Holden Special Vehicles has not hit the "panic" button, despite strong rumours that Ford Performance Vehicles is about to end Holden's almost 40-year domination in the V8 power stakes.

FPV is poised to introduce a range of supercharged 5.0-litre V8s in July this year, once the current 5.4-litre is discontinued because it will not meet new emissions requirements introduced mid year.

But the boss of HSV Phil Harding says it is business as usual for Holden's performance car division.

"We're focused on our customer segment and we've got a great program ahead of us," he told the Carsales Network at the launch of the new price-leader GXP sedan and ute models (pictured) in Melbourne today.

"I don't comment on [the supercharged FPV Falcons] because first of all it's only a rumour. And, if it happens and it's no longer a rumour, you'll also find an answer from me that looks at the broad segment of our customer base and not just one other player in the market."

When asked if HSV feared a changing of the guard may be imminent once FPV ends Holden's domination in V8 performance with the new supercharged 5.0-litre V8s due in July, Harding told the Carsales Network: "Well, there has been a changing of the guard. Audi sales have gone up enormously and I'm looking upwards at my competition, not downwards."

Magazine reports have indicated that FPV's new supercharged engines could have up to 600Nm of torque -- 50Nm more than HSV's highest output.

Torque, the measure of an engine's ability to overcome resistance, is regarded as more important than power when it comes to acceleration, particularly in large performance sedans.

When asked if FPV may have an advantage because its annual production volumes are roughly half of HSV's volume, and therefore FPV is more easily able to perform such boutique modifications as supercharging, Harding said: "Sometimes they sell a third of our volume ... [but] you're asking me to make a comment about another manufacturer and I'm not going to do that."

When asked the same question again, he said: "I think what we've done in the past three or four of years has been exciting and I think the next three or four years are also pretty exciting, so I don't look at what anyone else does."

When asked if HSV had hit a panic button, and had expedited a shipment of supercharged 6.2-litre V8s from General Motors powertrain division in Detroit to HSV for local evaluation, or considered doing a local supercharged engine via its Walkinshaw Performance division, Harding said: "Do you really think I would hit a panic button? Look, we are very confident with where we are heading. We are rightly proud of our cars and HSV customers have nothing to fear.

"When I look into the GM parts bin, I think I'm very fortunate because it's a bit like walking into Toys R Us, there are so many engines and so much technology available to us.

"But it isn't just about what powerplant drives the car. As you can see with E2 we are interested in a range of performance driving technology.

"A HSV has to have the look, driver enthusiasm and it has to have performance. Those three things are core values and we try to address all three."

When it was suggested this comment sounded similar to Ford's party line for many years about its cars being "not all about power" (because Ford V8s have typically had a power deficit), Harding said: "I didn't say that. I said our cars need all of the above, and I think our cars are pretty powerful already."

Harding may have a point. For the past few years, the turbocharged FPV F6 sedan has recorded similar or faster acceleration times than HSV's best V8, and yet HSV sales have not been adversely affected by this.

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