American drivers will soon get a taste of Australian engineering, as the all new Pontiac G8 rolls off the production line in South Australia in anticipation for the journey to the States early in 2008.
The "American Commodore" - or Pontiac G8 as it will be called in the States - is based on the Holden VE Commodore, and emerged from Holden's manufacturing plant in Elizabeth, South Australia, for the first time yesterday.
According to GM Holden, the G8 will be available in Pontiac dealerships in the United States in early 2008 to take its place among General Motors' flagship high performance vehicles.
The range-topping GT model is based on the Commodore SS V, which we tested here.
The Pontiac G8 performance sedan will be the first North American product to be based on GM’s new global rear wheel drive architecture - sometimes referred to as the Zeta platform - developed by the global team based here in Australia.
After its disastrous foray into front-wheel drive vehicle in the 1990s, to try and combat the popular Japanese vehicles, General Motors has decided to offer American customers true-blue rear-wheel drive vehicles again, and Australia is emerging as a world leader in this regard. There is even talk that Ford's new Australian-built Falcon may play a similar role for its American parent company.
Following the Pontiac G8, the Chevrolet Camaro will be the next vehicle based on the Australian-engineered global rear wheel drive architecture, and has been spotted testing here in Australia at Holden's proving grounds.
Other North American market cars are also rumoured to be using the Holden-developed rear-wheel drive platform in the coming years.
Announcing the production milestone of the Pontiac G8 was Rod Keane, who is Holden's executive director of manufacturing: "The Pontiac G8 highlights GM Holden’s rear-wheel drive expertise. It shows that international borders pose no limits on the creativity and expertise demonstrated by a global team based here in Australia.
"General Motors is drawing on Holden's recognised leadership in rear-wheel drive cars to be able to deliver uniquely tailored vehicles for markets in Australia, the United States, the Middle East and South Africa," said Mr Keane, boasting the wide range of export markets Holden caters to.
"With exports integral to GM Holden's future business strategy, the flexibility we have here at the Elizabeth plant is central to achieving that. When full production of the Pontiac G8 gets underway we will be building cars here at Elizabeth for every continent except Antarctica," said a jubilant Mr. Keane.
GM Holden says that full production of the Pontiac G8 is scheduled to commence in late 2007, bringing the production line to a maximum capacity rate of 620 cars per day.
The Pontiac G8 will be sold in the
States from early 2008, powered
by a 3.6-litre V6 and a 6.0-litre V8