Holden · 1978–2020

Holden Adventra

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 (1978–2006) 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 Rekord E/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.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Opel Frontera · Successor: Holden Captiva

All Holden Adventra data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

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 the Holden Utility (coupé utility) variant 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 (AWD) Holden Adventra crossover in 2003. Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) 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 (CSV) and in

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$110 million—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 o

Second generation (1988–1997)

=== VN (1988–1991) === The VN Commodore of 1988 and subsequent second generation models took their bodywork from the larger Opel Senator B and new Opel Omega A. However, this time, the floor plan was widened and stretched; now matching the rival Ford Falcon for size. Continuing financial woes at Holden meant the wider VN body was underpinned by narrow, carry-over VL chassis components in a bid to save development costs. In Australia, for the VN and succeeding models, the Commodore Berlina became known simply as the Berlina (but in New Zealand the V6 VN Berlina, assembled locally until the Trentham factory was closed in 1990, was badged Executive. The Berlina nameplate was not launched, as a new entry level grade, with trim and equipment equivalent to the Australian V6 Executive, until the locally built four cylinder model, using the Australian-made, Opel designed, two-litre Family Two fuel injected engine, was added some months after the V6s). The range expanded in 1990 to include a Utility, given the model designation VG. This was built on a longer-wheelbase platform that it shared with the station wagon and luxury VQ Statesman sedans released earlier in the year. During this time, the rival Ford EA Falcon was plagued with initial quality issues which tarnished its reputation. Buyers embraced the VN Commodore, helping Holden to recover and post an operating profit of A$157.3 million for 1989. The team at Wheels magazine awarded the VN Car of the Year in 1988: the second Commodore model to receive this award. Changes in the relative values of the Australian dollar and Japanese yen made it financially impractical to continue with the well-regarded Nissan engine of the VL. Instead, Holden manufactured their own 3.8-litre V6 engine based on a Buick design, adapted from FW

Third generation (1997–2007)

=== VT (1997–2000) === With the VT Commodore of 1997, Holden looked again to Opel in Germany for a donor platform. The proposal was to take the Opel Omega B and broaden the vehicle's width and mechanical setup for local conditions. In the early days, Holden considered adopting the Omega as is, save for the engines and transmissions, and even investigated reskinning the existing VR/VS architecture. Later on, the VT bodywork spawned a new generation of Statesman and Caprice (again based on the long-wheelbase wagons), and even went as far as resurrecting the iconic Monaro coupé of the 1960s and 1970s via a prototype presented at the 1998 Sydney Motor Show. The VT heralded the fitment of semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension as standard across the range, a significant selling point over the rival Falcon, along with increased electronics such as Traction Control. However, in terms of suspension, the original Opel design was simplified by removing the toe control links that was standard equipment on the European Omega since 1987. Consequently, this afflicted the VT with excessive tyre wear due to distortions to the suspension camber angle and toe under heavy load, such as heavy towing or when travelling over undulated surfaces. Notably, Holden's performance arm HSV re-added the toe control link on the flagship GTS 300 model. The 1999 Series II update replaced the venerable Holden 5.0-litre V8 engine with a new 5.7-litre Generation III V8 sourced from the United States. The V8 was detuned to 220 kW (295 hp) from the original US version, but would receive incremental power upgrades to 250 kW (335 hp) throughout its time in the Commodore, before finally being replaced by the related Generation 4 in the VZ. The supercharged V6 was uprated to 171 kW (229 hp) from the VS.

Fourth generation (2006–2017)

=== VE (2006–2013) === Launched in 2006 after GM's 2003 abandonment of their last European rear-drive sedan, the Opel Omega, the VE is the first Commodore model designed entirely in Australia, as opposed to being based on an adapted Opel-sourced platform. Given this and high public expectations of quality, the budget in developing the car reportedly exceeded A$1 billion. Underpinned by the new Holden developed GM Zeta platform, the VE features more sophisticated independent suspension all round and near-even 50:50 weight distribution, leading to improved handling. Engines and transmissions are largely carried over from the previous VZ model. However, a new six-speed GM 6L80-E automatic transmission was introduced for V8 variants, replacing the original four-speed automatic now relegated to base models. The design of this new model included innovative features to help minimise export costs, such as a symmetrical centre console that houses a flush-fitting hand brake lever to facilitate its conversion to left-hand drive. Internationally, the Commodore is again badge engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina and Chevrolet Omega, along with its new export market in the United States as the Pontiac G8 (discontinued as of 2010 along with the Pontiac brand). Variants by Holden's performance arm, HSV, were released soon after the sedan's debut, followed by the long-wheelbase WM Statesman/Caprice models. The VE Ute did not enter production until 2007 whilst the Sportwagon began production in July 2008. A VE V8 Calais was awarded Wheels Car of the Year, being the fifth Commodore/Calais model to do so. In late 2008 Holden made changes to the VE Commodore, including the addition of a passenger seatbelt-reminder system. The rollout of such modifications allowed the VE range to be upgraded

Fifth generation (2018–2020)

=== ZB (2018–2020) === In 2017, Holden announced that the Commodore would end production in Australia and confirmed that the Commodore badge would be inherited by its replacement – now fully imported. That decision was made on the basis of a survey revealing that a majority of customers were in favour of retaining the long-standing Australian badge, introduced in 1978. In October 2016, Holden provided selected journalists an opportunity to test drive early prototypes of the 2018 Commodore. The ZB Commodore was revealed on 6 December 2016, as a re-engineered and overhauled version of the Opel Insignia B. The ZB Commodore was offered with four or six-cylinder engine options, as well as front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive. This was a major departure from the V8 and rear-wheel drive variants available on the previous generation Commodore. There was significant controversy regarding Holden's decision to retain the Commodore name for the 2018 model, despite it being considerably smaller than its predecessor and lacking both the traditional V8 engine and rear-wheel drive configuration. The decision was considered to be a safe choice in order to preserve sales, but the retention of the long-respected Commodore name was criticised for missing the opportunity to re-brand the sedan range and push the vehicle into the more lucrative semi-premium segment of the market. As of April 2018, the ZB Commodore had the lowest resale value, as a proportion of its new price, of any car on the Australian market. Due to slow sales and Holden's interest in other vehicle segments, it was announced on 10 December 2019 that the ZB Commodore would be discontinued in early 2020, shortly before GM's decision to retire the Holden brand entirely.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Holden Commodore
Manufacturer: Holden
Production: October 1978 – October 2017 (Australia), February 2018 – December 2020 (Germany)
Class: Mid-size car (1978–1988; 2018–2020), Full-size car (1988–2017)
Body style: 2-door coupé utility, 4-door sedan, 5-door station wagon, 4-door crew cab, 2-door cab chassis
Platform: GM V platform (1978–2006), GM Zeta platform (2006–2017), GM E2XX platform (2018–2020)
Related: Holden Caprice, Holden Statesman, Holden Monaro, Opel Insignia, Opel Commodore, Buick Regal, Opel Omega, Pontiac G8, Vauxhall Carlton, Chevrolet SS, Vauxhall Insignia
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive (1978–2017), Front-engine, front-wheel drive (2018–2020), Front-engine, all-wheel drive (2018–2020)
Predecessor: Holden Kingswood