THE KING IS DEAD!
The King is Dead. Commodore, a 41-year old nameplate in this nation, withered on the vine and died – an incongruous end for the former bestseller. Across five generations and 16 models this Holden left an indelible mark not only on our motoring history, but on the very streetscapes we grew up in.
How and why we got here seems a constant source of dispute. To cite that Aussies fell out of love with the Commodore oversimplifies things. Plenty of Aussies still loved the Commodore, and they’d have bought one too, if they weren’t tradies needing a lifted, dual-purpose work/play/family/camping ute. They’d have bought one if the panache of a smaller European hatchback, often less car for more money, hadn’t beckoned them with its Teutonic siren-song. They’d have bought one, but for the plan to attack the Kimberley in their senior years. They’d have bought one, except the Commodore name had become just kinda… bogan… ya know? I mean, what would the neighbours think?
Put simply, for a range of reasons not enough Aussies still loved the Commodore, rendering the product a niche player nursing mainstream infrastructure. It was a recipe for getting upside down financially – something Holden did with great success once before, I might add.
