VE freight train rolls on: say hello to the new Ute!

The latest model in Holden's VE family line-up, the all-new Commodore Ute is here. The most anticipated and talked about Holden commercial launch since the first Rodeo came Down Under, the vehicle was unveiled at Holden's Melbourne HQ this morning.

Although the LCV won't officially go on sale until October -- and the media will not get to drive it until late next month -- the launch relieves a significant pent-up demand for information among the industry and consumers alike.

Sales for the VZ model haven't been what they were, with Holden fans waiting for the new model with bated breath and money in their pockets. Now the way's clear for Holden dealers to kickstart the sales of the new vehicle ahead of its Sydney Motor Show public launch.

Increasingly, Holden (and archrival Ford Falcon) utes appeal more to 'sports-ute' buyers, while the 'serious' commercial vehicle buyers are looking more at HiLux, Rodeo and the like. The new Ute will probably not halt that shift -- if anything, it may exacerbate the effect -- but it does bring VE Commodore levels of refinement and safety to ute buyers.

In fact, some will argue on behalf of the VE Ute that it will be the most refined commercial vehicle ever offered Down Under.

As expected, the new Ute is a step beyond the VZ and the car's construction comprises high-strength steel, one-piece panels and load area reinforcement. All of these add up to improved passive safety, improved quality and longer life, says Holden. 

Twitchy handling often associated with light, rear-wheel drive cars with high-torque engines should also be a thing of the past for buyers of the new Holden, since it's fitted with larger wheel and tyre combinations than the VZ counterparts and offers an electronic stability program (ESP) as standard equipment on all variants.

The base model is now fitted with 16-inch wheels, in lieu of the 15-inch wheels fitted to the VZ. Sporting grades move to 18-inch wheels from the previous VZ's 17-inch units and the top-shelf SS V Ute is fitted with 19-inch wheels.

One of the advantages of starting with a larger 'donor' car (the Commodore sedan) is that Holden has been able to build extra space into the cabin of the Ute .

It's very likely that Holden measured up Ford's Falcon Supercab configuration and settled on 245 litres of storage space behind the seats for the VE model -- so close are the comparisons. Holden has further capitalised on this by fitting the front seats with quick release latches to facilitate easier access to the rear of the cabin for additional storage.

Two additional storage compartments are located under the load floor and only the base Omega Ute and the SV6 miss out on dual cargo nets.

In addition to the above mentioned ESP, the overall safety offer has been improved through new features like two-stage frontal airbags, a break-away brake pedal and a 'ride-down' steering column.

Three new colours are offered with the new Ute -- 'K-Pow', 'Atomic' and 'Crunch'. 'K-Pow' is a blue, available across all grades, but the other two colours, which are metallic green and metallic yellow with a green tint respectively, are only available with the sports grades.

On the subject of levels of trim, the Ute is available as a base model, the Omega (pictured), with a 180kW version of the Alloytec V6 and four-speed automatic transmission, or the 195kW engine and six-speed manual. This latter combination is also fitted to the SV6 model, which can be had with an optional five-speed automatic transmission.

The SS and SS V models are both fitted with the 270kW 6.0-litre V8 and can be specified with either the six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.

Prices
Omega (6-speed manual) V6 $30,990 with air conditioning
Omega (4-speed automatic) V6 $30,990 with air conditioning
SV6 (6-speed manual) V6 $35,990
SV6 (5-speed automatic) V6 $36,990
SS (6-speed manual) V8 $39,990
SS (6-speed automatic) V8 $41,990
SS V (6-speed manual) V8 $44,990
SS V (6-speed automatic) V8 $46,990
Leather smart pack (SV6 and SS) $1,250

The Carsales Network will provide extensive coverage of the reveal of the all-new VE Ute over the next few days, in the meantime for further details, click here or to view video of the new VE Ute click here.

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