Buick Regal to phase out soon, will the Holden Commodore stay alive?

It hasn't been long since the 2020 Holden Commodore was spied, and the market was ready to welcome the updated mode gleefully. However, recent reports and developments reveal that the 42-year long journey for the Commodore might just come to an end by the end of 2020. While it has been announced that the Buick Regal, Holden Commodore's twin will make way for newer models in the USA in the next twelve months or so, Holden, however, has asserted that the Commodore is here to stay for longer than we think.

Similar to the US-spec Buick Regal, the Australian Holden Commodore hasn't been able to see better days of late, and the sales figures have kept going down. Recently, we also did a story on how Holden has witnessed its sixth record low in the last 11 months, moving to the 11th spot on the list of top 12 auto brands in Australia in November 2019. Moreover, it all came courtesy of a decline of 48% in the sales figures. With that said, Holden had already stopped manufacturing the Commodore locally two years ago, and the car is now imported from Germany. The responsibility of producing the Holden Commodore for the Australian masses is now in the hands of Opel.

Holden Australia went on to affirm that the discontinuation of the Buick Regal in the USA and Canada will not affect the availability of the car in Australia. Also, a facelifted model is set to hit the Australian dealerships sometime next year. "Buick’s changes to their model line-up aren’t directly relevant to Holden. We are in the process of introducing the (model year 2020) and we are still selling Commodores. If anything changes in regard to Commodore we will tell you," said Holden.

Having a look at the year-to-date sales performance, the interest in the Holden Commodore is down by 37%, while the auto market as a whole has witnessed a decline of 8.2%. Despite that, the Commodore has been the second-best model for Holden behind the Colorado ute. GM Motors sold the brand Opel back in 2017 and now has to pay the automaker to build the Regal and the Commodore units. This, as a result, has left no option for GM than to pay a higher price for the car to Opel. There is also an Opel’s version of the Buick/Commodore, called Insignia. Opel recently released an updated version of the same.

From January 2019 to November 2019, Holden could only sell 5,400 Commodores. Back in the days of the 1990s and 2000s, the brand's monthly trade sales figures were much higher than that. So, how long can the Holden Commodore survive in Australia? Even though the sales figures are experiencing a nosedive, Holden seems to be adamant regarding the release of an updated model soon and that should confirm another couple of years for the Commodore to live down under.

Also read: 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe gets a petrol V6, starts at $43,000