Holden builds 50,000th VF Commodore in its first 10 months of production

IT has taken 10 months to build the 50,000th version of the new Commodore — 10 years ago it took three months.

A reason to celebrate ... the 50,000th version of the new Commodore after its first 10 mo

HOLDEN has built the 50,000th version of the new Commodore after its first 10 months of production, as demand for the homegrown hero ramps up after hitting an all time low last year.

But the company isn’t popping champagne corks just yet: at its peak 10 years ago the company reached the same manufacturing milestone in a little more than three months.

Holden has built 50,000 VF Commodore sedans, wagons, utes and Caprice limousines over the past 10 months, most of which have been sold domestically.

The 50,000th car is a silver Commodore SV6 sedan which is going to a private customer in Lansvale in Sydney’s southwest.

About 4000 of the 50,000 cars have been exported, primarily to North America, where the Caprice is sold as a police car and the V8 Commodore sedan is sold as the Chevrolet SS.

At its peak, Holden exported 60,500 cars in 2005 alone.

“The VF is quite simply the best quality car Holden has ever built, and to see the 50,000th one roll off the line is a milestone everyone is very proud of,” said Holden’s executive director of manufacturing, Richard Phillips in a media statement.

Holden said it was unfair to compare the time it took to reach today’s milestone with earlier ones because the new car market has changed dramatically over the past decade.

“It’s a reflection of the unprecedented competition in the market,” said Holden spokesman Sean Poppitt.

Last year the top-selling car, the Toyota Corolla, led the market with 43,500 sales. In 1998 the Commodore topped the charts with 94,500 sales.

Holden has now sold more than 3 million Commodores in Australia since 1978, but has built more than 7 million cars locally since 1948.

Holden plans to shut its car manufacturing facility in Elizabeth, South Australia, no later than 2017, when it will become an import-only brand.

Ford is due to close its Broadmeadows and Geelong factories in 2016 and Toyota is due to shutter its Altona facility the same year as Holden.

Holden milestones

1 millionth Holden: EJ Special, Oct. 1962

2 millionth Holden: HK Kingswood, March 1969

3 millionth Holden: HQ Kingswood, June 1974

4 millionth Holden: VC Commodore, June 1981

5 millionth Holden: VN Calais, August 1990

6 millionth Holden: VX Commodore SS, June 2001

7 millionth Holden: VE Commodore, Aug. 2008

50,000th VF Commodore: March 2014

Source: Holden

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