Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Sorry Holden: GM cancels VE Sportwagon for US market]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/17/sorry-holden-gm-cancels-ve-sportwagon-for-us-market/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/17/sorry-holden-gm-cancels-ve-sportwagon-for-us-market/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/17/sorry-holden-gm-cancels-ve-sportwagon-for-us-market/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


click above for more high-res images of the Holden VE Sportwagon

Holden wasn't sure if it was going to build a new VE Commodore Wagon when developing its new line of rear-wheel-drive Zeta-based sedans. Wagons are fleet darlings in Australia, and the new one from Holden was for some reason switched from the long-wheelbase Caprice and Statesman platform to the shorter Commodore platform. That reduced the wagon's cargo capacity, which in turn threatened its very existence. But after hearing that its parent company, General Motors, was interested in importing the VE Sportwagon as a Pontiac G8 wagon, Holden gave the wagon a green light in good faith that there would be additional sales from exports to offset the loss of fleet sales.

Well, Holden just lost the U.S. market, as Bob Lutz told Australian journalists at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show that the VE Sportwagon, a higher-octane version of the VE Commodore Wagon, would not be coming to America. His reasons include the cost of meeting U.S. regulations and the fact that Yanks don't seem to be interested in wagons at all anymore. Audi, BMW and Mercedes offer them but sell hardly any, while Dodge tried to make the sport wagon mainstream again with the critically-acclaimed Magnum. We all know how that turned out.

We bet that if the Magnum were a hot seller, GM would then have no qualms importing the VE Sportwagon. As it stands, though, without the Magnum, a Pontiac G8 wagon would be competing with Audi, BMW and Mercedes wagons for a small slice of this very niche segment's sales.

[Source: Goauto.com via GMInsideNews]

Gallery: Holden VE Commodore Sportwagon

Sorry Holden: GM cancels VE Sportwagon for US market originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You'd think after looking at it that the Holden VE Sportwagon was one of those no-brainer vehicles that was a production lock from the moment it was a twinkle in some designer's eye. According to GoAuto, that wasn't exactly the case. The outgoing VZ wagon was a fleet darling, beloved for its exceptional cargo capacity. That added space came courtesy of the same LWB architecture used for the Caprice and Statesman sedans. In a departure from tradition (the wagons had been built on long-wheelbase platforms for decades), the VE proposal was based on the shorter underpinnings used for the Commodore sedan. With that comes reduced capacity and a total package that's less attractive to fleets. After ultimately seeing a clay model of the car presented in Sydney, Holden execs greenlit the project anyway.

And that's where we, the US and Canada, come in. One of the factors that pushed the VE wagon into production was its obvious export appeal. No agreements or contracts are in place, but according to GoAuto, Holden sees exports of 10,000 per year as being the goal, and North America the biggest target market outside of Australia and new Zealand. Meanwhile, Holden feels it can mitigate the expected downturn in fleet sales at home by leveraging the VE's great looks and sporty practicality to sell more profitable examples to consumers, especially ones looking to get out of SUVs. Assuming the stars line up and the car comes over to the US as hoped, it would be after the arrival of the Ute, which appears to be next in line according to the GoAuto piece. There's a lot more to the article, which is interesting, wide-ranging, and worth a read. As for the VE Wagon, well, this Autoblogger's all for it. It's a hell of a lot cooler than the '87 Pontiac Safari my parents had, and that I learned to drive in. Let's leave the wood stickers off this one, though, okay?

[Source: GoAuto]

Gallery: Holden VE Commodore Sportwagon

The rocky road to the Holden VE Sportwagon originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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