The Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was produced from 2006 to 2013 by Holden—the Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Dubbed Holden's "billion dollar baby",[1][2] the car was available as the Holden Berlina—the mid-range model—and the Holden Calais, the luxury variant; utility body styles were marketed as the Holden Ute.

Succeeding the VZ series, the VE was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Holden Commodore, a series of automobiles built between 1978 and 2020. Unlike its predecessors, which used Opel-sourced platforms adapted mechanically and in size for the local market, the VE was the first Commodore entirely designed and developed by Holden in Australia. To minimise export redevelopment costs, features such as a symmetrical centre console housing a flush-fitting hand brake lever facilitated the conversion to left-hand drive. The VE was internationally badge-engineered as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Omega, Bitter Vero Sport and Pontiac G8.

Holden introduced the VE body styles in stages, beginning with the sedan in July 2006. Before this, Holden stated they would manufacture two parallel generations of Commodores until the launch of the station wagon and utility. Variants by Holden's performance vehicle partner, Holden Special Vehicles, were released soon after the sedan's debut alongside the long-wheelbase WM Statesman/Caprice models. The VE Ute entered production in 2007, coinciding with the unveiling of the Sportwagon concept car. The production version of the Sportwagon—which shared its 2,915 mm (114.8 in) wheelbase with the sedan instead of the extended wheelbase from the Caprice like previous models—was introduced in July 2008.

Holden introduced updates to the VE as model year changes starting in April 2007. Typically subtle, these recurring changes have involved alterations to colours and trim, increased standard equipment, and reduced fuel consumption. More noteworthy adjustments have come in the form of a smaller 3.0-litre V6 engine for entry-level versions and "Series II" styling revisions in September 2010.
Development

Official manufacture of the VE sedan began at Holden's production facility in Elizabeth, South Australia, on 13 July 2006.[3] Three days later, Holden debuted the car at the Melbourne Convention Centre, broadcast simultaneously via the Internet.[4][5][6] Its debut occurred alongside that of the company's flagship model, the Statesman/Caprice (WM).[6] Before this, Holden announced that the VE station wagon and utility body styles would be delayed, while the VZ equivalents would continue to be produced.[7] The VE Ute was revealed on 22 August 2007.[8] This was followed by the unveiling of the Sportwagon concept late that year,[9][10] the production version of which was released in July 2008.[11]
Sedan

In 1999 Holden's designers and engineers began laying down the basics of a clean-sheet Commodore sedan.[12] Across the seven years of development the car became Holden's largest and most expensive project, representing an expenditure of approximately A$1.03 billion and 3.4 million kilometres (2.1 million miles) of testing.[13][14] This investment gave it the sobriquet "billion dollar baby".[15]

By late 1998 the design chief Michael Simcoe had sketched a basic VE silhouette—a rakish sedan with a longer wheelbase and shorter overhangs—to guide management and designers. The sketch formed the design basis for the eventual production-ready car.[16] In early 1999 Peter Hughes—manager of exterior design for Holden—produced a two-dimensional image of a sketch drawn earlier by Simcoe.[17] By late 2000 eight initial exterior sketches were selected, then narrowed down to four through a voting process within the design team. These designs featured the same core elements: prominent wheel arches, an aggressive stance, dynamic lines, and short overhangs. Full-size clay models of the four chosen sketches were created.[18]

By July 2002 the speculative phase ended, and a single exterior design direction was chosen. With only four years left before the car's launch, and without having undergone practical testing or real-world engineering, the team turned to a computer-aided industrial design program, Autodesk Alias. One solitary VE concept was refined, sculpted and taken to Holden's Lang Lang Proving Ground, placed on the skidpan and scrutinised by designers and directors from up close and far away to assess how much prominence it had on the road.[18]

In February 2003 the designers provided important information to the engineering team, and by May 2003 the design was finalised and approved by Peter Hughes. By July 2003 the teams created the final design mock-up, featuring a fully transparent model with a glasshouse structure.[18][19] In 2004, two years before the release of the VE Commodore, Holden unveiled the Torana TT36 concept car at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney.[20][21] This concept previewed the production Commodore and allowed Holden to assess public response to its exterior design. Some production-ready components such as the steering wheel and the handbrake lever were integrated from the TT36 into the production VE.[22]

After completing the initial design sketches Holden's engineers quickly began work on developing the chassis. Opel discontinued the rear-wheel drive Omega in 2003. Holden, who used this platform for all earlier Commodore generations, had two options: adopt another General Motors (GM) platform or create a new architecture. GM's new premium rear-wheel drive Sigma platform, which was set to debut in the Cadillac CTS, was offered to Holden's engineers, but they believed that it was unsuitable for the car's requirements. The shoulder width in the rear seat was too narrow.[23][24] Holden chose to develop a new platform, the GM Zeta, which also served as the basis for several later GM vehicles.[25] The car features a double-pivot MacPherson strut front suspension and a four-link independent rear suspension, replacing the earlier MacPherson strut front and semi-trailing arm rear designs.[26] Denny Mooney was appointed chairman of Holden in January 2004.[19] One of Mooney's priorities was to improve the perceived quality issues that surrounded the previous generations of Commodores. Mooney advocated for a reduction of panel gaps by 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) over previous targets.[27] Using three-quarters high-strength steel and an intensive design, the body structure is 50 per cent stiffer than the outgoing model. Strength enhancements include the incorporation of tailor-welded blanks in the front chassis rails and floor reinforcing, resulting in a bare shell mass of 70 kilograms (150 lb). These advancements not only result in noise, vibration and harshness reductions but also lead to improved handling and crash safety.[28]

The development of the VE prompted Holden to redesign the facility in Elizabeth, South Australia, facilitating the assembly of entire sections of the car off the foremost production line. It allows for a seamless construction of complete sub-sections such as the engine and transmissions to be assembled on rigs that simplify production.[29] This is applied to the front-end module of the VE Commodore, comprising its accessory components such as headlights, bumpers and airbag sensors. The production method permits the easy removal of the entire front-end as a single-piece unit, resulting in reduced repair costs and easier access to the engine bay.[30] The method was the first used by GM and won the SAE Australasia's 2006 "Automotive Engineering Excellence Award".[31] A modular design structure known as the "Flex" strategy has been applied to the interior, where fundamentally different components such as audio units and instrument clusters can be swapped out for the various Commodore variants, creating radically varied interiors without much higher costs. The upshot of this is much greater differentiatio