2018 Holden Commodore Calais Sportwagon revealed

HOLDEN is shaping up to borrow more than just the Commodore name for its fully imported replacement for the locally made car.

The carmaker yesterday revealed its spin on the Opel Insignia mid-size car that will wear the hallowed badge from 2018 in the wake of local Holden Commodore production switching off later this year.

However, instead of sticking with the Grand Sport name given to the Opel version of the longer-wheelbase wagon featuring GM’s latest E2XX vehicle architecture, Holden will stick with the Sportwagon badge.

That’s not all. The image is also tagged as a Calais version – another throwback to the locally made product – alluding that we’re looking at a range-topping 230kW and 370Nm 3.6-litre V6-engined, all-wheel-drive version of the Opel Insignia wagon.

While we’re quite used to the stepped, fastback-styled rear end – the current Sportwagon has a similar cut-in bootlid as the Insignia – we will have to get used to packing less gear in the new Commodore; load space with the rear seats folded down drops from 2000 litres to 1600L.

The Holden-badged Insignia wagon has a similar falling roofline to the Commodore Sportwagon. A highlight is a chrome strip running along the roofline that plunges into the tail-light design. A fast-rising door sill gives the Insignia a much smaller glasshouse than the Commodore.

The Insignia sits on a much shorter wheelbase – 2829 millimetres compared with the Commodore’s 2915mm – and with the overall length stretching to 4986mm it is 67mm longer than the Aussie-made car it will replace. One of the key development targets for the original 2006 VE Commodore-based Sportwagon, which we’re yet to find out if it has carried across to the fully imported replacement, was a 2.0-metre flat space in the rear with the seats folded down.

Opel says the Grand Sport will come equipped with “the same leading technologies” as the sedan version, which includes LED headlights, active cruise control and a surround-view camera system. Aussie models will include features such as heated front and outboard rear seats, and a massaging function for the front seats – a feature once offered for the rear seats of exported Commodores, but never rolled out here.

V6 versions of the Sportback-badged Insignia will send drive to all four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission. Other driveline choices include the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol and diesel engines as the five-door hatchback Insignia.

The version of the Grand Sport wearing the Holden badge was released by Opel in the lead-up to the Commodore replacement’s unveiling at March’s Geneva Motor Show.

Opel’s version of the Insignia wagon is said to be 200kg lighter than the one it replaces, meaning it could weigh in at around 1450kg.

Boot space with the rear seats folded down is up to 1640 litres, well down on the 2000L that the current generation offers. One of the key areas of development of the Aussie-made Commodore was a 2.0-metre long flat floor so that people could sleep in it.