Holden Commodore
The Holden Commodore is a series of automobiles that were sold by now-defunct Australian manufacturer Holden from 1978 until 2020. They were manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia ending on 20 October 2017.
The first three generations of Holden produced Commodores were based on the Opel designed V-body rear-wheel drive automotive platform, which was the basis of GM's largest European models, but were structurally strengthened, mechanically modified, and, in time, enlarged by Holden for Australian road conditions, production needs, and market demands. The styling of these cars was generally similar to that of the Opel Commodore C, and later, the Opel Omega A/B and their Vauxhall sister models the Vauxhall Carlton and Omega.
The fourth generation Holden Commodore models, the VE and VF, manufactured by Holden from 2006 until 2017, were entirely designed in-house and based on the Holden-developed, rear-wheel drive Zeta platform. Between 2012 and 2017, Holden again overhauled and re-engineered an Opel vehicle as the basis of the next generation Commodore, the ZB, which was sold from 2018 to 2020. Holden's engineers re-engineered, re-worked or completely replaced the Insignia's chassis, steering, suspension, driving dynamics, exhaust, sound symposer and engines. All sales of the last Commodore ended at the end of 2020, coinciding with the complete discontinuation of Holden as a subsidiary company, marque, and nameplate.
History
The Commodore replaced the long-serving Holden Kingswood and Holden Premier. Initially introduced as a single sedan body style, the range expanded in 1979 to include a station wagon. From 1984, Holden began branding the flagship model as Holden Calais, with the Commodore Berlina introduced in 1984 gaining independent Holden Berlina nomenclature in 1988. Long-wheelbase Statesman/Caprice derivatives and Utility/Commodore Utility body variants followed in 1990. The third generation architecture spawned the most body styles, with a new Holden Ute launched in 2000, reborn Monaro coupé in 2001, four-door Holden Crewman utility and all-wheel drive Holden Adventra crossover in 2003. Holden Special Vehicles in 1987 began official modification of high performance variants of the Commodore and its derivatives, under its own nameplate.Rivalry came predominantly from the Ford Falcon—also locally built. Prior to the second generation Commodore of 1988, the Holden was positioned a full class below the full-size Falcon. To varying degrees, competition also came from mid-size offerings from Toyota Australia as well as Chrysler Australia, which morphed into Mitsubishi Motors Australia. Moreover, between 1989 and 1997, Australian federal government policy saw the launch of the Toyota Lexcen, which was a rebadged version of the second generation Commodore. With the introduction of the third generation in 1997, Holden implemented its largest export programs involving Commodore and its derivatives. In the Middle East and South Africa the Commodore sold as a Chevrolet. High-performance export versions followed in North America, sold as Pontiac and later Chevrolet. HSV also exported to the United Kingdom as Vauxhall, in the Middle East as Chevrolet Special Vehicles and in New Zealand and Singapore as HSV.
In December 2013, Holden announced that it would cease its local production by the end of October 2017 committing, however, to use the long-standing Commodore nameplate on its fifth-generation fully imported replacement, moving to a front-wheel drive /all-wheel drive platform.
On 10 December 2019, Holden announced that the Commodore nameplate would be discontinued in 2020, in what is, according to Holden's interim chairman and managing director Kristian Aquilina, "decisive action to ensure a sharp focus on the largest and most buoyant market segments", focusing on their SUV and Ute range, which had accounted for over 76% of their lineup during 2019. This marks the end of the Commodore nameplate's 41 years. On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced that the Holden marque in its entirety would be retired from sale in Australia and New Zealand by 2021.
First generation (1978–1988)
VB (1978–1980)
Introduced in October 1978, the VB Commodore development covered a period with the effects of the 1973 oil crisis still being felt. Hence, when Holden decided to replace the successful full-size HZ Kingswood with a new model line, they wanted the new car to be smaller and more fuel efficient. Originally, Holden looked at developing a new WA Kingswood, but that project was abandoned. With no replacement in development, Holden looked to Opel to provide the design foundations of the VB, basing it on the four-cylinder Rekord E body shell, with the front grafted on from the Opel Senator A, both constructed using GM's V-body platform. This change was necessitated to accommodate the larger Holden six- and eight-cylinder engines. Holden also adopted the name "Commodore" from Opel, which had been using the name since 1967. Opel went on to use Holden's Rekord-Senator hybrid as a foundation for its new generation Commodore C, slotting in between the two donor models.During the VB's development, Holden realised that when driven at speed over harsh Australian roads, the Opel Rekord would effectively break apart at the firewall. This forced Holden to re-engineer the entire car for the often harsh Australian road conditions, resulting in only 35 percent commonality with the Rekord. Among other changes, the Rekord's MacPherson strut front suspension was modified, and the recirculating ball steering was replaced with a rack and pinion type. These and other mechanical and structural modifications massively blew out development costs to a reported —a figure then close to the cost of developing an all-new model independently. With such a large sum consumed by the VB development programme, Holden was left with insufficient finances for the development of a station wagon variant. Added that the Commodore architecture was considered an unsuitable base for utility and long-wheelbase models, Holden was left with only a sedan, albeit one in three levels of luxury: a base, SL, and SL/E. Desperate measures forced Holden to shape the Commodore front-end to the rear of the Rekord wagon. As the wagon-specific sheet metal had to be imported from Germany, the wagon, introduced in July 1979, suffered from inevitable component differences from the sedan. Although infrequently criticised in the early years, quality problems were evident, with poor trim and panel fit problematic for all first generation Commodores. This coupled with mechanical dilemmas such as water pump failure and steering rack rattle ensured warranty claims were high in the first year. Despite these issues, the VB Commodore was widely praised for its value for money sophistication, especially in regards to its steering, handling, braking, and ride quality. thus securing the Wheels Car of the Year award for 1978.
The VB series retained 96 percent of the preceding HZ Kingswood's interior space but was only 86 percent the HZ's external size, although five percent larger than the Torana. With the Commodore dropping a full class below the Kingswood and its Ford Falcon competitor, the smaller Commodore was predictably more fuel-efficient. This downsizing was first seen as a major disadvantage for Holden, as they had effectively relinquished the potential of selling Commodores to the fleet and taxi industries. These sales losses were thought to be unrecoverable; however, the 1979 energy crisis saw Australian oil prices rise by 140 percent, putting substantial strain on the automotive industry to collectively downsize, a change that Holden had already done.
VC (1980–1981)
The most significant change to the VC Commodore of March 1980 was the engine upgrading to "XT5" specification. Now painted blue and thus known as the Blue straight-sixes and Holden V8s, these replaced the Red units fitted to the VB and earlier cars. Changes included a new twelve-port cylinder head, redesigned combustion chambers, inlet and exhaust manifolds, a new two-barrel carburettor. Tweaks and changes to the V8s surrounded the implementation of electronic ignition, revised cylinder head and inlet manifold design and the fitment of a four-barrel carburettor on the 4.2-litre variant. These changes brought improved efficiency, increased outputs and aided driveability. In response to increasing oil prices, a four-cylinder variant was spawned in June 1980. Displacing 1.9-litres, this powerplant known as Starfire was effectively Holden's existing straight-six with two cylinders removed. The four's peak power output of and torque rated at meant its performance was compromised. Reports indicate that the need to push the engine hard to extract performance led to real-world fuel consumption similar to the straight-sixes.Holden's emphasis on fuel economy extended beyond powertrains, with a fuel consumption vacuum gauge replacing the tachometer throughout the range, although this could be optioned back with the sports instrumentation package. Visual changes were limited: the relocation of the corporate crest to the centre of the redesigned grille, black-coloured trim applied to the tail lamp surrounds on sedans, and the embossment of model badging into the side rubbing strips. The previously undesignated base car, was now the Commodore L, opening up the range for a new unbadged sub-level car. This delete option model, was de-specified and available only to fleet customers. On the premium Commodore SL/E, a resurrected "Shadowtone" exterior paint option became available in a limited range of dark-over-light colour combinations. According to contemporary reviews, changes made to the VC's steering produced a heavier feel and inclined understeer, while the revised suspension gave a softer ride and addressed concerns raised while riding fully laden.