Holden Sets New Nürburgring Record for Trucks with VF SS V Redline Ute at 8:19.47 [w/Video]

If a tuned diesel VW T5 set a lap record for vans on the Nürburgring, it should be a walk in the park for a V8-powered pickup truck like the Holden VF SS V Redline Ute, right? This seems to be the reasoning behind Holden’s decision to  ship one of its new VF SS V Redline Utes to the famous German circuit.

As expected, the Australians didn’t return home empty handed, with their Ute setting a world record for a commercial and utility vehicle – a category that didn’t exist before, it has to be said.

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Lower Wages and Boost in Productivity are what GM Requires to Keep Holden Going in Australia

The Australian automotive manufacturing industry has been hit hard with Ford’s announcement that it is dropping manufacturing the country, and closing down its two plants in 2016. Now fears have risen that GM may do the same as well, taking Holden with it.

Apparently, the cost of manufacturing cars in Australia is simply too high, due to a combination of factors including a strengthening of the local currency, high wages and their geographic position that can make sourcing parts more difficult. In fact, GM says it spends AU$3,750 ($3,548/€2,686) more for every car they make in the country, most of it being accounted for by the workers’ pay.

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Holden Launches New Malibu Sedan in Australia Priced from $28,490

Sporting the same exterior looks as the pre-facelift Chevrolet Malibu sans the Holden badges and front grille, GM's Australian unit confirmed the model line-up and pricing for its new mid-size sedan that will slot between the Cruze and the Commodore in its range going up against the likes of the Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo and Mazda6.

The Holden Malibu goes on sale in Australia this month offerings customers a choice of two trim levels, CD and CDX, and a pair of engines, a 2.4 liter petrol rated for 165hp (123kW) or a 2.0 liter common rail turbo diesel developing 157hp (117kW), with prices ranging from $28,490 to $35,990.

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Holden Says It will Continue to Build Cars in Australia despite Ford’s Exit

Following Ford’s announcement that it will stop making cars in Australia in 2016, the country’s other major car manufacturer, GM-owned Holden, said it remains committed to making cars in the country.

Holden CEO Mike Devereux said in a statement that Ford’s announcement is a reminder of “just how tough it is for manufacturers in Australia, even the most committed, like Holden, which is bringing out the most technologically advanced car ever made in Australia.”

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2014 Holden Caprice Comes with New Interior and a $10,000 Price Cut

Holden has just rolled out the long-wheelbase version of its Commodore series, the Caprice (offered by GM as the Chevrolet Caprice police car in North America), which gains the new interior of the VF Commodore, but misses out on the aluminum body part upgrades and exterior revisions.

On the other hand, both the 2014 Caprice V6 LPG and Caprice V V8 benefit from a substantial $10,000 price cut over the outgoing 2012 models (read our test drive here). While Australian buyers will surely appreciate this move, it also raises some reasonable questions about Holden's previous pricing policy…

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New HSV GEN-F Range Includes Australia's Fastest Production Car Ever

The presentation of the redesigned 2014 Holden Commodore VF Series (offered as the new Chevrolet SS in the States) earlier this year has been followed up with the release of the Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) flavored editions of the car known as the GEN-F range.

HSV touts the GEN-F as one of its most important updates ever as it features "the most significant exterior styling makeover since E-series" and includes the most powerful performance production car ever built in Australia, a country known for its muscles cars, the 577hp (585PS / 430kW) GTS. Unfortunately, it may also be the last of its kind as GM is considering a front-wheel drive replacement for the next Commodore due in 2017.

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Watch the New 2014 Camaro Z28 and Holden Ute SSV Howl Their V8's on the 'Ring

To the delight of General Motors' engineering teams, the company's love with the Nürburgring Nordschleife is only getting bigger and stronger with all performance and performance-orientated models being tested on the famed German circuit. Read more »

New 2014 Holden Ute SSV Wags its Tail on the Nürburgring

Yes, yes, we know that GM's troubled Australian arm Holden has already given us a taste of the redesigned 2014 Ute along with its Commodore saloon sibling, but how often do you have the opportunity to see a two-door, pickup truck version of a mid-size model doing the rounds on the Nürburgring's Nordschleife track? We thought so. Read more »

GM Restructures Holden’s Manufacturing Operations, Lays Off 400 Employees

Holden announced it will restructure its South Australian manufacturing and product development operations in Melbourne, because of lower demand for the locally-built Cruze compact model.

As a consequence of the restructuring, the Holden Vehicle Operations facility in South Australia will cut its output by 16 percent, from 400 cars per day to 335 by August 1, 2013. This means that approximately 400 employees from the Elizabeth production facility will be sent home. Holden has around 2,200 employees in Australia.

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425HP Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer Is the Brand’s Most Powerful Estate Ever

Vauxhall has introduced the estate version of its VXR8 performance sedan to the UK market. With 431 PS (425 HP) from a 6.2 liter V8 engine, the VXR8 Tourer is the most powerful estate car in Vauxhall’s 110-year history.

The V8 engine is the same used by the VXR8 saloon and Maloo ute, with all three models being based on the soon-to-be replaced Holden Commodore. The eight-cylinder is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automatic transmission. In either case, there’s a mechanical limited slip differential offered as standard, as this is a rear-wheel drive car.

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Australia Gets Updated 2014 Holden Cruze with New 177HP Turbo Variant

GM's Australian branch, Holden, has just revealed the 2014 Cruze featuring a number of improvements over the previous version, as well as a new 1.6-liter turbocharged engine that puts out 177HP (179PS / 132 kW), and a second-generation six-speed automatic gearbox. Read more »

Holden's New Commodore VF Sportwagon and Ute, One of Them Could Join the SS in the U.S…

Instead of bringing all members of the new Commodore VF family out in the open at once, Holden has chosen to release the separate models in stages.

GM's Australian subsidiary began with the regular sedan and the more luxurious Calais, which were followed by the SS V and its American counterpart, the 2014 Chevrolet SS, and now, we have the Sportwagon and Ute models.

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Holden Unwraps New Commodore SS V, Previews 2014 Chevrolet SS [w/Video]

It looks like Holden is trying to grab as much attention as it can with the new generation Commodore VF by spreading out the presentations for each different model of the range.

After the unveiling of the regular Commodore this past weekend, GM's Australian subsidiary announced the performance SS V , which is the closest thing we've seen to the 2014 Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan, which is scheduled to debut this Saturday, February 16 at the Daytona International Speedway.

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Meet the 2014 Holden Commodore VF and Consequently, the Chevrolet SS [70 Pics & Videos]

What GM's Holden unit declares as the "most technologically-advanced car ever created in Australia", and we'll add to that, perhaps one of the better-looking to come out from the Land Down Under, the new Commodore VF, was finally unveiled today during an exclusive event in the city of Melbourne.

Ironically, it may also be the last Australian-designed and engineered rear-wheel drive, Commodore as Holden itself has announced that it will replace the car with a new model in 2017.

The good news is that Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux confirmed the Commodore's replacement would keep the same name with production continuing to take place in Australia; the bad news is that, according to Drive, he said it would be based on a new global design from GM, meaning it will switch to a front-wheel drive platform.

Nevertheless, for the next four years, the last true-blue Australian Commodore brings a fresh design both inside and out along with new luxury appointments.

From a North American perspective, the Commodore VF is important as it spearheads a new export campaign in the form of the Chevrolet SS Sports Sedan that will be officially unveiled in the USA next week on February 16. As you may have already noticed from our own rendering of the SS, the cosmetic changes over the VF Commodore are expected to be subtle.

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New Holden Commodore VF to be Unveiled on February 10, Previews New Chevy SS

Dubbed by General Motors' Australian subsidiary Holden as the "most advanced vehicle created in this country", the new VF-series Commodore sedan will be officially revealed this Sunday, February 10, though, the automaker will use social media and a new microsite at 'buildthecommodore' to tease bits and pieces of the new model beginning on Wednesday, February 6.

The next generation of the Commodore sedan also forms the base for GM's new North American market 2014 Chevrolet SS, which is scheduled for launch towards the end of the year as a limited production model. As some of you may recall, CarScoop's Josh Byrnes recently rendered the new SS.

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Future Cars: We Dream up Chevrolet's 2014 SS in a ZL1 Costume

As many of our readers are probably already aware, Chevrolet is entering next year's NASCAR championship with an entirely new model aptly called the SS, which was previewed in Las Vegas just last month.

The Super Sport racer will be unique to the championship as the production-going road car has yet to be revealed and won't even built in the United States; to find it's country of origin you'll have to get an atlas and turn it upside down; yes that's right, it will be built in the backyard that Crocodile Dundee calls home - Australia.

Based on the Zeta architecture, the new SS won't be entirely new to the market when it goes on sale next year as a 2014 model. In fact, it's GM's second attempt to get the Holden-based Commodore on US shores - with the last try drying up after the Pontiac division was dissolved.

GM realizes that they still have a good product with the Commodore down under, so coinciding with the upcoming Aussie redesign they have given it another chance. This update is expected to bring substantial technological and interior quality advances over the previous G8 / current Commodore.

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2013 Chevrolet SS NASCAR Racer Hints at Production SS and Possibly Even Next Commodore

As promised, Chevrolet lifted the wraps off its 2013 NASCAR Chevrolet SS racecar today during a special event in Las Vegas. Even if you're not a fan of NASCAR racing, you'll be interested to know that the competition SS incorporates design cues from the upcoming production 2014 Chevrolet SS.

We'll remind you that all NASCAR racers feature a generic body with some minor modifications that include the funny looking decals that resemble the head- and tail-lights. To understand the relationship between a production model and its NASCAR sibling, check out Ford's Fusion racer in our previous post here.

"As a passionate race fan, the debut of the SS NASCAR race car is a genuinely exciting moment for me,” said GM North America President Mark Reuss during the presentation of the car in Las Vegas.

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Classic 1970s Ford Falcon XY GT Slams into 1960s Holden EK

An accident is an accident, and no matter what kinds of cars are involved in one, it all comes down to the well-being of people. We're glad to say that the passengers of the two cars seen in this video made it out alive and well suffering only "bumps" and "bruises", according to the driver of one of the vehicles.

What makes this incident of particular interest is that the two vehicles are classic Australian models, including an early 1960s Holden EK sedan and an early 1970s Ford Falcon XY GT, though we don't know if it was a replica or an original (say double 'ouch' if it’s the latter…).

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Holden Special Vehicles Turns 25 and Celebrates with Special Edition GTS

Australia's high-performance car manufacturer Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) continues the yearlong festivities for its 25th anniversary with the presentation of a special edition version of the GTS ahead of a world premiere at the 2012 Sydney auto show later in October.

"From day one, our mission at HSV has been to build Australia's finest performance cars. Every year, for the past 25, we have refined and evolved on what has gone before. And now, we present the newest HSV flag bearer – our 25th Anniversary GTS," said Holden's subsidiary in a statement.

In essence, the new 25th Anniversary GTS is a cosmetic and equipment package as there's no extra oomph for the special edition, which keeps the regular model's 6.2-litre V8 LS3 engine with 436Hp (325kW) and 550Nm (405.6 lb-ft).

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This Lamborghini Aventador Replica is Based on a Pontiac GTO / Holden Monaro [w/Videos]

From the magical land of eBay comes our next tale of replicas. This newly found example is pretending to be a Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, though even an untrained eye can see that there something is wrong with car's proportions.

The seller and builder of the replica is "Z and M Customs", which is located in the city of Eagle in Ada County, Idaho.

The company informs us that the Aventador lookalike is built on the chassis and mechanical components of a "GM Holden" with power coming from a "LS1 V8 Corvette with approximately 400HP".

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