2018 Holden Calais Sportwagon sprung in Australia

A NEXT-GENERATION Holden Commodore Sportwagon has been spotted in Australia, wearing minimal camouflage and still about a year out from its official arrival.

Both the wagon and five-door sedan version of the car have launched internationally as the Opel Insignia, and are expected to land in Oz early next year.

The German-built “NG” (for “Next Generation”) Insignia will replace a long line of Aussie-made Commodores when Holden quits almost 70 years of local manufacturing on October 20.

The black right-hand-drive Calais wagon was spotted with only light camouflage on the headlight surrounds. The grill also features a blanked-out space for the Lion badge.

The three images here were snapped by Eugene Khanin, and posted to the Facebook wall of our sister magazine Motor.

The next-generation Commodore has Holden fans up in arms – the German-built version of the car won’t have rear drive, sport a manual, or shoehorn a V8 under the bonnet.

Holden will use the current Sportwagon badge on the longer-bodied wagon spied here, built on GM’s E2XX vehicle architecture.

The Calais wagon will come with the option of a 230kW/370Nm 3.6-litre naturally-aspirated V6-engined sending power to all four wheels via a nine-speed automatic.

Other driveline choices include the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol and diesel engines as the five-door hatchback Insignia.

The Insignia-based Sportwagon will have a shorter wheelbase than the VF II it replaces; 2829mm compared with 2915mm for the current generation. But at 4939mm, it has a 67mm longer body than the Aussie-built version. The international Sportwagon is said to be 200kg lighter than the current model, tipping the scales around 1450kg.

Holden has been part of the Insignia’s development since it was decided that the Opel product would become the Commodore replacement. <Wheels> drove a V6-engined sedan prototype earlier this year at parent company GM’s Lang Lang proving ground as Holden attempts to make it a driver’s car benchmark for the segment.