Every company does badge engineering, Heck, the ridgeline is the Honda Odyssey/Pilot. The problem, to me, is not the sharing of cars and designs, but the lack of any distinction when they do so, if they were to really focus one brand for one type of customer over the other brands it would be fine, make all of the pontiac line sleeker and more powerful, give the buick line more comfort and sedate aesthetics, give caddy luxury and some muscle, chevy would probably end up being the middle ground affordable everycar and saturn would be the asian-antithesis.

I think the commodore would fit nicely with the pontiac “persona” were pontiac restructured a bit to allow for such things as innovation and non-union workmanship. remember this isn’t badge engineering so much since we cannot get holdens here anyways. I would prefer to see it as a chevy, altho I wouldn’t want the look changed there either. The biggest problem IS the push for brand personification. better to design good cars and shoehorn them into a brand with accoutrements and simple cosmetic changes, but when half of the beauty of a car lies in its origins and the design of its creators changing it to fit into a corporate image just strikes me as unnecessary. The Commodore would sell perfectly as a pontiac were they to go old school bonneville with the badging, take off the holden lion and put a rondel with the pontiac shield in it. boom done. rebadged. perfect solution.

the GTO problem was the changing of the look for pontiac, and doing that to the commodore would be insane, literally. The GTO was a wonderful car, it LOOKED sorry, and so didn’t do well. I never got to drive the monaro, but those I have spoken to who have and drove the GTO loved the GTO as much or more than the monaro, but the looks were awful, they looked old even compared to the staid looks the monaro had at the end. and that was the problem. let the holden work shine thru and you wont have such a problem with bringing one over.

I say dump the UAW, dump the staid engineers here, let holden and the euros design all our cars for a decade, bring in new faces here, and finish sweeping out the UAW and then lets see if we can produce some vehicles with the same spark we see in the big-3′s foreign partners. when ford produces and focus that draws crowds in europe and a focus here that draws nothing, when holden can produce a commodore and chevy is left with a FWD impala. Some blame goes to the regulations, some to the unions, but mostly I think it just goes to corporate america’s staid system. no innovation. god save us AND the japanese if the chinese get a foothold here.

Simple fact is a good car is a good car, and a good car that LOOKS good is a double threat. The Commodore is a good enough car that even if changed to look ‘pontiac-ish’ would sell well, the problem being that it is NOT quality that sells most cars in a america, it is aesthetics. Bland seems to work for those who rely on brand recognition tho. It is looks over substance, and price over value. Not the greatest of systems but its what we operate under. The standardization of aesthetics to brands does nothing but limit designs, there is a reason every super car looks so much like every other one, aesthetics take a back seat to aerodynamics, same is true with modern manufacture, design take a back seat to efficiency and cost. And it isn’t just exterior either, American manufacturers especially have had just as much trouble with interiors, quality – materials – and design.

The commodore is a superior machine, altho its price may put many off, as such it will sell well. mitsubishis and dodges look dissimilar also yet we have stealth/eclipse duality way on back. I would much rather see the Holden brand brought to america than any trade off on its performance or styling be allowed, but that is not a high probability course of action.

if the styling of a vehicle not fitting into the staid preconceptions and mass produced blandness of its brethren is enough to relegate it to failure then my comment was right on, if it doesn’t then it was also right on. Saturn gets its uniformity from opel, cadillac from saab? Chevy has had opels and all GM platforms share between brands. ALL there is to differentiate is trim and aesthetics. I would like to see a little more diversity in any way shape and form available.

Every totyota looking as bland as the toupe over mauve hallway in your local hospital is not a plus, and every argument for quality or engineering over aesthetics falls short. would taking the badge off a mazda make the engine less ford? would taking the badge off a suzuki make it LESS korean? would taking the badge of a tundra make it less american? The Holden Commodore is uniquely australian, while you may chose to point to it and say ‘it strikes me as one of the same from everyone else’ there are those of us who can see it for more, who can recognize a holden without seeing the badge, who can see the underpinnings of an opel or a saab in the successful american offerings, God help us if we have to rely on such blase thinking, we could just go back to stealing our designs from the korean chopping room floors and calling it original. and saying it fits aesthetically.

You make an irrelevant argument. Whether or not the Commodore looks better than a Pontiac is irrelevant. Lots of cars look “beter.” Many others look “worse.” The relevant issue is that the Commodore does not look like a Pontiac. One of the lessons learned over the last few years is that each brand should be immediately recognizable even with the badges removed.

As a result, you are seeing certain brands actually get uglier, particularly DCX brands. However, they are immediately recognizable. GM has done this with Cadillac, Buick, and is making strides with Saturn and Chevrolet. However, if you remove the badges from a Holden Commodore, then you have no idea what it is or where it came from. This is a prescription for failure.

HONESTLY, I think the holden design looks far better than Pontiac could ever make it look. I do not like Pontiacs current styling. And while I do not think any of us would turn down the Commodore were it raped in the face with a pontiac grill, I do think those who have the money would pay a higher premium on the orignal styling over pontiac styling, and of course knowing it was produced in Aussieland would be a plus.

As for its looks in general, I do not think you can really lump it in with asian sedans, since all those asian sedans are designed by Western design houses and the Commodore is taking cues from many sources and quite a few original points you really have to pick and choose if you want to try to equate it to a staid asian sedan design.

As an exercise in future possibilities the Holden Commodore shows much promise for an american release. With engineering, looks, and power behind it, if it were allowed to keep what makes it a superior machine as it crosses the pacific you can very definitely see it helping to save Pontiac from its recent trouble, alongside the Solstice, and helping GM bump profits without having to pander to UAW BS.

Anyone with their ear just needs to make clear to GM that the commodore is what is going to draw the people, not the pontiac name, and not putting that god awful nose on the front of it. So long as they let it keep the soul it has and allow more such superior designs to make it into america the will have greater customer satisfaction and a higher quality product and profit margin to boot. Had I the money the Commodore would be top on my list, without it, the ‘pontiac’ is a ways further down, until i see the ‘facelift’ at least.

I just really do not want to see GM shoot themsleves in the foot on a deal that is most definitely win-win at the moment. with its looks, I would even like Holden to put the effort into maybe turning it into an AWD scooby/evo alternative. I like the look it has and I would like to see Holden get the respect it deserves on this continent along with its home continent.

From everything that we have heard and read, the Photoshopped Holdens are an accurate representation of what the G8 will look like. You have to understand that there have been only a few months between the decision to rebadge the Commodore for NA sale and the time that it is supposed to appear in showrooms here. There is simply not enough time to do more than a simple rebadge. Furthermore, there are only so many ways to fit a faux Pontiac grille to the Commodore.

The car may look something like a Pontiac from the front. In profile, however, it will look like a generic 2007 Asian 4-door sedan.

Comment by MC, posted on January12 at 9:09 pm

Great idea! Unfortunately, GM already has.. the Pontiac Vibe is just a rebadged Toyota (Corolla) Matrix!

I personally like pontiac styling. I like the GTO over the Monaro. (but don’t get me wrong… the monaro and the commadore are beautiful)
each to their own tastes, really.

but, honestly, how many of you would actually seriously buy the Commadore/G8, but now won’t cuz of the pontiac split-grill? and how many are just trashing pontiac cuz you don’t like domestics?

my bad ok evo VIII still same car different number i rather preffer as sedan the FQ400 fastest 4 door out there

But if they get it out now, make some noise, get some good reviews, that’ll prep it well for the transition to a newer, cheaper model that’s made in America.

@buenos, it’s not badge engineering if you won’t see both cars on the road together. I won’t see a Commodore in America.

Rofl. You should see if you can get a marketing contract with GM.

Built without being touched by the UAW!

The GTO was a very nice car. It had the best interior fit and finish of any GM car I have been in of late. Including Cadillac.

These will be good cars. I’ll bet there will be Holden re-grill and rebadge kits, just like those Sprinter/Benz vans.