A classic case of moving on
Holden’s new ZB series Commodore has finally arrived in New Zealand and we get our first taste of the car on local roads. Rob Maetzig reports.
Life goes on, doesn’t it? Both in life and in motoring. While initially there might have been a strong reaction to Holden’s plans to close its Australian assembly plant and replace the beloved rear-driven Aussie Commodore with a frontdriven car from Europe, the cold hard fact is that it is all now happening.
Life goes on. Perhaps there’s no better New Zealand example of that phrase than Otago, where towns and regions have had to reinvent themselves as economic circumstances and other factors have changed.
Places such as Outram on the outskirts of Dunedin, which in the 19th Century relocated itself when the original settlement was hit by serious flooding. Or Ranfurly in the Maniototo region, which changed its name from Eweburn to get away from being named after an animal. Or the historic gold-rush settlement of Ophir which now earns its gold in another way - from tourists who cycle the Otago Central Rail Trail.
Holden has had to re-invent itself too.
Whereas 10 years ago more than 50 per cent of its sales were the V6-engined Commodore, by the time the brand’s Adelaide assembly plant was closed last year the model’s popularity was nowhere near that - it, like every other large sedan, had seen its popularity hammered by a combination of the advent of the SUV and a general downsizing of vehicle preferences.
Holden’s arch-rival Ford had experienced the same thing with the Falcon, and it chose to drop the name completely when it closed its assembly facilities in Aussie two years ago.
But in stark contrast, Holden chose to continue with the Commodore name, taking what many perceived to be a big risk in attaching it to an Australianised version of the German-built Opel Insignia.
The New Zealand media launch of the new ZB Commodore has just been held - appropriately in those parts of Otago where life really does go on - and Holden New Zealand’s general manager of marketing Marnie Samphier described its arrival as a turning point in the history of Holden.
But she admitted: ‘‘There certainly has been some negativity over this car. Many people are curious, but some have said how dare we put a Holden badge on it.
‘‘However we see a great opportunity to change perceptions of just what a Holden Commodore should be.’’
Of course, Holden had to say that.
But the big question is not so much whether the change from Australian build to German sourcing is acceptable - there was simply no choice - but whether transforming from a big reardriven V6 sedan to a range that begins with a front-driven 2.0-litre four cylinder liftback is simply a step too far.
Or even worth the effort, given the fact that large cars now represent 2 per cent of all new vehicles sold in New Zealand. But here’s a salient point. The new Commodore is of a size that fits halfway between what can be considered a large car and a medium-sized car, and last year these two vehicle categories combined to account for close to
9000 sales. Not only that, but the Commodore range now includes a higher-riding AWD wagon which has potential to appeal as an SUV.
So it’s obvious the new Commodore lineup does offer potential to achieve good sales for Holden. Even improved sales.
But will it all work? The brand is covering quite a few of the proverbial bases in an effort to make sure it does. Commodore, which is arriving in dealerships now, is being offered in three different body styles - liftback, sportwagon and tourer - and with a choice of three engines, four cylinder and V6 petrol, and four cylinder diesel. The model also employs three different suspension settings depending on the role of the vehicle.
In total there are 12 Commodores to choose from, ranging from an entry front-wheel driven 2.0-litre LT liftback for
$45,990 (which incidentally is
$4000 less than the entry price of the last of the Aussie Commodores), through to the pseudo-SUV 3.6-litre V6 Calais-V AWD tourer retailing for $65,990 and the sporty VXR liftback for
$67,990. And in between there are RS, RS-V and Calais levels.
The good news is that the new Commodores are very good vehicles - with an outstanding example being perhaps the most unlikely model, the entry 2.0-litre LT liftback.
This car is so low-key that it doesn’t even carry any LT badging. But underneath its bonnet is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four cylinder petrol engine that
makes 191 kilowatts of power and
353 Newton metres of torque, which is more than the 185kW/
290Nm that is developed by the
3.0-litre V6 engine that powered the entry Evoke version of the previous Commodore.
The media drive programme from Dunedin to Queenstown on beautiful roads through historic parts of central Otago quickly showed up the LT’s motoring credentials.
The car’s a very good - and quiet - drive, with its nine-speed automatic transmission working well to make best use of available power and torque.
Fancy that - replacing an Aussie-built rear-driven 3.0-litre
V6 Commie sedan with a Germanbuilt front-driven 2.0-litre liftback, that actually offers superior performance. It just goes to show that life does indeed go on.
The drive programme involved time behind the wheel of a wide selection of the new Commodores, allowing journalists to get a taste of the various models with their differing powertrains and suspension settings.
While the LT has a base setting, other models have their rides tuned for either comfort or sport. The sportiest model, the
V6-engined and all-wheel driven VXR, also has a continuous damper control system called FlexRide for performance driving.
The V6 engine is 3.6-litre cubic capacity and it delivers 235kW and
381Nm, which once again is more than on offer from the engine under the bonnets of the likes of the old SV6. And significantly, all the new V6 models are also allwheel drive.
The AWD is called Twinster, and it really is state of the art.
It’s essentially the same system as that aboard highly regarded vehicles ranging from the Ford Focus RS to the Range Rover Evoque, and it’s a twin clutch setup which monitors things up to 100 times per second and uses each clutch to control torque to appropriate wheels front and rear, as well as side to side.
This new Commodore range is wide-ranging, covering a large number of differing models and with a myriad of active and passive safety features including parking assist, 360-degree birdseye view, rear cross traffic alert, and the HoldenEye front camera which delivers a suite of features including active emergency braking and lane departure warning.
It’s all pretty impressive, and it is obvious Holden has gone to considerable lengths to ensure as many potential market bases are covered with this new Commodore.
Personally I enjoyed the entry LT, which I found to be a genuine surprise - and perhaps the car most representative of what Holden has had to do in the wake of the disappearance of the Australian vehicle assembly industry and all the rear-wheel drive big-car traditions that were attached to it.
It’s a classic case of life simply moving on.