Holden Commodore: Copping It Sweet
Motoring Channel Staff - 30/April/2009
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Pontiac G8 or Chevrolet Commodore police car
Holden Commodore Australian police car
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Melbourne, Australia
– As GM Holden's lucrative American
exports of the Holden Commodore (badged as Pontiac G8s) dry up with the
shutting down of the Pontiac brand, a lifeline for the Commodore could
be in the offing. Reports that the Holden Commodore
could be badged as a Chevrolet Commodore are growing in number, and
that a large fleet buyer in the form of law enforcement agencies could
be interested in the powerful rear-wheel vehicle. Two
examples of the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) Pontiac G8
(pictured) converted to US police specifications by an Australia
company will begin testing in the US by mid-year and could lead to
increased exports of the Commodore. No contracts have
been signed, but the National Safety Agency (NSA) based in Port
Melbourne, which is helping to broker the deal, is confident that up to
40,000 Chevrolet Commodore police cars could be exported to the US
every year. But at present Ford has a stranglehold on a
majority of police fleet sales in the United States at the moment,
with the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor being a real money maker
with around 60,000 sales to police fleets per year. However
the Ford Crown Victoria is very old and will be phased out of public
sale from 2010, but Ford has intentions to keep building the vehicle as
long as police departs in America keep buying it. It
would seem strange for US police fleets to purchase a vehicle that is
built on the other side of the planet, incurring extra costs such as
shipping, when such vehicles could be sourced domestically. However there does seem to be momentum behind the 'Chevrolet Commodore' police car. The
Motoring Channel predicts that Holden has a fair chance to get a
contract to export Commodores to the North American law enforcement
agencies, but we don't expect the number to the 40,000 per annum as
claimed by the NSA. While the news would be music to the
ears of Holden, General Motors in US is in much more parlous state than
GM Holden in Australia. A more likely scenario
would be that General Motors would try and break into police fleet
sales with a model of its own, such as the Chevrolet Impala.
Related Links:
- GM Restructures: Pontiac Axed (2009)
- Ford,
GM, Chrysler: Restructured (2009)
- Adelaide Motor Show Cancelled (2009)
- End Game for Saab, Pontiac? (2008)
- Car Dealers Face Finance Crisis (2008)
- US Car Makers: Grim Future (2008)
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