Holden's power trip
July 14, 2008
Don't automatically assume that alternate engines and fuel technologies announced by Holden are all destined for its primary product, Commodore.
That was the warning sounded to Yahoo!Xtra Motoring by Holden New Zealand's managing director, Peter Keley, at the media preview of the Commodore Sportwagon, where some detail of the plans was revealed.
Holden seems destined to have a hybrid (petrol-electric) Commodore on the road within several years. But it's also talking diesel, dedicated LPG and E85-compliant engines.
The logical conclusion is that all these updates are for Commodore, but Keley says that conclusion is premature.
"We have to ensure that the large car remains relevant to the buying public, (but) it's too early to say that specific technology will go the specific cars.
"There are four or five different technologies, and it would be simplistic to say they are all for that car (Commodore), when they might in fact be available for every car line.
"We have not been specific about what car line they will go on."
Keley could be foxing. Then again, he IS a man in the know - from August 1 he will head Holden's product planning.
You'd assume pump prices have pressured Holden into action. The brand prefers to insist its more to do with keeping ahead in the car game.
Holden's big boss, American Mark Reuss, says it allows his brand to "offer a range of alternatives rather than betting on one technology winner."
The engine of greatest immediate interest to Kiwis has to be the diesel. Word is that Holden will take the 2.9-litre six-cylinder from affiliate VM Motori. This engine develops 184kW - just 6kW shy of the most powerful Commodore petrol V6 - and 540Nm torque, which is on par with Holden's 6.0-litre V8.
The DOHC common-rail V6 is already in production, having debuted in the Cadillac CTS sedan.
Asked if, as Holden NZ's boss, he would be keen to see a diesel Commodore on sale in New Zealand, Keley was predictably vague, though he acknowledged Government interest in oilers was a positive to introduce such a car.
But the decision really rests on how well it would go in Australia, and he reckons Aussie drivers aren't as diesel-savvy as Kiwis.
"At the moment diesels are pretty much sought after by Government and some larger fleets. The Government situation is purely chasing the lowest CO2 almost at any cost. The converse of that is the private buyer chasing good performance and economy at a low cost.
"These are two bookends. Our job is to work out which technology best suits the market. We are looking at a number of strategies.
"I'm not going to confirm or deny at what point we're at with these technologies, but we are finding we are in a very fast-changing marketplace. Six months ago, diesel was almost God's gift to every human ailment - now diesel fuel prices are increasing at a greater rate than petrol."
A diesel would surely work for Sportwagon, a car that regardless of its potential for fleet use is also hoped to draw back private buyers who are looking to abdicate sports utilities.
The sporty shape sacrifices the load-carrying ability of its VZ predecessor for a more smarter profile and sharper dynamics, so as to hit the "sweet spot between form and function."
Holden believes Sportwagon will lift sales, not least because this model is aimed as much at private buyers - who might have previously looked a sports utility - as the traditional fleet base.
A saviour is needed. Holden sales year-on-year are down 23 percent and its mainstay model is, after eight years at the top, no longer our favourite car. Since May, that's been the Toyota Corolla. Commodore residual values are also dropping.
It's been the same in Australia and while Holden insists the diminishing market share does not spell the end, there's also no doubt it is hurting.
Reuss said the company planned to take a leadership role in what he described as the challenge facing all vehicle manufacturers.
Keley added his weight to this. "I don't intend to give too much away on these future product plans other than to reiterate that, like General Motors (GM) globally, we understand that change is taking place and Holden intends to be part of that change."
The hybrid presents the greatest technical challenge. GM in the United States has developed a two-mode system which employs two 60kW electric motors. It uses regenerative braking to recover energy that is stored in nickel hydride batteries.
A hybrid Commodore will certainly be beaten to the road by the petrol-electric Camry that Toyota will produce in 2010 out of Melbourne, with the help of a $A35 million grant from Australia's Federal Government. The Camry has been confirmed for New Zealand.
The dedicated LPG car and another tuned to run ethanol-dominant E85 fuel could conceivably be around by then; these are off-the-shelf technologies. GM already sells Saabs tuned to run with E85 fuel, in which ethanol is the dominant component.
On the face of it, neither seem relevant to New Zealand. LPG has become a fringe fuel for cars and E10, a fuel comprising 10 percent ethanol mixed with petrol, is the strongest blend available from forecourts.
Keley sees it different. He notes that 50 percent of petrol stations in New Zealand have LPG available - even if only to top up barbecue and heater gas bottles - and also reckons a strong enough push with E85 cars would sway the oil companies to make the fuel available.
"LPG is widely available and it's roughly a third cheaper than petrol. If we were to bring in a dedicated car that had equal, or thereabouts, performance to a petrol car, with no loss of boot space or convenience, with perhaps a $1000 premium over a petrol model (rather than the $5000 premium the current dual-fuel Commodore currently carries) and maybe a third less running costs, wouldn't that be relevant?"
E85 was firmly on the agenda, he said. "There has been some discussion about the lack of availability, but it's a chicken and egg syndrome. Fuel companies will meet demand. At the moment, part from a handful of Saab vehicles, there are no cars in NZ that run on E85.
"But, for argument's sake, let's say every Holden that came into NZ - and that's around 12,000 cars a year - was E85 compatible. After a couple of years, there would be 24,000 cars capable of running on E85.
"That creates a demand for the fuel, which creates demand for an infrastructure."
What this means to you: Holden has to act, and soon. We'd put money on there being at least a diesel Commodore in the market before the end of 2009.
That was the warning sounded to Yahoo!Xtra Motoring by Holden New Zealand's managing director, Peter Keley, at the media preview of the Commodore Sportwagon, where some detail of the plans was revealed.
Holden seems destined to have a hybrid (petrol-electric) Commodore on the road within several years. But it's also talking diesel, dedicated LPG and E85-compliant engines.
The logical conclusion is that all these updates are for Commodore, but Keley says that conclusion is premature.
"We have to ensure that the large car remains relevant to the buying public, (but) it's too early to say that specific technology will go the specific cars.
"There are four or five different technologies, and it would be simplistic to say they are all for that car (Commodore), when they might in fact be available for every car line.
"We have not been specific about what car line they will go on."
Keley could be foxing. Then again, he IS a man in the know - from August 1 he will head Holden's product planning.
You'd assume pump prices have pressured Holden into action. The brand prefers to insist its more to do with keeping ahead in the car game.
Holden's big boss, American Mark Reuss, says it allows his brand to "offer a range of alternatives rather than betting on one technology winner."
The engine of greatest immediate interest to Kiwis has to be the diesel. Word is that Holden will take the 2.9-litre six-cylinder from affiliate VM Motori. This engine develops 184kW - just 6kW shy of the most powerful Commodore petrol V6 - and 540Nm torque, which is on par with Holden's 6.0-litre V8.
The DOHC common-rail V6 is already in production, having debuted in the Cadillac CTS sedan.
Asked if, as Holden NZ's boss, he would be keen to see a diesel Commodore on sale in New Zealand, Keley was predictably vague, though he acknowledged Government interest in oilers was a positive to introduce such a car.
But the decision really rests on how well it would go in Australia, and he reckons Aussie drivers aren't as diesel-savvy as Kiwis.
"At the moment diesels are pretty much sought after by Government and some larger fleets. The Government situation is purely chasing the lowest CO2 almost at any cost. The converse of that is the private buyer chasing good performance and economy at a low cost.
"These are two bookends. Our job is to work out which technology best suits the market. We are looking at a number of strategies.
"I'm not going to confirm or deny at what point we're at with these technologies, but we are finding we are in a very fast-changing marketplace. Six months ago, diesel was almost God's gift to every human ailment - now diesel fuel prices are increasing at a greater rate than petrol."
A diesel would surely work for Sportwagon, a car that regardless of its potential for fleet use is also hoped to draw back private buyers who are looking to abdicate sports utilities.
The sporty shape sacrifices the load-carrying ability of its VZ predecessor for a more smarter profile and sharper dynamics, so as to hit the "sweet spot between form and function."
Holden believes Sportwagon will lift sales, not least because this model is aimed as much at private buyers - who might have previously looked a sports utility - as the traditional fleet base.
A saviour is needed. Holden sales year-on-year are down 23 percent and its mainstay model is, after eight years at the top, no longer our favourite car. Since May, that's been the Toyota Corolla. Commodore residual values are also dropping.
It's been the same in Australia and while Holden insists the diminishing market share does not spell the end, there's also no doubt it is hurting.
Reuss said the company planned to take a leadership role in what he described as the challenge facing all vehicle manufacturers.
Keley added his weight to this. "I don't intend to give too much away on these future product plans other than to reiterate that, like General Motors (GM) globally, we understand that change is taking place and Holden intends to be part of that change."
The hybrid presents the greatest technical challenge. GM in the United States has developed a two-mode system which employs two 60kW electric motors. It uses regenerative braking to recover energy that is stored in nickel hydride batteries.
A hybrid Commodore will certainly be beaten to the road by the petrol-electric Camry that Toyota will produce in 2010 out of Melbourne, with the help of a $A35 million grant from Australia's Federal Government. The Camry has been confirmed for New Zealand.
The dedicated LPG car and another tuned to run ethanol-dominant E85 fuel could conceivably be around by then; these are off-the-shelf technologies. GM already sells Saabs tuned to run with E85 fuel, in which ethanol is the dominant component.
On the face of it, neither seem relevant to New Zealand. LPG has become a fringe fuel for cars and E10, a fuel comprising 10 percent ethanol mixed with petrol, is the strongest blend available from forecourts.
Keley sees it different. He notes that 50 percent of petrol stations in New Zealand have LPG available - even if only to top up barbecue and heater gas bottles - and also reckons a strong enough push with E85 cars would sway the oil companies to make the fuel available.
"LPG is widely available and it's roughly a third cheaper than petrol. If we were to bring in a dedicated car that had equal, or thereabouts, performance to a petrol car, with no loss of boot space or convenience, with perhaps a $1000 premium over a petrol model (rather than the $5000 premium the current dual-fuel Commodore currently carries) and maybe a third less running costs, wouldn't that be relevant?"
E85 was firmly on the agenda, he said. "There has been some discussion about the lack of availability, but it's a chicken and egg syndrome. Fuel companies will meet demand. At the moment, part from a handful of Saab vehicles, there are no cars in NZ that run on E85.
"But, for argument's sake, let's say every Holden that came into NZ - and that's around 12,000 cars a year - was E85 compatible. After a couple of years, there would be 24,000 cars capable of running on E85.
"That creates a demand for the fuel, which creates demand for an infrastructure."
What this means to you: Holden has to act, and soon. We'd put money on there being at least a diesel Commodore in the market before the end of 2009.
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