Holden Commodore V8 to become Chevy's Nascar Star

Holden Commodore V8

Holden is expected to announce this week  an export program for the Commodore V8, which will see the Adelaide made car become a race and showroom star in the United States.

Though sales of the Elizabeth-produced sedan continue to slide in Australia, a Commodore V8 will be exported to America where it will be sold with the Chevrolet SS Performance badge.

In that guise, it would also star for the heartland brand in the Nascar stock car racing series, which runs second only to Formula One in global popularity.

Holden has been testing left-hand drive cars on public roads in Victoria in recent weeks and running it head-to-head with one of its strongest potential rivals, the Dodge Charger, as it finalises its end of the important new deal.

Motorsport sources in the US hint an announcement about the new Chevrolet SS program is imminent, including the connection with Holden. The Chevrolet connection is a revival of the major export deal that saw the Commodore sold in the US as the Pontiac G8 until the US brand was closed when General Motors was forced into bankruptcy in the global financial crisis. Numbers now are likely to be lower but the profile higher with the NASCAR connection. Former GM Holden president Mark Reuss, now head of GM operations in the US, was yesterday dodging questions on a link between the SS program and Commodore.


- AdelaideNow.com.au