, the entry model V8 SS is now priced from $47,490 (plus on-road costs) in either six-speed manual or six-speed automatic forms, a $2500 price hike on before. It adopts 19-inch alloy wheels, head-up display and satellite navigation previously offered on the SS-V, but misses out on its leather trim, chrome beltline and clear tail lights.

The flagship SS-V Redline Commodore is subject to a $500 price hike, at $54,990 plus on-roads in manual or automatic guise.

The Redline scores black mirror caps, grille and daytime running light surrounds, and is available in a new ‘Spitfire Green’ hue that isn’t offered in other model grades. Holden has canned its Jungle Green colour scheme across the range, according to the car maker’s website.

The LS3 V8 engine is left unchanged for swansong models, still producing an impressive 304kW and 570Nm.

Further down the range, the V6-powered Commodore SV6 has risen $1000 in price to $40,490 (plus on-road costs). It scores new black alloy wheels, a head-up display and sat-nav as standard. The caveat is that there are no six-speed manual V6s being built for 2017.

The Commodore fleet specialist, Evoke, goes unchanged in price, at $35,490 plus on-road costs.

Meanwhile, the Calais sedan will start at $42,540 (plus on-road costs) – a $1250 bump – and the upscaled Calais V is set at $48,750 in V6 form and $56,750 in V8 form, both $760 more than before.

The MY17 range will bring some minor cosmetic changes. Holden has introduced Light My Fire orange hue that replaces Some Like It Red Hot, while Son of a Gun Grey metallic scheme replaces the long-serving Prussian Steel Grey.

In addition, Holden will carry over its Heron White, Nitrate Silver, Slipstream Blue and Phantom Black across all models, while Calais and Calais V will be available additionally in Regal Peacock Green.

The locally-built Commodore will be replaced by an all-new imported version that shares origins with the Opel Insignia.

Holden has confirmed October 20 as the final day of production for its Elizabeth manufacturing facility in Adelaide. The Lion brand will move to an import-only basis thereafter.

While not everyone will be impressed by the modest price increases, enthusiasts are already being encouraged to snap up MY17 models before their order is too late.

The car maker has been contacted for comment.

Further MY17 Commodore reading:
Holden Magnum review
Holden Motorsport Edition review
Final Aussie Commodore: Magnetic attraction to special-editions