Next-generation VF sedan to be unveiled at next year’s Daytona 500

[bmorris]

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...613-208vv.html

Holden's home-grown Commodore will make its official debut at the Super Bowl of US motor sport, the Daytona 500.

The race, which last year was watched by 36.5 million viewers, is scheduled for Thursday, February 21, 2013.

General Motors has chosen the date because the new VF Commodore will race as a Chevrolet in the Nascar series as part of a plan to sell roadgoing versions of the Commodore in the US.

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Holden recently announced it would kick off a new export program to the US, with the forthcoming VF Commodore to be rebadged for American audiences as the Chevrolet SS Performance.

The SS performance is likely to be a premium offering with a focus on technology, performance and luxury.

A key component of the deal was for the car to become the hero of parent company GM's Chevrolet brand by being adapted to race in the Nascar series.

At the launch of the Holden Colorado workhorse ute this week, Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux canvassed motoring media on whether it would be a faux pas for Holden to authorise Chevrolet to reveal the SS road car and racing car to US audiences ahead of Australians getting their first official glimpse of the VF Commodore.

Assured by a majority that it would be, Devereux made a snap decision: "We'll launch them on the same day then. We'll make it happen."

He says the exposure afforded by the massively popular Nascar series will be a key driver of sales in the US. "We definitely want to tie (Chevrolet SS) into the Nascar season. To not do so would be a missed opportunity. This will be a good thing for the Chevrolet brand."

He hosed down any comparisons to the company's previous Commodore-based export program to the US, when it sent about 40,000 cars stateside badged as the Pontiac G8. The program was eventually killed off by a combination of the global financial crisis, a soaring Australian dollar and GM declaring bankruptcy.

This time around, sales of the Chevrolet SS will be in the thousands, rather than tens of thousands, Devereux cautions. "Demand will be greater than supply and that's not a bad thing," he says.

Australian buyers, meanwhile, are unlikely to get behind the wheel of a VF Commodore until at least the second quarter of 2013, with Devereux declaring there would need to be some time elapsed between the car's first reveal and its on-sale date to satisfy sales, marketing and media demonstrations.

"We'll certainly be showing the car before landing it in dealerships," he says.

In March, Holden committed $1 billion to local manufacturing following a $275 million injection of funds from the federal government.

Devereux has said the new VF will be a massive update for the Commodore, with lightweight panels, more advanced electronics and high-tech weight-saving materials such as aluminium to save fuel. he update is likely to see the Commodore would be a premium car with a focus on technology, performance and luxury.