Portal:Australia/Featured article/Week 19, 2007

The Holden VE Commodore is the fourteenth and current model of the Holden Commodore, a full-size car produced by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors. The car was officially presented at a media launch in Melbourne on 16 July 2006, which was broadcast live on the Internet. With a sales debut on 14 August 2006, it is the first Commodore to be entirely designed and engineered in Australia. All previous generations from the original VB Commodore had been based on European-sourced platforms from Opel that had been adapted both mechanically and in size for the local market. The engines and transmissions of the VE are mainly carry-overs from the previous VZ model, except for a new six-speed automatic transmission offered on selected trim levels. Holden released the VE Commodore to the New Zealand market in September 2006. This was followed by the achievement of the prestigious Wheels Car of the Year award on 23 January 2007. Before the release of the VE model, Holden confirmed that station wagon and utility body styles of the VE would not be launched for some time. Holden will instead manufacture two parallel generations of Commodores until the VE variants are released.