New Commodore - 2018 First Look

[Calaber]

^ Because I'm not a one-eyed fanboi, and I know the reality of the situation.

An old model doesn't have to be any good for an objective buyer to buy a current one, when it's improved. But I'd suggest a LOT of buyers aren't subjective; the Commodore badge has a residual odour of low quality about it, and they should've taken the opportunity to park it.

Well, I'm not one-eyed either, but your explanation makes no sense at all. "Reality of the situation"- what does that mean, exactly?

Obviously, you're not compelled to answer if you don't want to - that's your prerogative. But to **** can a make, yet own one of the latest models, seems odd. Your opinion that the Commodore badge has a residual odour of low quality about it" reeks of the cultural cringe that Australia is so well known for. Ïts Australian so it can't be as good as an import. What ****. I had a brand new Mark V Golf which I offloaded before the warranty ran out. It was an unreliable dog with more faults than all my other cars over the years put together. Don't preach to me about poor quality Australian products. Other countries are quite capable of manufacturing poor quality too.

 

[Forg]

I was, as I stated, specifically talking about general perception and the Commodore model.

Plenty of people bought 1.4 twincharged DSG Tiguans a year ago in the solid belief that what they were buying was of higher quality than any Commodore.
My comments about interiors relate to that being what you see first; VX dashes, when VX's were new, weren't going to make anyone look a bit deeper if they already thought Commodores were garbage.

'Cultural cringe' - yes, that's exactly my point! Commodore badge is considered cringeworthy!

 

[Smithston]

Ford did the right thing in letting the Falcon retire. Calling this new car a Commodore is like Virat Kholi changing his name to Don Bradman. It's the last Australian car. Let it rest in peace

 

[Reaper]

Entirely agree

Ford did the right thing in letting the Falcon retire. Calling this new car a Commodore is like Virat Kholi changing his name to Don Bradman. It's the last Australian car. Let it rest in peace

 

[Tommy Gun101]

We just have to do a LS Conversion

 

[MartinJS]

Bit of a shame really, this will only be a Commodore by name, Commodore, like Falcon was an Australian built car, Ford at least retired the Falcon name. Do the Aussie Commodore justice and retire the name!

 

[MartinJS]

I'm buggered if I can understand what the objection to using the Commodore name on the new car is.

"Commodore" was never a Holden nameplate - we all know the VB was a heavily re-engineered mix of German Kommodore and Senator models and the name itself originated in Germany. It wasn't until the VE that any German engineering or design influence disappeared - every previous Commodore was based on the Opel equivalent model.

Anyway, it's of no matter really. The Commodore will never again be a significant model on the Australian market, because it's a five door largish sedan and we all know that Australians don't want such cars in large numbers anymore. It will just be a niche model, selling to fleets and a diminishing number of private buyers.

Might have something to do with the Commodore being BUILT in Australia, want to get technical the First ever FJ Holden was a modified American or some such design!
I spent over ten year working in an Aussie car building company, owned Valiants, Holdens (HJ 4 door Monaro and Ford Falcons, even an Aussie built Magna and Camry. Most had some overseas input but all had one thing in common! Aussie built, Commodore from since it first rolled of the Assembly line was Aussie built. New car has almost nothing Aussie about it, can the name and move on!
:-(

 

[Reaper]

I'm buggered if I can understand what the objection to using the Commodore name on the new car is.

"Commodore" was never a Holden nameplate - we all know the VB was a heavily re-engineered mix of German Kommodore and Senator models and the name itself originated in Germany. It wasn't until the VE that any German engineering or design influence disappeared - every previous Commodore was based on the Opel equivalent model.

Anyway, it's of no matter really. The Commodore will never again be a significant model on the Austalian market, because it's a five door largish sedan and we all know that Australians don't want such cars in large numbers anymore. It will just be a niche model, selling to fleets and a diminishing number of private buyers.

To be fair the original Commodore did share body panels and most of the interior however the platform was significantly improved over the old V-Car out of Europe. Opel didn't quite believe that Holden engineers did manage to break one in half during Australian testing (true on both counts!). Shocks and springs along with the shock towers/mounts and unibody structure was totally re-designed and the drive line bore no resemblance to the euro rubbish.

Might have something to do with the Commodore being BUILT in Australia, want to get technical the First ever FJ Holden was a modified American or some such design!
I spent over ten year working in an Aussie car building company, owned Valiants, Holdens (HJ 4 door Monaro and Ford Falcons, even an Aussie built Magna and Camry. Most had some overseas input but all had one thing in common! Aussie built, Commodore from since it first rolled of the Assembly line was Aussie built. New car has almost nothing Aussie about it, can the name and move on!
:-(

Aussie built isn't the problem IMO. No V8 is probably surmountable but no TTV6 and FWD or **** FWD based AWD makes it a totally different car.

 

[Stroppy]

I hate to be the fly in the ointment but I really reckon the model name is unimportant. What I am more angry about is the continued use of the Holden brand. Let's face it, it's no longer Holden at heart because no Holdens will be made here for the foreseeable future. I'm an old fart and other old farts like me will remember that part of the Holden mantra that was emblazoned into our hearts..."Holden: Australia's OWN car". Us oldies can remember back to when we were kids having our hearts swell with pride to know "our car" was made here and being exported to other countries. I well remember one of the Saudi kings coming to Australia in around 1970 and wanting to buy a swag of HR Holden sedans and wagons (because he had a few in his fleet and just loved them) only to be told they were no longer in production. I think Holden bought what he wanted from dealers who had them in their second hand yards and then they did a full resto for the Saudi king. I'll have to do my research...I know there was an old "Sun News Pictorial" story about it because I remember reading it as a kid. Anyway...you know what I'm getting at...Holden was always our pride and joy. Yes...it was run by toffs in Detroit...big deal. It was still our car.

Now all that manufacturing expertise and our ability to build a world-class car will be dead in the water. The final VF is an excellent motor car...the Americans love it, even though it sports a bowtie badge and has a different name.

No I think they should retire the Holden name. It's just not going to be Holden as we knew it anymore.

As to the manufacturing loss. It's more than tragic, it's strategically crazy! For those of you who know this part, forgive the history lesson... Back at the start of WWII the Federal Government approached a then very-young newly appointed CEO of Holden (Larry Hartnett...who was to become Sir Laurence Hartnett) and asked him to ramp down vehicle production and start the production of war materiel (yes...that's how you spell the word for war goods). Within three weeks the Holden plants were ready to churn out tank parts, aircraft bits, howitzers, various arms, lenses and binoculars and even airframes. Now scoot foward to some future date...say 2020. Say there's a limited war on in our region and some country like Indonesia has cut off our sealanes. Left on our own with no supplies from the US, EU or Japan what are we going to be able to make to use against our aggressors? Wooden sticks? Boomerangs? My God what were Tony Rabbit and Joe Sloppy thinking when they dared Holden to shut up shop!

 

[Stroppy]

BTW...here's an excellent documentary (in two parts) about the story of Holden up to the introduction of the VL. It's an old ABC doco but it was very well made and features an interview with Sir Laurence Hartnett. Pay particular attention to the retired NSW automotive union boss. He says many prophetic things about the future of manufacturing in Australia ...and this was back in 1986.
Link:

(After playing part 1 part 2 should automatically play next. Both episodes approximately 30 minutes long)