Cruel SUVs and crossovers and the normie’s near-unquenchable desire for them have claimed another automotive victim, this time Australia’s iconic Holden Commodore. Just because nobody is buying the mid-size sedan, Holden, which appears to only be in this business to make money, somehow, has axed the car from its lineup, which will now only be SUVs and, as the Aussies like to call El Camino-type trucks, utes.
Holden has stated that SUVs and utes make up 76 percent of their sales, and they think that will never change because nothing ever does. To this end, they’ve dropped the Astra hatchback as well.
The Commodore had been around since 1978, starting life as a mix of Opel parts (front from an Opel Senator, Rekord basic body, on the GM V-Body platform) but turning into something distinctively Australian thanks to a lot of re-engineering to meet Australian conditions. It was a mid-sized RWD car that, like many Australian designs, felt more American than European, and could possibly be thought of as analogous to, say, a Ford Crown Victoria here in the U.S.
The Commodore was one of Australia’s best selling cars for years, selling as many as 95,000 in 1998, though this past year that number has dropped to 5,789, according to News.com Australia.
The Holden lineup will now just be the Acadia, Colorado Ute, Equinox, Trailblazer, and Trax, most of which are shared with GMC or Chevrolet in the United States.
You can also buy a Corvette via Holden in Australia, and I’m pretty sure that’s not affected by Holden’s SUV-only focus. I don’t think it’s actually badged as a Holden, either.
Will Holden one day regret moving to an all-SUV lineup? Not to be a dick, but I kinda hope so.