Commodore EV was almost ready before Holden collapsed

When you look at a Holden Commodore, you're not likely to see a "green" car staring back at you. (That is, assuming you're in Australia where the Commodore is sold. Or in the UK where you can get a Vauxhall VXR8. Or here in the US where it's rebadged as a Chevy SS or before that as a Pontiac G8 or GTO.) It is, in many cases after all, a big, rear-drive V8 muscle sedan. Not, in other words, known for its frugal sipping of fuel. But that didn't have to be the case.

According to our VB-guzzling compatriots from Down Under, a joint venture was on the verge of bringing an electric version of the Commodore to market. That joint venture was called EV Engineering, and it was the same outfit that built the (unofficial) record-setting Commodore that drove on electric power alone for a full 24 hours, covering 1,172 miles in the process. With development all but complete, EV Engineering was all ready to bring its electric Commodore to market, until all its constituents started dropping out.

First Futuris dropped out, then Better Place went under, GE Finance pulled its backing and GM turned Holden into an importer. After that Bosch and Air International dropped out, leaving just one constituent to the joint venture. The sole remaining partner, Axiflux is on the lookout for potential partners for the electric vehicle technology on which it collaborated, but given the state of the Australian automobile industry these days, it could be facing an uphill battle - up Ayers Rock, no less - to capitalize on the technology it's got.
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El Camino revival hopes scuttled by Aussie dollar?

Could Chevrolet sell a reborn El Camino in the United States? Let's ask an expert, General Motors International Operations boss Tim Lee, what he thinks. Speaking to the Aussies at CarPoint.com.au, Lee had this to say: "I think here in the US that vehicle has a tremendous amount of cache so if we could [import it] we would if it makes sense."

Great! So, we'll be getting a pickup car within the year, right? Well, not so much. Lee continues, "You tell me about what the Aussie dollar is going to do over the next 12 to 24 months and I'll tell you the export potential of cars like that." Obviously, nobody can say with certainty what the exchange rate between the US and Australia will be in two years, but as of right now, the Aussie dollar is worth a nickel more than a US dollar.

To quote Mr. Lee once again, "You can't make a business case of something like that." Indeed you cannot.

But what about the Chevrolet Caprice PPV, isn't that built in Australia? Indeed it is, and the upcoming Chevy SS performance sedan will be important from Oz as well. Thing is, Mr. Lee says the SS "will have to take a very premium price position" in order to be sold in the States, and that's apparently not in the cards for an El Camino.

Also not an option: Building the Australian Zeta-chassis machines in the US. Being that we've quoted Lee so many times already, here's one more to close out the discussion: "We will not be investing one penny to implement the Zeta architecture in the United States. I am the chief manufacturing officer of the company – that is written in stone." 

News Source: CarPoint.com.au

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GM to make Trax for Holden

In mid-May, General Motors announced it would bring the Chevrolet Trax to the Paris Motor Show this fall. The tiny crossover shares nearly everything with North America's Buick Encore and the previously revealed Opel/Vauxhall Mokka, but there's an important fourth variant we haven't heard about until today – one for Holden.

The General has now confirmed that the Trax will also be produced for its Australian outpost, with Holden's Director of Powertrain Engineering, Simon Cassin saying, "Holden is well recognised within the GM world for our expertise in engine and transmission calibration and we are very pleased to be involved in the development of this important vehicle."

The Holden Trax, which arrives in OZ next year, looks all but unchanged from the chunky cute ute version wearing a Bowtie. Judging by the newly released rendering shown above, everything from the headlamps to the side mirrors and fog lamp trim is unchanged. The only clear difference? Substituting the now-trademark split portal Chevrolet grille for a chrome-browed single frame unit wearing a prominent Holden badge.

GM's own data suggests that the small SUV segment continues to explode in Australia, just as it has here in North America, with sales up 57.3 percent year to date over 2011, and it's clearly aiming to take a piece of that growing pie with the new Trax. 

Via: General Motors

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