An American Commodore is Not a Far Fetched Idea 

"Jack Does Cars" (jackdoescars) 04/14/2016 at 17:45 • Filed to: Australia

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Just think: if GM actually marketed the Chevrolet SS, and got a fraction of a percent of sales from the Dodge Charger SRT8 and Ford Taurus SHO (I guess???), they would have the incentive and reason to bring more of the Commodore line-up stateside.

I know that people on the Commodore/SS forums have called on GM to bring a basic Commodore to North America since the SS’ inception in 2014, and I think it would sell well. We must remember that there are two very successful rear-wheel-drive American sedans, that have no direct domestic competition. I’m, of course, referring to the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. FCA sells hundreds of thousands of them to rental fleets, police departments, and to regular people on an annual basis, and they are well liked by the American populous. It’s just really hard to believe that GM does not want to get in on this.

As we all know, GM is shutting down their Australian manufacturing operations next year, and that the Commodore will be something it should not become. Thankfully, there are numerous empty GM plants littered across the American landscape, and local townspeople aching for production to come back to their towns, because with production comes jobs. And these little towns are hungry for jobs.

The Commodore would provide good competition to the Charger and the 300, it cannot cost GM too much money to modernize a factory in order to produce the Commodore, and if GM were to put more than $37 into marketing for the Commodore, they would sell thousands. Maybe more.

I don’t know, this is just an oddball thought experiment, and it will probably never materialize. But what do y’all think, what should GM do?

itschrome > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 17:54

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Yeah they act like the SS is a whole flop due to lack of interest. No, it’s a flop because one model, no options other than all the options, a dumb name, poorly marketed, and so on and so fourth. I get it they don’t want to cannibalize Impala sales. How ever I personally thing both could co-exist. I know they offer the “Caprice” for fleet sales, but even then it’s still much more expensive than it’s competition and offer nothing but the V8. Dude make a v6 model, hell even a turbo 4 and offer that at a lower price point and it will sell! the SS sells exactly as much a range topper would which is a very small percentage of what over all model sales could be if they offered lower trims like the 300/charger does. Range toppers don’t sell that much and even less so if the range topper is the only model. You shouldn’t have to go to Cadillac for a larger RWD v6 sedan, I get that even a v6 RWD has less appeal to much of the country than a V6 fwd but I’d say I see enough of the FCA twins to know people will still buy them in droves! Most chevy guys I know would buy one in a heart beat, but a 50k+ RWD v8 isn’t really a great option for a larger family hauler no matter how much you dress it up.

For Sweden > itschrome 04/14/2016 at 18:00

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It’s a flop because it only exists to make the Australian government not mad.

JR1 > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:06

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We kinda have one already it is called the CTS-V. What we need is a Commodore Ute

Steve in Manhattan > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:07

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I have said this in this space before - if the enthusiast community demands a particular car (V8, manual, whatever) then enthusiasts should line up to buy it. The Viper factory had to shut down due to lack of interest. I don’t need a car, but if I did I’d do my best to buy something that showed that carmakers should build things we like.

TheHondaBro > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:07

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We already have the Commodore.

It just has a Caprice badge and only the Police can have them.

itschrome > For Sweden 04/14/2016 at 18:15

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well that’s fair. with all the drop bears and what not, they deserve a bit of relief...

LongbowMkII > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:16

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They have far too much invested in their large FWD chassis and all their permutations to take that kind of risk. Price wise, it would compete against the impala, lacrosse, ATS/CTS, all within a shrinking market(large sedans).

Not gonna happen.

Jack Does Cars > TheHondaBro 04/14/2016 at 18:24

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But that’s the ancient VE chassis, and they sell like 11 every year.

Jack Does Cars > Steve in Manhattan 04/14/2016 at 18:25

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I’m talking about a hum-drum V6, auto, cloth seats, rental spec Commodore for the U.S market. Like a Charger SE or something.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:26

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YES!!! AND BRING BACK PONTIAC!!!!!

Steve in Manhattan > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:29

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I think GM and other manufacturers believe that no one would buy a cloth-seat, crank-window, minimum optioned car here. And they might be right. But oh, to buy a basic 2 0r 3 series BMW with just the basics for a decent price.

Jack Does Cars > itschrome 04/14/2016 at 18:30

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They can coexist like the Cadillac CTS and XTS coexist. They have the same selling price across the board, they both has GM’s ubiquitous 3.6 liter V6, and both sell fairly well. Plus, the XTS rides on the same chassis as the Impala so where would the harm be if a Chevrolet badge is slapped on the Commodore along with a sub $30,000 MSRP for a basic V6?

Jack Does Cars > JR1 04/14/2016 at 18:31

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I’m referring to just a basic Commodore, but yes a Ute would be spectacular.

Jack Does Cars > LongbowMkII 04/14/2016 at 18:31

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Very true, but remember that the CTS and XTS live together in perfect harmony with very similar starting prices.

Jack Does Cars > Steve in Manhattan 04/14/2016 at 18:35

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Well obviously it would have power windows, locks, A/C, radio, Bluetooth (probably, the basic Charger does), among the other Basic Car Things That People Like, but so many people do buy low-trim model vehicles. And BMW wins at that because half of their customer base wants a BMW because it’s a BMW and that’s it. MY father has done it twice, once with an X5 and once with a 528i.

Steve in Manhattan > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 18:46

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As I have said many times in this space: formative driving experience was a ‘76 2002 with ... nothing. I think the only option was a radio. Belonged to my cousin, and the steering was direct, the clutch easy, and the 4-speed was easy to use.

Steve in Manhattan > TheHondaBro 04/14/2016 at 18:48

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Offered in US America?

DoYouEvenShift > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 19:21

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I think 16 will be the last year for XTS.

AfromanGTO > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 20:30

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Just bring the damn things over as Holdens without the Chevy shit on them. It took me maybe 4 hours to take the Chevy shit off my SS, and put the Holden stuff back on.

Kill of Chevy or Buick or GMC and bring over Holden.

AfromanGTO > Steve in Manhattan 04/14/2016 at 20:31

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Yes

AfromanGTO > LongbowMkII 04/14/2016 at 20:31

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Kill off fwd now.

LongbowMkII > Jack Does Cars 04/14/2016 at 21:03

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Except that it’s being replaced by the CT6.

Anyways the point is that the platform needs to have a certain volume to fully realize the economies of scale. Even if, against all odds, a RWD car succeeded and grew the overall brand volume, the platform still might not be profitable.

The charger/300 is an outlier since that platform is so old most of the engineering and tooling costs have been paid off that the profit margin is quite high.

I have no evidence of this, but perhaps the charger was a part of the 200's failure. Why buy a mid level 200 when you can get a bigger Charger for the same price?

Jack Does Cars > AfromanGTO 04/14/2016 at 21:04

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GMC, and Vauxhall for that matter, are entirely pointless brands. They just rebadge the stuff Chevrolet and Opel throw their way. I agree, GM should make Holden a global brand.

yamahog > Jack Does Cars 04/15/2016 at 00:03

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Judging by the $8500 cash back Travis got on his SHO, I wasn’t under the impression that they’re selling like hotcakes, and that’s even with customer-favorite AWD.

Dru > Jack Does Cars 04/15/2016 at 11:16

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SS is high on my list for next vehicle. They depreciate to mortal levels fairly quickly. Plus LS3, Brembos, good manuel, and overall good looking vehicle.