Todd Hallenbeck•14 Jan 2015
NEWS
V8 to live on, confirms Holden
In a surprise move, Holden and GM confirm plans to launch a V8-powered sports car in Australia as soon as 2017Holden will launch a V8-powered 'sports car' in Australia within the next few years, a General Motors executive has confirmed to Australian journalists in Detroit.
The finer technical details of the plan are not yet known, but Holden has confirmed the comments made by Stefan Jacoby, Executive VP Consolidated International Operations.
"It will be most likely a V8, it will be a sports car and it will be a global car."
The list of possible nameplates is short: the rear-drive Code 130R concept shown in Detroit 2012 and the all-new Camaro.
Jacoby would not provide additional information other than to offer cryptic clues: "It will be something which truly fulfils the requirement of a true Holden sports car. We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand portfolio. It is not currently in production."
Jacoby immediately ruled out the historical nameplates Monaro and Torana as possible names.
The reveal and on-sale date will fall around the same time GM Holden closes its manufacturing facility in Elizabeth and ends Commodore production in 2017.
The likely nameplate is Camaro and the timing fits. An all-new Camaro (pictured) is expected in North America in 2016. Plus, Holden engineers have a history with Camaro; they were responsible for dynamic chassis tuning of the current car, and their work has received high praise from customers and fellow GM engineers in the US.
It is quite probable that the next-gen Camaro is presently undergoing ride and handling tuning at Lang Lang in the hands of Australian chassis engineers in preparation for its North America launch in 2016.
The next-gen Camaro is believed to be built on GM's Alpha platform, but GM remains unwilling to comment on right-hand-drive possibilities for Alpha.
As recently as November, Mark Dickens, ?the Director of Performance Variants, Performance Parts and Motorsports Engineering at GM, told motoring.com.au that RHD was possible for Camaro but highly unlikely. That may have changed between November and now.
The Code 130R is rear-drive and it is small, much smaller than Camaro. The question is: will a V8 fit within Code 130R's compact dimensions? The other concern regarding Code 130R as the possible source for a Holden badged sports car is that GM has not confirmed production. It is still a concept – and well-founded speculation suggests the Code 130R will remain a concept only. For these reasons, Camaro seems the logical choice as the donor for a RHD V8 sports car.
GM and Holdens' decision to develop a V8-powered RHD sports car was made within the past few months and may be linked with recent customer research in Australia indicating that Holden risks losing significant customer brand loyalty with the end of local Commodore production.
Most obviously, a Holden V8 sports car will also counter Ford's power moves with Mustang in Australia. And Holden executives know that loyal V8 fans will defect from Holden and convert to Ford on the strength of Mustang's offering. A Holden V8 sports car will retain their loyalty and confidence and restore customer and dealer excitement for the brand.
Tags
Holden
Chevrolet
Camaro
Car News
Performance Cars
Written byTodd Hallenbeck
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