Report: Holden Caprice could become next Chevrolet Impala
October 9, 2009 by George Skentzos
While the demise of Pontiac has in turn sealed the fate of the Holden-sourced G8 sedan, the recent announcement of a Chevrolet Caprice police pursuit vehicle (PPV) has sparked new interest in Australian models among the American public.
It seems GM is not ignorant to this fact either with Vice President Chevrolet Global brand, Brent Dewar, hinting that a retail version of the Caprice is being considered.
In a webchat on GM’s own FastLane blog, Mr Dewar went on to explain that while no firm plans are yet in place, the brand is working on a new generation Impala which could find its roots at Holden.
“The announcement for the Caprice is currently only as a police patrol cruiser. It will be RWD with a 6.0L V8. We have not made any firm plans yet on a retail version of the Caprice. That said, we are working on a nextgen Impala that [will] come in above the Malibu. More to come….”
Reading between the lines, it seems Chevrolet is considering adopting Holden’s WM long wheelbase range as the new generation Impala.
If this is the case, then the Caprice will represent the luxury flagship for Chevrolet alongside the Corvette and Australian-developed Camaro.
In the same webchat, Mr Dewar also confirmed that a convertible version of the Chevrolet Camaro has been privately revealed to dealers this week although a specific launch date is yet to be decided upon with the brand instead focussing on filling orders for the Coupe.
Lastly, Chevrolet also confirmed that no official decision has yet been made on a possible Camaro Z28 flagship model; although according to Mr Dewar there is “lots of excitement to do it….so stay tuned.”
Tags: Chevrolet Impala, Holden Caprice
Surely with the Economic downturn that America would be trying to create jobs in America not Australia. I just can`t see President Obama allowing this, I`m not doubting they may use some of the Statesman but I`d think it would be built in America.
Agreed Jeff.
You might get a scenario not dissimilar to the Camaro. Our engineers pitch in and literally design a machine to manufactured and marketed overseas.
It probably will be built in the USA eventually.. However; I suspect that the costs involved introducing similar tooling to that at the Holden Factory into one of the factories in the USA is more than what GM can afford ATM
Because almost half of the Billion Dollar Budget Holden had to design and build the VE/WM was spent on the new “skillet” assembly line.
From looking at photos of the current Impala on the Chevrolet site, the rear looks exactly the same as a Caprice.
Similar, but not the same. Just had a look.
Given what recent Impalas have looked like, a monkey’s backside could have worked out that the current Caprice would make a perfect Impala for the US. It would have to be built there though, which would mean duplicating (or shifting) the tooling, and implementing new component supply networks, all of which would be very costly.
The big problem though, would be local rejection, otherwise known as NIH. (Not Invented Here).
The GM dinosaur deserves its impending fate.
Camaros are selling like hotcakes
Bring it here!
The Caprice already is here… it’s built here.
As for the Camaro; there are a number of companies importing and converting them to RHD.. For approx $120-150K you can have one [or a Dodge Challenger]
That is interesting Wheelnut. A fully kitted Camaro in the US is currently about $42k US or less than $50k AU.
IF the PPV has been accpeted and the production is not being shifted for that it wouldn’t make any sense for GM to shift the production just for this model. I know that gM has to try and save jobs , but a i think that one clause in the Governmnet bailout was to make money and pay back the loans, and with this car G< should start making some money and as we know Holden is sort of part of GM, so i dont think that Obama would mind if he was getting his money back.
Holden wouldn’t be able to supply a mainstream model like the Impala. They sell something like 15000 a month from memory – so it would have to be made stateside.
They sell 1500 Commodores a month; NOT Statesmans.. Most of the Statesman/Caprices that they sell are sold to retirees and limo companies
and I believe that Holden are currently working on just 2 shifts. If they re-introduce the 3rd shift I have no doubt that they would be able to meet demand.
Plus they sell Over 3000 VE’s/WM’s a month in the Middle East, with more than 1500 of them being Caprice’s
Also add onto that the Number of Chevrolet Omega’s (VE Berlina/Calais) they sell in Brazil,
The number of Chevrolet Lumina’s & Lumina UTE’s (VE) they sell in South Africa.
+ The number of Daewoo Veritas they sell in Korea.
And not to mention the number of VE’s & WM’s they sell in New Zealand
Now since holden already is able produces these cars in its plant, with the current number of shifts. I don’t think they should have too much of a problem Producing more for the US market. Plus it would be good for our economy and america’s.
Also I recon Chevrolet should go along with this. Because then they could at least have more than half a chance competing with the Euro cars they sell. And The Caprice would be a much better car then what the Americans are usually used to driving
Dont you mean 1500 and do you mean the Statesman/Caprice twins or the whole model range.
Chevrolet sold 13,000 Impala’s for the Month of September. That is down more than 50% compared to last year (27,000). So far they have sold 130,000 Impala’s for the year compared to 210,000 to the year before.
I think Gift-Ed meant the entire (local) production range. I believe they can produce a total of 12000 vehicles per month (with two shifts). Don’t Know if supplers would keep up?
The only local manufacturer to sell that much a month is Toyota and not Holden.
Currently holden can produce (locally) 6000 vehicles per month. My understanding is that they sell around 4000-4500 per month.
Toyota do twice that amount as they have two working shifts (per day). Only 3500-4000 Camry/Aurions are sold in Australia. The rest probably 4000 are exported (mostly to the middle east).
Yeah but Holden are currently operating on 2 shifts – just like Toyota.
Toyota may export half of their Australian production however most of that is to help meet demand when the other factories where the Camry/Aurion is produced are unable to cope..
Whereas the Commodore is a “unique” vehicle which a number of Car enthusiasts in the USA have shown considerable of interest in and can’t wait for it to be released in the USA as a Chevy.
So when it is sold in the USA as a Chev Holden will re-introduce the 3rd shift and production will be back up near 90-100% capacity
…. and before the usual Holden bashers make their usual reply by saying the G8 was a flop and they experct it to be a flop as a Chev..
The G8 was a victim of the GFC. Not only that but Pontiacs “image” isn’t as good as Chevs.. particularly in relation to sports/performance cars.
dont forget the statesman is made in china as a buick so they colud make in america as well
Not when you consider that having several/multiple factories operating at less than 60% capacity producing/replicating identical cars/trucks is one of the reasons GM ended up in the financial position they are in..
It’s better to have one [or two] factories operating at either 100 or 80% capacity – which is one of the reasons I can’t understand why GM decided to build the “Cruze” in Australia; instead of the insignia.
The Cruze was/is already being built in 4-5 other GM factories around the world.. whereas the Insignia is only being built in one factory which was struggling to meet demand etc
I believe the Insignia would have been a welcome addition to the GM line up but now it appears that option is all but gone
But think about it, the Cruze is the model that GM needs to save itself and so they need bucketloads of them. Supply cant seem to keep up with supply. I went to a dealer today and they told me if i were to order a car now i would get it in December if i was lucky, because they couldnt get enough stock. Iasked him if they had heard of the Diesel CDX and he told me it didnt exist, i was surprised to hear that a dealer had not heard of it but the Internet was abuzz with news of it. Go figure
I know that…. However; given that when GM decided to build the Cruze in Australia there was reports about the possibility of them selling Opel.
So you would have thought that they would have thought about transferring production of the Corsa and Insignia to other GM factories such as the Holden factory.
That way when they sold Opel they still would have had cars that are better looking better quality better value for money etc and would have been a welcome addition to their international line-up particularly considering how popular they are.
Any news on the large car comparo?
Aren’t holden down to one shift?
Yes they are, and have been since late April early May. Thus far their has been no announcment as to when they will introduce a second shift, so some people are slightly misinformed. Good to see Smoov knows his stuff.
An interesting nuance with this is that the Victorian Government funded a past Premier (mirror man aka freeloader) to the US. recently to market the Victorian car industry. Whilst I was of the opinion this total folly again at the tax payers expense at the time…who knows…
I just read that Chevrolet accounted for 60% of sales for GM. so far this year. These jobs are not about to be subcontracted to Oz. Looks as though mirror man was just benefiting from another government funded scam. Shame that…
As an American, I would like very much to buy a V8 rear wheel drive Chevrolet Caprice. I previously looked at the Pontiac G8 GT, but the interior seemed a bit dark and my spouse was not impressed. She had liked our two older Caprice V8’s. I think GM would make a fine profit on a V8 Caprice because it could be priced many thousands less than the BMW and Mercedes V8’s while offering competitive power and suspension technology. If you can get it over here, I will buy it. Having the car built in Australia is a Plus, in my view.
I’d love to see a 6 passenger rear drive Chevy and Even a Buick sedan The chineese RWD Buick looks like a nice car. But a police Caprice is a good start. Please no handbrake and put in a column shifter.