Holden defends Series II Commodore
BY MARTON PETTENDY | 14th Sep 2010
Responding to criticism the first Commodore facelift since 2006 constituted much less change and came much later than was the case with previous Commodore upgrades, which traditionally took place every year, Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux said: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
“There are no revolutionary changes to the outside of this car and, you know, there are not meant to be. The design team didn’t just make design changes for the sake of them.
“I think the feedback we’re getting … from our dealers is that Commodore’s one of the best-looking cars on the road. A testament to the original design of the VE and how much longevity it has are the design changes that we’re making today.
“The revolutionary changes are actually under the skin of the vehicle and inside the vehicle. We’re focussed on making what really is a great VE car even better with VE Series II and that means performance, leadership in alternative fuels, which is extremely important to us, and great interiors.
“We think we’ve got a great update to the interior – technology that makes the car a heck of a lot more fun to drive and travel around in.
“When it comes to fuel economy, this is a story of continuous improvement. Some of the engineering changes may look like tiny little things, but they really do add up to some significant savings in fuel economy.
“It’s a never-ending pursuit – every single gram of CO2 and every single decimal point of fuel consumption really do matter, and we’re going to have that as a core part of Holden’s strategy for the foreseeable future.”Mr Devereux said this year’s Series II upgrade represented the return to a global model cycle for the Commodore.
“If you look globally … three to four years into a product is when, generally speaking, mid-cycle model enhancements are done in the industry.
“This is the way car companies do business today. Three or four years after you launch a car, you do an update to the exterior. Sometimes you spend more money on the engine, sometimes you spend more on the interior.
“In this case, we did a lot in terms of making the engine bioethanol-capable and I think we upgraded the interior in a massive way with a great new touch-screen.
“I can’t speak to how it used to be here, but this is how we run the business globally and I’m proud of what Richard (Ferlazzo) and the (design) guys have done on what is already a great looking car.
“The car wasn’t broke – it’s the best-selling car in the country and we don’t want to do anything to change that,” he said.
