Australian Holden engineer working on German-made Holden Commodore

[Theo]

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/australian-holden-engineer-working-on-germanmade-holden-commodore/story-fnda1bsz-1227082071917


News Corp Australia can exclusively reveal one of Holden’s most senior engineers has been based in Germany on a top-secret assignment for the past four years working on the car that will become the next Commodore.

Marinos Panayiotou, who worked at Holden from 2001, has been based at Opel in Germany since 2010 as the Lead Program Manager.

Despite the posting to Germany almost four years ago, Holden insiders insist the company had no plans at that stage to end local production of the Commodore.

Whether or not it was deliberate move, Mr Panayiotou’s appointment has placed Holden in an ideal position to ensure General Motors’ new global sedan meets the needs of Australian buyers.

Holden was working on the design of the Chinese version of the new sedan until the company announced last December it would end manufacturing in Australia in 2017.

The imported Commodore will likely be sold alongside the locally-made model for a short time as local manufacturing winds down in the second half of 2017.

Why is the next Holden Commodore coming from Germany?
Because Opel already builds more cars there and can export them more profitably.

Why is there no V8 in the new Commodore?
Because it is front-wheel-drive, and strict European emissions mean that engines are downsizing. Most V8s are being replaced by V6 engines, and V6s are in turn being replaced by four-cylinders.

Why is there no ute version of the new Commodore?
Because “car-derived” utes such as the Commodore and Falcon are a dying breed; the market has shifted to dual-cab “body-on-frame” pick-ups such as the Toyota HiLux

Will Holden call the new car a Commodore?
For now,Holden says the new car will be called a Commodore. But insiders say opinion within the company is still divided. Diehard fans believe the new car has changed so much that it should not be called a Commodore and the name should be retired (just as Ford will retire the Falcon nameplate)

What will happen to Holden Commodores in V8 Supercars?
No change.New rules mean that car makers can run a sedan body in V8 Supercars even if there is no V8 available in showrooms

*Full Article at Link

[faneca]

So what I took out of that is that the insignia will now be running in the v8supercars championship from 2017 lol
I personally don't think it should be called a Commodore but that's me.

[Theo]

So what I took out of that is that the insignia will now be running in the v8supercars championship from 2017 lol
I personally don't think it should be called a Commodore but that's me.

agree with you regarding the name, its time to move on and forward, I would personally prefer the Insignia nameplate - one less badge to change when you Opelise!!!

[sskustomz]

Oh crap! Does that mean we're about to become trendy?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dutchy]

A "top secret assignment" ....................? Working on integrating Holden badges onto an Insignia ! ;)

[poita]

They might move the locating pin so you can't swap them? Lol

[chris_r]

I'll be waiting to see how many of the local bogans would still be turfing the Lion in favour of the Bowtie.

As for this engineer, I would say he's been there since 2010 to have initially help set up the Opel Insignia for release here (as the short-lived Opel Insignia), but when Holden decided to end local production, as they said he was in an ideal position to set up the next model to replace it.

[dgcruzing]

Just need to keep an eye on these websites to see what is going to get placed in to the australian market.
I have just spent the last 5 years running round China going in to every car brand you can think of, all up about close on 2,000 factories I think I would have visited as the company I worked for does CNC cutting fluids, cleaning and Anti-rust solutions for anything that is metal produced. So I got to see all the ramp up of brands that where long forgotten but will start to see more and more off as they roll off the production lines made under western\Asian (includes all of the Japanese, Korean brands) brand names in Chinese plants.

GM-
http://media.gm.com/media/cn/en/gm/vehicles.html

Ford
http://www.ford.com.cn/cars
throw this one in to Google chrome and it will translate it for you to navigate round.

Ford Mazda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changan_Ford_Mazda

There is one brand I wouldn't touch with a barge pole and thats BYD even though Warren Buffet has through a stack of money at it as I just know how corrupt their quality control and production engineers are.. Long term problems in these for sure.

On the other hand, Dongfeng has a tight control on things and it shows in their stamp of the brands they are making
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongfeng_Motor

All in all, get used to it, as far as I can see every part for every car is made in China and any time one of the brands try to kid you that its made in Japan, Germany, Korea, US... they are all laughing all the way to the bank. I would love to have a full breakdown of exactly where any of the German cars are made as they haven't been top JV partner of Auto Manufacturing in China for the fun of it.. now that there is a direct link freight train link from chongqing to Duisburg this opens up trade even further for them to capitalise on the new plants that have been built throughout Chongqing, Chengdu, Xian and even as far as Wuhan.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-28/germany-plans-to-expand-chinese-rail-link-as-xi-visits-duisburg.html

[kovert]

Looking forward to it. Commodore with its Opel heritage means a lot to generations of Australians but the name should be retired in favour of Insignia. GM have already announced the OPC (or is it VXR?) version for Australian market under Insignia. Please make the hatch version available, Holden.

[Theo]

Should make some people happy:-
http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/news/1410/v8-power-possible-for-next-holden-commodore/

[Theo]

Game on mole (HSV):-
http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/news/1410/opel-we-will-steal-hsv-sales/

[vekara]

Commodore made in China, anyone suggesting that 20 years ago would have been drowned in Sydney Harbour. There is no doubt in few years 70-80% of world car production is made in China. European car manufacturers just cannot compete in price.

[chris_r]

Commodore made in China, anyone suggesting that 20 years ago would have been drowned in Sydney Harbour. There is no doubt in few years 70-80% of world car production is made in China. European car manufacturers just cannot compete in price.

Maybe not, but the Euros and the Japanes can both smash 'em in quality. Still like 20 years ago, Chinese cars are still crap boxes with dodgily attached wheels and a safety rating lower than a snake's belly. Being on the rough end of owning a Korean pile of crap has taught me one thing, you may end up spending $10k extra buying a vehicle of far better quality, but if you try to save that $10k by buying something cheaper, before long you will wish you had spent the extra dosh for the quality and reliability.

[vekara]

You speak sense chris_r, Chenese and other budget cars are made to a price, a $20k car made in China or Indonesia or even India cannot match the quality, performance and luxury of a German made car, for instance. I see that you have a classic BMW E30. Keep it.
If you had a budget or $30k to buy a car, used or second hand, look at what options you have; Mercedes, BMW, Opel (some Holden models), Volvo, Saab and so on. The luxury car would still be on the road long after the budget car has expired, they are only designed to last 10 years and about 160,000km. Repairing them is uneconomical so the only option is to recycle it.
I am selling my Korean made Cruze and keep the two euro cars, German made Astra Turbo and V6 Vectra made in Belgium. I will never buy a new budget car again, I cannot afford wasting so much money on a thing that in few years time is worth nothing.

[kovert]

A lot of tradespeople up here use Great Wall commercial vehicles. The brand seems very popular. At the same time, Volkswagen have entered the ute (or pickup) market with their Amarok and they seem equally as popular. Haven't seen too many Chery branded non-commercial vehicles. Wasn't there a case a couple of years ago where the roofracks on Chery wouldn't actually support any weight?

V8 Opel Insignia. Maybe we will see them introduced into V8 Supercars. Look at Volvo and Nissan.

[Bloodnok]

Should make some people happy:-
http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/news/1410/v8-power-possible-for-next-holden-commodore/
"It’d have to be organised through America, where they would offer us a V8 engine on an appropriate platform".

So that'd be Alpha then, right? What other "V8 appropriate platform" does GM have for cars?

[Dave58SA]

Enlightening. Vehicle manufacturing is changing more than I ever thought possible.


Dave in South Australia.
Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk.

[vekara]

A lot of tradespeople up here use Great Wall commercial vehicles. The brand seems very popular. At the same time, Volkswagen have entered the ute (or pickup) market with their Amarok and they seem equally as popular. Haven't seen too many Chery branded non-commercial vehicles. Wasn't there a case a couple of years ago where the roofracks on Chery wouldn't actually support any weight?

V8 Opel Insignia. Maybe we will see them introduced into V8 Supercars. Look at Volvo and Nissan.

Yeah! remember the times when Team Rosberg was driving a V6 Turbo Calibra in DTM...

[ant0ny]

... a commodore made in china... love the idea... they could possible make it way better than we did thats for sure. Lol the headline... "Commodore to be made in China... Ford Falcon now can compete with build quality in a fairer market place"