Chevy chaser on refreshed Commodore

PRODUCTION of the facelifted VF Series II Holden Commodore will be ramped up early to prepare dealer stocks of the last locally built Commodore.

The line will switch from VF to VF Series II a fortnight earlier than originally planned as the company prepares to unveil the new-look Elizabeth-built family car next weekend.

The launch of VF Series II will also be new managing director Mark Bernhard’s first official event at the helm of Holden.

Holden’s factory line will change over to production VF II “soon” in preparation for the early October on-sale date pilot build cars already sent down the northern Adelaide production line have been photographed undergoing pre-launch testing on the streets of Melbourne.

Currently running at around 220 cars a day, it is expected the VF could finish production as soon as the end of next week.

The company has also sent left-hand-drive Chevrolet SS cars down its production line, including one (pictured) in what appears to be a new paint colour no confirmation on the new hue’s use in the United States was forthcoming but it is reportedly going to turn up on the luxury-spec cars in Australia.

Holden would also not comment on specifics prior to the launch on the weekend, nor would they make any comments on the timing for a launch of the new Chevrolet SS model pictured in the Elizabeth holding yard.

But the timing for a refreshed Chevrolet SS reveal and the unveiling of its Australian sibling is expected to be close, with the Australian version likely to be revealed first.

Holden’s VF was unveiled in February 2013 within days of the Chevrolet SS, which was first seen in its NASCAR racing guise in late 2012.

The VF Series II will be the final update to an Australian-built car ahead of the closure of the local automotive manufacturing industry, starting with Ford’ s factory shut-down in October next year and followed by Holden and Toyota late in 2017.

While there will be changes to the front-end styling of the Commodore, it appears that there are no alterations to the tail end of the sedan, Sportwagon or Ute.

The Commodore had a strong August in run-out, racking up 2144 sales for a podium finish behind the Toyota Corolla (3050) and Mazda3 (2673), but year to date it sits in sixth spot with 17,943 sales, kept out of the top five by Ford’ s best seller, the Ford Ranger on 18,253.

GoAuto will have all of the details on the VF Series II Commodore following its reveal next weekend.