Vaux to source Daewoo's!

[Nurb608]

Gees, aren't the rumours flying around everywhere about the possible sale of Opel.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/239832/

[btm]

:eek:

[rjastra]

Did you read it all???

Vauxhall could end up taking Commodores etc... The production of the Cruze here could mean an export opportunity for Holden as well!

[Jerram]

if you ask me Vauxhall needs to get off their ass and start designing their own cars.

[USC]

if you ask me Vauxhall needs to get off their ass and start designing their own cars.

I think they build some astras in the UK but they dont do the design as such.

[topgear]

Shame for Vauxhall but this could be really good for Holden if they end up exporting our range over there. Though a shame if they don't ever get an Insignia cause it looks so good :(

But then again our cars are too big for their roads, the Cruze would be the best thing for them

[aussie_in_london]

if you ask me Vauxhall needs to get off their ass and start designing their own cars.


they do via GME, the head of the design team is British!

As for whats going on, still alot of speculation but there is interested parties wanting a stake in GME.......

[Shaun]

I think they build some astras in the UK but they dont do the design as such.

When will people learn that Opel don't design the cars them selves. Vauxhall has as much say as Opel have when it comes to the Opel / vauxhall product .

[cbrmale]

Did you read it all???

Vauxhall could end up taking Commodores etc... The production of the Cruze here could mean an export opportunity for Holden as well!

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big. Also, it's too thirsty.

I haven't seen sales statistics since the financial crisis, but around this time last year the Astra was the biggest selling model in the UK. It's about the right size, it gives the right economy, and it's designed by the Brits as much as the Germans.

[poita]

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big. Also, it's too thirsty.

must be a figment of my imagination then, the ones with vxr badges and superchargers

[rjastra]

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big. Also, it's too thirsty.

I haven't seen sales statistics since the financial crisis, but around this time last year the Astra was the biggest selling model in the UK. It's about the right size, it gives the right economy, and it's designed by the Brits as much as the Germans.

bwwahahahahahhah... sell it converted to LPG or dump a diesel in it then.

Most prestige manufacturers seem to be able to build large cars AND sell them in the UK. <rolls eyes>

[ASTRAY]

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big. Also, it's too thirsty.

I haven't seen sales statistics since the financial crisis, but around this time last year the Astra was the biggest selling model in the UK. It's about the right size, it gives the right economy, and it's designed by the Brits as much as the Germans.

i know holden were thinking about a possible 4cyl commo again.
doesnt make sense to us aussies, but considering the euro countries have/had 1.2L astras etc etc, they might be happy with a 2L commo or something around that size. maybe 2.5L

[ASTRAY]

Also under discussion, according to Holden sources, is a plan to make available a wider range of high performance HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) models in the UK.

haha,
vxr daewoo barina.
vxr daewoo viva.
please someone buy holden/gm and put someone sensible in control.

[Bloodnok]

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big.

Opel Senator B == Vauxhall Senator == VN Commodore.
Opel Omega B == Vauxhall Omega == VT Commodore.

Not only can you, but they sold cars of that size quite successfully in Britain for some time.

Holden changed the front grille on these (and the choice of engines available - no use bringing European tuned engines out to Australia when Australia uses American style fuel - you'd lose too much power detuning them), but other than that, they are basically the same car. So there's no reason a car of that size wouldn't fit on the roads in Britain.

(Oh, and for the curious - the first Holden commodore was, umm, the Opel Commodore C. Yep, they even took the name...)


Also, it's too thirsty.That's partly down to car size, partly down to using an American sourced engine. Solve the second part by dropping in a modern european spec engine tuned to run on Euro petrol. Can't solve the first one though - it's still going to be a large heavy car even with a more efficient engine. To get the fuel economy, it'd need to go on a serious diet, which would basically mean a new, smaller, lighter car.


I haven't seen sales statistics since the financial crisis, but around this time last year the Astra was the biggest selling model in the UK. It's about the right size, it gives the right economy, and it's designed by the Brits as much as the Germans.Dunno if it's still the Astra, but it's been a while since it was a car any larger - it's generally a model in that class or that of the Corsa.


i know holden were thinking about a possible 4cyl commo again.
doesnt make sense to us aussies, but considering the euro countries have/had 1.2L astras etc etc, they might be happy with a 2L commo or something around that size. maybe 2.5L

1.4L for a base Astra at the moment. Corsa can come down to 1.2L I think.

Funny you should mention 2.5L, as that was quite a popular engine size for the Omega, which as you'll see above, is what the third series Holden Commodore is derived from. It'll easily haul that much car about when running on European petrol and tuned to do so...

[rjastra]

The VB was a combination of the Opel Rekord (rear) and Commodore (long nose front).

The VN was based broadly on the styling of the Omega/Senator but used the floorpan of the outgoing VB/VL Commodore. That's why it had the live rear axle and the narrow front track that wasn't really fixed until the VR.

[Bloodnok]

The VB was a combination of the Opel Rekord (rear) and Commodore (long nose front).

The Opel Commodore C was a combination of the Rekord E (rear) and the Senator A (long nose front). Though whether Holden combined them and Opel decided that it was a good idea and did it too, or whether Opel did it first and then Holden copied Opel I have no idea.

Why Holden didn't just take the Senator in the first place I don't know. They seemed to spend the intervening time between the first Commodore and the redesign to the VN slowly kludging more and more senator bits onto the Commodore anyway...


The VN was based broadly on the styling of the Omega/Senator but used the floorpan of the outgoing VB/VL Commodore.I can't comment on the floorplan, but the bodywork aside from the nose is practically identical. From the rear, and with the badges covered, it's rather difficult to tell them apart.


That's why it had the live rear axle and the narrow front track that wasn't really fixed until the VR.Oh great fun - sounds like a more faithful copy of the Opel Omega A / Vauxhall Senator would actually have been better :eek:.

(Random aside: I prefer the original nose, too...)

[gman]

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big. Also, it's too thirsty.

I haven't seen sales statistics since the financial crisis, but around this time last year the Astra was the biggest selling model in the UK. It's about the right size, it gives the right economy, and it's designed by the Brits as much as the Germans.

WTF!!! Are you serious?!?!? You really need to get out more...

They have been selling Commodores/Monaro's in the UK for the last 5+ years and they are still selling them. The newest is the VXR8 Bathurst with a 6.0Lt Supercharged V8...

They look alot like this one..
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t262/aussiegman/2010-vauxhall-vxr8-bathur-1_1600x0w.jpg

[rjastra]

Why Holden didn't just take the Senator in the first place I don't know. They seemed to spend the intervening time between the first Commodore and the redesign to the VN slowly kludging more and more senator bits onto the Commodore anyway...

Didn't he Senator have the exxy rear IRS?

Here is the promo video for the Senator.. Personally i dont think the rear looks as clean as that used on the initial VB Commodore. And it looks floaty (and arse dragging) as all hell on the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvm4pouJpmI

It does look like the VB commodore got the senators interior.

[Taffy]

Don't be ridiculous, you'd never fit a Commodore on the roads in the UK, it's too big. Also, it's too thirsty.

I haven't seen sales statistics since the financial crisis, but around this time last year the Astra was the biggest selling model in the UK. It's about the right size, it gives the right economy, and it's designed by the Brits as much as the Germans.

The big cars do sell over there, but I think that the culture, (plus insurance and annual car tax) is more geared towards smaller cars.

Growing up in the 1980s, our family car had only a 650cc engine!

Also, a lot of the roads in the countryside are not ideal for the larger cars. One time I was in a car crash because the Fiesta I was in met another Fiesta coming the other way and both cars got wedged inbetween the hedges and came to an instant stop.

[cbrmale]

WTF!!! Are you serious?!?!? You really need to get out more...

They have been selling Commodores/Monaro's in the UK for the last 5+ years and they are still selling them. The newest is the VXR8 Bathurst with a 6.0Lt Supercharged V8...

They look alot like this one..


I have spent lengthy times in the UK, and although I try to avoid it I have driven in London and to and from other regional centres such as York and Birmingham. London roads are narrow and wind all over the place, and parking spaces are very, very tight (if you can find a parking space that is). On the motorways a Commodore-sized car would be okay, but on multi-lane A roads it would be too big to be really comfortable.

They do sell limited numbers of Commodores, as they sell some of the big German cars too, but their usage would be limited to certain roads and certain towns. Lets say you wanted to drive to London, you'd probably have another car. Ditto the comment about back-country lanes.

[ASTRAY]

lol, just take a look at alot of side/minor roads in the centre of sydney, alot of them would have been designed by poms.

[rjastra]

The SIZE Myth:

Holden Commodore
Length (mm) 4894
Width (mm) 1899

Ford Mondeo
Length (mm) 4844
Width (mm) 1886