For the 2010 model year, the big powertrain news from General Motors in the U.S. has been the launch of two new direct injected engines, a 2.2-liter four cylinder and a smaller 3.0-liter version of its high-feature V6. The latter engine uses its new fuel delivery system to help it achieve similar output to the previous port injected 3.6-liter while using less gas. That engine will see duty in several vehicles for the new model year, including the new Chevy Equinox, Cadillac SRX and CTS and the Buick LaCrosse.

It looks like this powerplant is heading down under to find a home in the Holden Commodore. The new 3.0-liter V6 will be paired up with a new 6-speed automatic transmission and should achieve similar performance to the 3.6-liter while improving efficiency from 22.2 mpg (U.S.) to an estimated 24.8 mpg (U.S.), a nearly 12 percent bump. The new DI V6 joins other alternatives in the Commodore iine-up, including a factory offered LPG system and an upcoming flex-fuel version. For the near term however, Holden isn't planning to offer any turbocharged four cylinder engines in the Commodore.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Although it won't actually be present at the event, GM has released three new images of the Holden Volt to coincide with the start of the 2009 Melbourne Motor Show. Like the Opel Ampera that will be shown off at the Geneva Motor Show next week, the Holden is a rebadged version of the range-extended electric Chevy Volt. This lightly remodeled car is very important for the Australian market as the automaker tries to shed its fuel-thirsty reputation and switches to smaller, more efficient packages.

The Voltec powertrain that makes the Volt tick isn't likely to see any changes on its trip Down Under, and, as we can see from the image gallery below, there aren't any real changes to the Volt's sheetmetal either. This fact shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone since The General worked to hard to make the overall shape of the original Volt as slippery as possible in the first place. See the full press release after the break.


[Source: General Motors]

Attendees at the 2009 Melbourne Motor Show will be greeted by a nice surprise at the Holden tent as GM's Australian arm has announced it will be bringing what appears to be a production-ready Holden-badged Cruze to display. After taking a brief look at the pics, it's easy to see that nothing much has changed from the Chevy version of the Cruze besides a switch to right-hand drive and, of course, a fresh set of Holden badges all around.

The new Holden Cruze headlines a list of 25 vehicles that the Australian automaker will be showing off in Melbourne. Also on the stand will be Holden's EcoLine range of vehicles, including two Commodores (one sedan and one Ute) running on liquefied petroleum gas and another two vehicles featuring Active Fuel Management, which switches the V8 engine into a V4 when full power isn't required. See the full press release after the break.


[Source: General Motors]

For the first time in many years, the engineers at Holden, GM's Down Under division, have cut the power of a V8 engine in the big Commodore sedan. The 6.0L V8 automatic transmission combination in the Commodore is now equipped with Active Fuel Management, GM's terminology for cylinder deactivation. The system allows four cylinders to be shut off at light load conditions. In the Commodore (which is sold in North America as the Pontiac G8) the power drops from 362 hp to 349 hp while combined fuel efficiency goes from 16.44 mpg to 18.23 mpg (US). That's still not particularly impressive, but the 1.8 mpg increase is at least notable.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Environmental concerns have made their way to the land of Oz, and GM's Holden division has responded by appointing its first-ever Energy and Environment Director. Richard Marshall will take the post beginning on January 12 of next year and will report directly to the Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Reuss. This addition seems appropriate now that Holden has announced its new EcoLine, which seeks to lower the fuel consumption of all automobiles so equipped. Other steps taken to improve its eco-standing are a reduction in engine power in exchange for fuel efficiency and an increased use of liquified petroleum gas. The automaker has also announced that a Holden-badged version of the Chevy Volt will make it to Australia in 2012.

Interestingly, Marshall's previous role had been as the Director of Innovation Engineering. Odd, we weren't aware that it was possible to engineer innovation, but whatever. We wish Marshall the best of luck in his new post.

[Source: Holden]

As we had heard in the past, General Motor's upcoming extended-range electric vehicle will make an Australian appearance in 2012, and it will be wearing a Holden badge. Apparently, rumor and innuendo in Australia had the Volt coming to the continent as a Chevrolet. Holden's Managing Director Mark Reuss also says that the EREV will be introduced without the use of Australia's planned Green Car Innovation Fund. That's nice, but perhaps the General's spokesperson could have been a bit more appropriate if he didn't make such a big deal about the automaker using its own funds, considering what's been going on here in the US these last few weeks.
Also on schedule for Australian consumption in 2010 are flex-fuel Holdens. Along with the ethanol capability, GM is working with Coskata to open its first-ever plant outside the United States. That plant will make the alcohol fuel from waste products.


[Source: CarPoint]

Australia's Holden, a unit from General Motors, has announced a new badge for all vehicles that it equips with some sort of alternative fuel or gas-saving technology: ecoline. Holden faces a bit of an uphill climb when it comes to environmentally-friendly technology, as the marque is best known for its large, rear-wheel drive, V8-powered coupes, sedans and utes. This new ecoline badge is meant to soften that image somewhat. Unfortunately, the ecoline badge won't mean much until 2012 or so when hybrids and diesels are expected to be offered by Holden in Australia. Until then, the most fuel efficient models that will get the badge will be equipped with V8 engines, though they will get Active Fuel Management, which cuts the number of cylinders that fire when maximum power isn't needed. This type of technology is effective and has been available in the U.S. from GM for a while, but it doesn't seem like quite enough to earn a special badge. Perhaps that should have waited for the hybrids and diesels.

[Source: Fullboost]

It sounds as if the Australian market will be the third - behind the United States and Europe - to get a version of the Chevy Volt. In Europe, the Volt will be sold as either an Opel or a Vauxhall and in Australia it will be known as a Holden. The Volt, in its current Chevrolet guise, was shipped to Sydney for the Motor Show, which is where the announcement was made that it would make the trip to Australia by 2012.

The Holden Volt will join the Toyota Camry hybrid and the Honda Insight as fuel-saving cars with internal combustion engines that use an electric motor to achieve their fuel efficiency. Unlike its two rivals, the Volt will use only its electric motor to power the wheels, with the engine used solely to charge the batteries when needed. Officials from Holden say that the Volt will go for 60 kilometers before a single drop of petroleum is used. Hey, that's about 40 miles. Imagine that.


[Source: The Age]

Apparently taking a cue from our friends at Chrysler, the down under team from General Motors are now offering cheap gas as a buying incentive. Back in June, Chrysler began offering a three-year guarantee of gas at $2.99 a gallon on most new Chrysler vehicles in a bid to get consumers to buy. Holden is now offering buyers a guarantee of 99¢/liter which equates to about $3.22/gallon in U.S. dollars and gallons. The current price for regular gas in Australia is around $4.63/gallon. Holden's incentive goes for two years or 12,000 miles, which is considerably less than the three years/36,000 miles offered by Chrysler. Given the continued collapse of Chrysler sales this summer, it's not clear if the promotion is having any meaningful impact, but Holden is going to try it - at least through the end of October anyway. The press release is after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

The Australian auto market is an interesting beast. Many of the big players in America offer vehicles there which are completely different from what is available stateside. Ford and General Motors have continued to develop large, rear-wheel-drive passenger cars for the Australian market, and these have recently proven desirable in the states again. New fuel economy regulations, though, may put an end to the idea of importing Australian-designed Ford and Holden vehicles into America. In fact, even the Australians may find it tough to keep these vehicles on the road. Federal industry minister Kim Carr would like to help Holden and Ford make their vehicles more fuel efficient, which could mean an abrupt halt to vehicles like the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in their current forms. Incentives are being provided which could bring engines like Ford's 3.5 liter Duratec engine to Australia, in both normally aspirated form and even equipped with the new EcoBoost technology. These direct injected and turbocharged mills produce gobs of power while offering a slight increase in fuel efficiency.

[Source: GoAuto]