Chevrolet Caprice PPV deliveries total 23 in first month

Article
Gallery

By Tim Beissmann | June 06th, 2011

The first 23 Australian-made Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicles were delivered to US police forces in May.

GM Holden’s Melanie Kerin acknowledged the first Caprice sales in the US marked a milestone for Holden, but insisted the modest May numbers were just the beginning.

“It’s an on-going process,” she said. “There is quite a lead-time on the boats, and then the vehicles go through the retrofit process in the States.

“We will gradually see the number increase.”

Ms Kerin said the vehicles delivered in May were produced at GM Holden’s Vehicle Operations plant in Elizabeth, South Australia, in late February. All 23 vehicles were finished in Caprice PPV ‘Detective’ specification, which is the unmarked police car designation.

She said a second fleet of vehicles – this time the Caprice PPV Patrol model – was shipped out of Australia around Easter (late April). Those vehicles are scheduled for delivery to police agencies in mid to late June.

Neither Holden nor Chevrolet will comment on the number of vehicles on boats or provide any information about order volume.

The Caprice PPV Patrol (codenamed 9C1) will be significantly more popular than the unmarked Detective variant (9C3). The Caprice is only available for law enforcement agencies to purchase, not the general public, which means anyone who recognises an unmarked Caprice will be able to identify it as a police car.

The Chevrolet Caprice is currently offered with only the 6.0-litre V8 engine. A V6-powered variant will go on sale in the US in the future, although Ms Kerin said she had no information about the timing of that vehicle at this stage.

US law enforcement agencies generally purchase between 65,000 to 70,000 new vehicles each year, making the market a highly lucrative one for exporters like Holden.

Car Fanatic

No point in having unmarked cars then, is there?

j

They’d have to be pretty dense to not realise a cop only car without cop livery is still a cop car.

So why aren’t the American public allowed to purchase the civilian version? Don’t they do that with the Crown Vics?

chook

I believe the crown vics are not available to the public either . If you check out fords US website i dont think you will find the crown vics there .

US Officer

The last few years, the Crown Vic was a fleet-only model, the vast majority only purchased by police departments. Any criminal with half a brain could identify a late model Crown Vic with police-spec wheels, grille, antennas, hidden LED lights and A-pillar mounted Spotlight.

Ironically, police want unmarked vehicles to be known seen as police cars as it gives the streets a menacing police presense. Hence, the Caprice PPV being police-only is not a bad thing. Dark, late at night on some Boston downtown street, an unmarked grey Caprice PPV cruising along is a welcome sight for many residents and a deterrent for criminals. We want our unmarked cars to still standout as police cars.

True undercover work is typically done in impounded vehicles which bear no resemblance whatsoever to a police car. Something a Caprice PPV, Impala, Charger or Crown Vic is never used for.

Phil

These police cars are sold off to private buyers after a few years, so there would be civilians driving around in Crown Vics and eventually in Caprices.

Roadtard

Congratulations Holden. And with Cruze outselling Mazda3, they’ve got a bit to be excited about right now.

Devil’s Advocate

Cruze outselling the Mazda3? What planet are you on? That probably won’t happen until the hatch is released. YTD end of June the Mazda3 is even outselling the Commodore…

Car Fanatic

Until August when the Japs recover. The three is a better car, I’ve owned one.

Roadtard

Car Fanatic, did I say the Cruze is better?
Andrew

Have you also owned a Cruze ?
3 is old news, its time it grew up and stopped looking like a kid who has done something wrong, and got some new decent technology about it and some plastic that doesn’t feel yuk to touch . . . also why is it soooo expensive ?

Roadtard

Andrew, Mazda’s ‘Sky’ engines are coming – and a new face for the 3.

Al Juraj

It’s not about which car is better, but more like what you can sell.

JEKYL & HYDE

might only be 23,but i would be very surprised not to see many thousands more come through…

i wonder once they hit the beats over there,how long before mr joe public wanders into the local chev dealer for a price on theirs???…

Roadtard

Joe Public may then want the SWB version too…

Golfschwein

These look good with the steel wheels and cop livery.
Car Fanatic

Jekyll, it clearly states this vehicle is only available to Law Enforcement Agencies.

Joe Public will have to buy something else.

Roadtard

Car Fanatic, you miss the point. Joe Public knows what Jekyl & Hyde is talking about.
JEKYL & HYDE

wasn’t viagra initally used to treat high blood pressure,or baldness or something.look where that ended up.you really think if enough american’s want the wm/ve,that gm won’t build it for them??…

Roadtard

Exactly.

Shak

Car Fanatic, while the car is only officially available to the Public, the contracts that GM have with their dealers have a little loophole in them. One dealer in the US last week exploited this loophole and is selling his 5 Caprices to the public. GM obviously found out, and was pretty angry judging by the letter sent to the dealer ordering them to immediately stop the sale, but because of that one little loophole, they are allowed to sell them to whomsoever they wish. However in saying all this, i dont think this dealer is going to be getting anymore Caprice stock ever again, but im just pointing out the fact that if the dealer wanted to they could sell it to the public.

TMG

Well done Holden on the first orders and exports of the PPV vehicles.

Wonder if they will supply any to Fox studios ( or the vehicle suppliers to them) so they can star in any OZ made but US set movies, would be nice to see.
Josh

I am a ford fan generally, but this will be great for Australia! Good work Holden.

It’s a pity that Ford Aus won’t think outside of the local market and try to export to places like America too… that might be just enough cause to keep the Falcon!

Vins

I thinks it’s not Ford Australia not thinking outside of the box. They may be pretty hand tied because of the parent counterpart in US. You can yelled at the US side not bringing the brilliant Falcon to the world.

paulb

With you on that Vins,the Falcon should be the Ford Global large vechle.

Dennis

Ford US won’t have a bar of the Falcon, it’s simple as that. Ford AU have given up trying to sell the Falcon to the yanks. It’s a dead end.

Al Juraj

The FG’s brilliant chassis could well be a suitable replacement for the Mustang’s primitive solid axle rear, as well as form basis for a new Lincoln. But the US chose to go 4WD and left no competitor for the Dodge Charger. This is such a big waste of resources.

Phil

Vin, if the world wanted to buy Falcon at a price profitable to Ford, Ford would let them.
But very, very few markets in the world want a large, impractical, thirsty and sedan only car.
Go to Europe or Asia and see how many people drive large sedans that burn 9.9L\100km + (ie – no one). Even most cars in USA are 4 cylinders.

paulb

Phil Orbital Engines the developer of the up coming ECOLPI.listed on the ASX+NYSE,made an announcment last week.The Ford US bosses are bowled over by this new LPG system.Eco LPI Falcon will be cheaper to run then a 4cyl..

Andrew M

I saw something the other night about an Australian skin care company.
When the dollar went up 10 cents they lost quarter of a million in revenue, and this was a company with much less exporting than what the Aussie makers get from exports.

The news is that Exporting from Australia and being profitable is near impossible. There are many aussie exporters right on tilt.

Around the same time that skin care manufacturer started to lose quarter of a million after the next would have been about the same time Ford pulled its plans to export.

Holden is obviously getting plenty of assistance to keep their export programs going, Im not against them getting assistance if it keeps jobs afloat, just saying it wont be a bottom line builder for them

Shak

Good Job Holden. Even though its only 23 vehicles right now, you have to start somewhere. Even if Holden only get like 10,000 sales from that market, they will be very happy because any more production for Elizabeth is a good thing for Australia, and Australian jobs.
Rumps

I know this is a good thing, Holden exporting the Caprice and all, and its use as a police car, but why the unmarked versions?

Isn’t the purpose of unmarked cars to blend in with the public and for the purposes of being covert?

Won’t be exactly covert, if criminals (especially the smart, observant ones) spot a car not sold to the public and only to the police.

Shak

Its the same deal with the Current Crown Vic fleet. They are only sold to fleets, and by that i mean primarily Cops. Any criminal with a quarter of a brain could tell when an undercover car was following them,

Sumpguard

Since when did criminals have brains?

Henry

I reckon that bad people that Know Cars will know when the spy version of the caprice is stalking them cause they don’t sell them as cars over there…
Nobody

Hope they have the NRMA roadside assistance…
Andronicus

Always a fan to see Aussie made product finding a place overseas. Well done to them.
Mick

Falcon doesn’t have a chance in the US, civilian or police spec wise, because of the Ford Taurus. The V6 spec Caprice is likely to be sold once the updated 3.6 V6 (LFX, current one it LLT) becomes available. Hopefully this engine will also be available in the Commodore around the same time, and the 3.0 version to also be updated with the LLT enhancements which include an integrated exhaust manifold and updated injectors, valves etc.
Denny

Japs won’t recover from the radiation scare, you’d have to have rocks in your head to even consider a Toyota right now.

Anybody heard the latest news from Toyota?

They are selling Corolla’s for $25,990 with free radiation on the road drive-away
johnny

Are yanks that fat that they need one of these bloody big things ?

andronicus

gotta have a big boot for all those boxes of donuts my friend

Shane

@Andrew, my wife has owned the Cruze which we just traded in for a new Mazda 3 SP25, the Mazda feels generations ahead of the poxy, gutless Cruze! Guaranteed I’m not the only one to say this.

Al Juraj

Tell that to those who chose the other car.
andronicus

Shane, I am right there with you on this. I test drove a Cruze before purchasing the 3 SP25 2010 model. The Mazda is light years ahead on quality, performance, standard kit and (IMO) overall looks.

After about 5 minutes sitting in the Cruze you start to notice the interior is for lack of a better word….cheap.
Shak

Please tell me you didnt buy the Petrol Cruze, because there’s your problem right there.

Xenon

Am I the only person that sees the Cruze as one of the most overrated cars on the market right now??

Al Juraj

Nope
Dave S

Credit where credit is due. Holden is the only company building small cars in Australia. All reviews talk about the cars favorably and despite not being best in the class. We are always told great value for money.

look at Hyundai and Kia ect. sales. The market is focused on value. Holden knows this.

Last month, 3rd best selling car.
people are buying cars with less less features and paying more. Maybe we are not rating it high enough?

skeeter

The first paragraph states that 23 have been delivered to US police forces, but the actual number of caprices in the US is higher than that as there are several dealerships which have the 9C3 model for sale.
AG

Guys,

The Cruze has nothing to do with this Article.
Try an comment on th Caprice PPV otherwise dont post anything.
In my opinion, good on Holden for attempting to open up the exports again, even if the dollar makes it a challenging process. I guess it highlights that Holden is recovering and can invest in programs like these. The introduction will be slow off course because alot of the police departments are very loyal to their current vehicles. If you read the reviews and watch the you tube posts you will note that these cars are far exceeding the US police expectation. Its only a matter of time before we start seeing action movies featuring Caprice chases!
Still good to see that in Australia where local car manufacturers only account for 13% of domestic sales and we can continue to export vehilces
Leigh

How many police Taurus’s did Ford sell ?
SteveSV

I just can’t wait to see one of OUR cars on those action high speed Cop shows that take down the baddies in high speed pursuits!!! Holden or Ford, it’ll be an aussie car that’s tha star!!! hahahaha!!