Holden accelerates

By Alastair Sloane

Holden builds three Commodore variants: sedan, wagon and ute. It has done for years.

Now it is building a fourth and fifth.

The fourth, the Commodore coupe, hasn't yet been signed off. Its future depends very much on export sales as a left-hand-drive.

But the fifth variant, a four-wheel-drive lifestyle vehicle based on the Commodore platform, will appear early next century.

The new model is part of a five-year $1.2 billion programme, says company managing-director Peter Hanenberger.

The programme also includes the development of an Australian-made six-cylinder engine.

The initiatives are part of a drive to make Holden Australia's market leader.

The company plans to increase production from the present output of 120,000 vehicles a year to 150,000.

Other plans include rebadging Brazilian-made Chevrolet Blazer and Silverado four-wheel-drives for Australia and importing the Spanish-made Opel Zafira people-mover.

Some of these models are expected to go on sale in New Zealand.

Holden will also work on developing its joint fuel-cell programme with Toyota.

Hanenberger said he expected hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, with a refuelling range of between 500km and 800km, to be on the Australian market within 10 years, about five years after they debut in Europe.

German-born Hanenberger was Holden's deputy chief engineer between 1977 and 1983.