Holden-based LAPD police cruiser gains momentum
While Holden's North American exports may have ground to a halt with the closure of Pontiac spelling the demise of the Commodore-derived G8 Sedan, it seems a proposal to enter the car into law enforcement has gained momentum.
General Motors CEO, Fritz Henderson, made mention at the Frankfurt Motor Show that the carmaker has been working on a package for police applications and that he was quite optimistic it would be sourced from Australia.
Melbourne's National Safety Agency has already put together a Chevrolet-badged Commodore for the 2009 APCO Australasia Conference & Exhibition in Sydney.
Holden is certainly not the only carmaker vying for this position, although senior GM executive, Bob Lutz, has indicated importing cars from Australia was by no means out of the question.
“While the large RWD cars may be made in Australia, they are an integral part of GM, contain US-built engines and transmissions and numerous other components, and are so ‘American’ in character that I don't believe the law enforcement agencies would have any problems with the assembly origin of the vehicle. Plus, they'll love it,” Mr Lutz said.
The expectation is for the Holden Commodore to become the vehicle of choice for the LAPD, which is seeking to replace its aging fleet of Ford Crown Victoria sedans which will be discontinued next year.
This could prove to be quite lucrative for Holden with more exports potentially going to Canada, the UK and the Middle East.
With any hope of migrating the Pontiac G8 to another brand dashed, this may be Holden's last chance to revive its North American exports which represented about two-thirds of its total exports for the year.
Source: News.com.au
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