Holden raises another Storm, while Trax gets Active

BY TIM ROBSON | 5th May 2015

HOLDEN has added another pair of ‘limited edition’ models to its fleet, reviving last year’s Storm pack for the Commodore and adding an Active moniker to the Trax.

The additions come as Holden slips to third place overall on the year-to-date sales charts, behind Toyota and an on-fire Mazda.

Debuting in April 2014 on the VF, the Storm has proven popular with buyers according to Holden.

The MY15 pack takes exactly the same form as last year’s offering, and includes satellite navigation, front fog-lights, new 18-inch grey alloy wheels, red contrast seat stitching, ‘Storm’ embroidery on the dash as well as exterior badging.

Available on all body-styles of the SV6 and SS, the Storm pack is priced at $500. As a reference, satellite navigation is a $750 option on both models.

The Commodore SV6 starts at $33,490 for a manual ute, while the SS kicks off at $39,490. Sedans are $36,790 and $42,990 respectively, while the auto-only wagons are $40,990 for the SV6 and $47, 190 for the SS. All prices are before on-road costs.

The Storm is the fifth special edition to be rolled out for the critically acclaimed, but slow-selling, VF Commodore.

First came a Collingwood Football Club-themed pack, then a special model commemorating the achievements of long-time Holden V8 Supercar stalwart Craig Lowndes launched in October last year, followed by the internet competition-named Lightning and finally the Sandman ute and wagon, which were launched just two months ago.

The Commodore’s fortunes continue to wane as it heads towards its 2017 final curtain. Though still the clear leader in its class, its first-quarter figure for 2015 of 8780 represents a slide of almost 17 per cent year on year. Its April monthly tally of 2048 is a drop of some 400 cars from its March figure.

Meanwhile, an extra line has been added to the Trax catalogue, with the announcement of a limited-edition Active variant.

Based on the entry level 1.8-litre LS, the Active receives 17-inch rims that are unique to this pack, an electric sunroof, roof rails, badging and garnishing.

Priced at $24,990 driveaway, it sits just $1000 north of the base LS, which is currently being offered at $23,990 driveaway with a free automatic transmission upgrade.

The Trax, too, shows signs of slipping in the compact SUV sales race, though its losses are smaller than those of the Commodore. Its tally of 1664 for Q1 is a 13 per cent drop over its 2014 score for the same period, but it is languishing well down the order of a very competitive segment. It found 372 homes in April, against sales of 395 in March.

By way of comparison, the category-leading Hyundai ix35 is selling just under 1400 units a month for a quarter-one score of 6225, while the new Mazda CX-3 sold an astonishing 1396 cars in April alone – enough to snag the class win for the month.

Holden Commodore Storm pricing*