Even though the launch of the next-generation 2018 NG Commodore is some 16 months off, we will get to see it next month in the form of its donor car: the Opel/Vauxhall Grand Insignia, to be revealed in December.
Although there might be some detail alterations as well as differences in variant trims, the car that will be launched to Europeans will ostensibly become known as the Holden NG Commodore, which has drawn plenty of emotional response from the commentariat.
The Grand Insignia will launch with 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines as well as 1.6- and 2.0-litre diesel units. Differing from the car we will receive, it will also be available with a six-speed manual while the Commodore will be automoatic only; eight-speed for the 2.0-litre petrol and diesel and nine-speed for the AWD V6.
It will be some time before exact spec, pricing and model names are revealed for the local version as the Australian-made VF II Commodore still has one year of production left but next month’s unveiling will give potential buyers a very good indication of what to expect.
One topic mysteriously under wraps is whether HSV will get a chance to fettle the car. Holden’s official line at the prototype launch was that a turbo V6 simply won’t fit under the engine bay, so HSV may resort to supercharging to achieve the necessary power figures to keep its current fan base interested. Another possibility is that it will concentrate on other product lines such as Astra and Colorado.
As there is one more update for the VF and GEN-F Commodores expected to come, more information is likely to come to light when the final Australian-made cars are ready for launch over the next few months. Expect a mild Commodore update in February and the ‘GTS-R W1‘ Aussie supercar around the same time.
