'Pontiac' Commodore to stay!

The Pontiac G8 has been given a stay of execution -- well, from Holden at least.

Pontiac may be gone, thanks to the restructuring of General Motors in North America, but the memory of the famous car brand will live on for a little while yet -- on the other side of the world.

As the Carsales Network exclusively reported late last year, Holden introduced a special edition of its high performance SS-V sedan, which came with the twin-vent bonnet and sportier front bumper and grille used on the now defunct Pontiac G8 (pictured) export program.

But the limited run of Commodores has proved so popular that Holden has decided to continue building them indefinitely, according to a recent briefing to dealers.

The Carsales Network understands that customers will have the choice of the regular SS-V look, or the Pontiac look -- but the Pontiac look will still attract a $1000 price premium.

Holden introduced the special models in November 2009 when it gave the SS-V sedan, wagon and ute the Pontiac styling treatment, in a bid to clear some parts from the axed Pontiac export program.

Although the vehicles are no longer "limited" they are still expected to become collector pieces, given that they marked an important milestone in Holden's history: when it exported Australia's biggest selling car to what was the world's biggest car market (China has since overtaken the US).

Even though the limited edition SS-V models did not wear Pontiac badges, some dealers have begun ordering the Pontiac and G8 'jewelry' for customers.

Holden didn't disclose how many of the limited editions it would build, although dealer sources suggested it was going to be close to 1500 in total, or about 500 of each body style.

Holden exported approximately 41,000 Commodores as Pontiac G8 sedans between November 2007 and February 2009 -- almost equivalent to Holden's annual sales of Commodore.

A ute version of the Pontiac G8 was due to follow later this year, but it was sidelined along with the rest of the Pontiac brand.

To boost local production Holden is now trying to resurrect an export deal by selling the Caprice as a police car to North America from 2011.

Prices of each limited edition model are $1000 more than a regular SS-V. The Holden bulletin outlined to dealers the following:

Pontiac G8 SS-V ute manual $47,490
Pontiac G8 SS-V sedan manual $55,290
Pontiac G8 SS-V wagon manual $57,290

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