The car manufacturing scene in Australia is slowly nearing a curtain fall as Toyota and Holden, two of Australia’s leading car companies closed down their manufacturing plants in just a span of three weeks. But what fuelled it?
The Chevrolet Lumina was a somewhat popular Australian-built rear-wheel-drive sedan sold in the Middle East for about a decade before it was gradually replaced by the Malibu. The big thing was it came in sporty Lumina S and SS trims, as well as in CSV CR8 forms, all based on Aussie-market Holden Commodore models. But while the facelifted version never came here, the car was offered in the United States as the Chevrolet SS. And the last one was just built.
GM’s Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is a brand synonymous with absolute insanity in the car world. Based in Australia, this brand makes nothing but brawny versions of regular Holden cars. Our Middle Eastern market was given a taste of HSV with the rebranded CSV CR8 in 2008 which came in as a 425 hp 6.2-litre V8 rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet sedan (which made it onto our ultra-short Editor’s Choice list). Holden’s rear-wheel-drive sedans are on their death-bed right now due to slow sales, but HSV saw it fit to give the car a rousing send-off with the new GTSR models.
General Motors has launched the 2014 Chevrolet SS sports sedan in the United States, just a few days after the original Holden Commodore SS V debuted in Australia. The external difference between the two is pretty much just the badge on the grille, and the U.S. model will also be sourced from Australia.
General Motors’ Australian arm, Holden, has taken the wraps off their sporty new Commodore SS V model, after revealing the facelifted Commodore range earlier this week. The Commodore SS is expected to become the 2014 Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan model that is headed to the United States with a “bowtie” badge on the grille.
Built by General Motors’ Australian division, the Holden Commodore has finally received a redesign for 2013. For those not in the know, the Commodore is the rear-wheel-drive midsize sedan that formed the basis for the Chevrolet Lumina models in the Middle East, right until 2011, when the car was quietly discontinued here in favour of pushing the front-wheel-drive Chevy Malibu as their new midsize offering in the GCC.