Mustang will have a GMH competitor

[DanielXR8]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/329796/h...e-beyond-2017/

Holden has officially announced that when local manufacturing ceases in 2017, a two-door sports coupe with a V8 engine will be at the ready to replace SS versions of the Holden Commodore sedan.

The man who stands by his decision to close Holden’s Elizabeth, South Australia, plant in 2017, General Motors executive vice president of international operations Stefan Jacoby tonight confirmed the news.

“What we decided … is we will bring a Holden sports car in the near future,” Jacoby began.

“It will be something which truly fulfils the requirement of a true Holden sports car. We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand portfolio.”

Holden Commodore SS Ford Falcon XR8-18

Jacoby answered several questions thrown at him with clear answers: “no” it will not be called Monaro; “most likely, yes” it will have a V8 engine; “no” the model has not been seen yet, but it will be sold “globally”; and “no” it will not wear a Commodore nameplate.

“Commodore is a Commodore, the Commodore is a four-door sedan,” clarified the international operations boss.

The answer is “no” to the coupe being a production version of the Opel Monza concept (below) too. Everything points, then, to the coupe V8 being the next-generation Chevrolet Camaro, which is currently built on a Holden Commodore rear-wheel-drive platform called Zeta, but which will die with the end of VF and current Camaro production within three years.

Enter the Alpha platform, new to Cadillac with the medium-sized ATS and large CTS luxury sedans of 2013 and 2014 respectively. Capable of supporting four-, six- or eight-cylinder powertrains, it’s an almost assured base for the 2016 Camaro to be built on.

Opel-Monza-Concept

However senior executives at GM are on record saying mere badge engineering simply won’t work in this day and age – ruling out the possibility of a next Camaro simply wearing a Holden Lion.

Jacoby insists that Holden design and engineering will play a part in developing this next-generation V8 coupe, with mules already being tested at Holden’s Lang Lang testing ground outside of Melbourne, which was due to be sold off but was retained at the eleventh hour.

“I think it was a wise decision to retain our Lang Lang [proving ground],” tells Jacoby.

“I think we remain Australian engineering capacities, we talk about the design which is state of the art, and which … design is not Australian, design is not Korean, design is not Japanese.

Chevrolet-Camaro-1

“It’s a General Motors Holden, Chevrolet, Cadillac design and I think we have high competence in Australia, and I think with all our product decisions which we have in Australia, we involved our engineering team, our proving ground capabilites and our design team for this product”.

But we won’t see this Holden two-door V8 coupe before local manufacturing ceases. Rather it will take the sports car baton from four decades of Commodore V8 sedans.

“It will come after the factory closes,” he confirmed.


Read more at http://www.caradvice.com.au/329796/h...hkWTdpFeco8.99

[DanielXR8]

Drive.com.au story based on same press conference:

http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/c...13-12n5k1.html

Holden will have a new V8-powered, two-door sports car as its hero model after the locally-built Commodore is pensioned off in 2017.

General Motors International boss Stefan Jacoby has confirmed the top-secret new car in an interview with Australian media in Detroit today, but kept any further details under wraps

"We will bring a Holden sports car in the future, in the near future," Jacoby revealed.

But the German, who oversees General Motors operations throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, wouldn't reveal exactly which model it will be.

Asked if it will be an existing model in GM's portfolio – which includes the Camaro and Corvette – Jacoby was non-committal.

"No, maybe something else," he said.

"It will be something which truly fits the requirement of a true Holden sports car."

He went on to add that it will "most likely" have a V8 engine and will arrive after the Elizabeth manufacturing plant closes in 2017. While a V8-powered two-door coupe follows the formula set by the iconic Monaro, Jacoby ruled out reviving the nameplate.

While Jacoby's comments about a 'current model' rule out the existing Camaro and Corvette models, both are due for replacement in the near future. The Camaro is expected to sit on a new platform shared with the Cadillac ATS and debut in 2016 in the US.

Chevrolet has also been caught testing a mid-engined replacement for the current Corvette – using a Holden Ute body for the test mule - that isn't expected to be in showrooms before 2018.

One car Jacoby did rule out was a production version of the Opel Monza concept which debuted at the 2013 Geneva motor show.

Whatever the car becomes, it will likely go head-to-head with the Ford Mustang that arrives in Australian showrooms from later this year - continuining the Ford-versus-Holden rivalry that has divided local performance car fans for decades. It could also form the basis of Holden's next-generation V8 Supercar racer.

Beyond the top-secret Monaro replacement, GM also revealed at the 2014 Detroit motor show that it plans to build more of its new models in both left- and right-hand drive, opening up greater opportunities for Holden to source more products from with the GM network after it ceases local manufacturing by the end of 2017.

GM President Dan Ammann reiterated that commitment prior to Jacoby's announcement, paving the way for the next-generation Camaro to join the Holden range in one form or another.

"It's getting closer for sure," Ammann said, when asked how long it would take for the right-hand drive cars to come to Australia.

"It really depends by product line and architecture," he explained. "It's a decision that, as you'd expect, with each generation of architecture you make that decision, then once you make that decision you wait for it to come [again]. Without getting specific it's something a lot of us sat down around a table.

"What we used to do was program by program you'd do the math and never make it work. Inevitably the financials get tight and you decide we'll save a bit of money by not doing that. If you keep incrementalizing [sic] you don't make the right decision. If we just make a strategic call that we're doing this then there is no more debate."

Ammann said the move to offer more right-hand drive models is a global strategy to overcome the financial problems the company has faced in the past getting the business case to work.

"It actually does get cheaper if you do it once and you do it in the beginning and you don't think about it each time. If you just look at the volumes you'll never really [do it] we just kind of have to say 'we're a global company' we're doing it."

However, he did concede some low-volume models would likely remain left-hand drive only, including full-size pick-up trucks like the Chevrolet Silverado.

"If there's a geographically specific thing," he said. "Would we do it on full-size pick-ups [in right-hand drive]? I'm not so sure. But on anything that's got a remotely global application we'd look at it."

[malazn mafia]

Wonder how many of these global 'holden' sports cars will retain the lame lion badge after they are sold. Surge in demand for Chev badges? This time rightly so

[Grippy]

The Camaro coming to Australia is a great thing. Mustang vs Camaro in V8 Supercars would be awesome.