GMC Denali XT concept 01
Bruce Newton22 Dec 2015
NEWS

Exclusive: Denali four-door ute part of Dumarey’s Zeta plan

Up to 16 models proposed for reborn Elizabeth-built Commodore range

A four-door utility based on the GMC Denali XT concept car developed by Holden would be on-sale as soon as 2019 if Belgian entrepreneur Guido Dumarey’s audacious long-shot plan to gain control of the current Commodore and the Elizabeth assembly plant is successful.

But it’s only one model among a string of derivatives that Dumarey and his team have crystal balled as part of ‘Project Erich’, the plan to purchase Elizabeth from General Motors and keep the Commodore and its locally-developed Zeta monocoque architecture in production.

Dumarey’s interest in the locally-developed Commodore and Elizabeth, which are both earmarked for the chop by the end of 2017, was exclusively revealed by motoring.com.au on November 27.

He has since revealed the timing of his pitch and in-depth details of his plans for Zeta and Elizabeth during an interview at his Strasbourg headquarters last week.

Project Erich calls for a dramatic overhaul of the drivetrains and chassis systems used by the architecture, up to 16 derivatives, distinct premium and dual-purpose light commercial retail channels and a strong export program to back up local sales.

Agenda items include 400-500Nm turbo-diesel powertrains, left-hand drive, all-wheel drive, hybridisation, eight-speed automatic transmissions and CNG for spark ignition engines.

“The ute is the only unibody ute in the world. And this has some value absolutely,” Dumarey told motoring.com.au.

“There is not a diesel in the program for light commercial and it is necessary,” he added.

“There’s a lot of technologies that we have in-house here that we can combine for the future.”

More than once the Holden ute was on the verge of gaining left-hand drive sign-off from General Motors to be sold in the USA as a new generation Chevrolet El Camino but never gained the green light.

The Denali broke cover at the Chicago auto show in 2008. Based on Zeta and developed at GM’s Australian design studio it never officially made it past the concept stage.

An independent source knowledgeable with its development for production confirmed 2019 as a best-case scenario for the start of manufacturing.

Potential dual-purpose models apart from the ute and the four-door include 2+2 ute, a modern day Sandman and a raised height all-wheel drive wagon in the vein of the Audi allroad family.

On the premium side, an all-wheel drive sports coupe is on the list of potentials as a flagship.

Dumarey revealed a particular affection for the HSV models developed by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group and said he would like to continue the relationship if he gains control of Zeta.

He said the overall ambition for the premium channel was to evolve the cars over time to a BMW level of refinement.

“What we must do - and it is what the German car industry is doing – is look more to the premium and the super premium and focus on a certain moment and a certain size of car. We focus on rear wheel-drive and all-wheel drive platforms.

“In two years time you can get the ride out of a Zeta platform that you have the same feeling as BMW,” he claimed. “Because you fit with technology from shock absorbers, from steering, gearbox, calibration.”

While that all might sound fanciful, many of the technologies including hybrid are already being developed at the Punch Powerglide Strasbourg transmission factory owned by Dumarey and which already supplies the 6L45 auto to Holden for V6 Commodore derivatives.

Dumarey stressed the Elizabeth plant was a key part of Project Erich because of its flexibility.

“In Elizabeth you see your ute, your long wheelbase, your short wheelbase, you see your station wagon. You have more models.

“What for us is important, is the platform adapted to like you have an Audi A6 Allroad; seven centimetres higher and you put a diesel in it, you put all wheel drive in it, hybrid, eight-speed.”

Dumarey bought the Strasbourg facility from GM in late 2012, gaining a free license to develop the 6L transmission family as part of the deal. ZF eight-speed autos are also manufactured at the site.

Dumarey is convinced the Zeta architecture is a quality basis for vehicle development, even though it will be discarded by General Motors at the end of 2017. He is hoping that GM will not only sell him the Adelaide plant but hand over a free license to Zeta.

“The platform is dead and because it is obsolete then we can say ‘give us a free license,’” he explained.

“It [the platform] is a single affair. It is an isolated single Australian affair.”

“For me rear wheel drive platforms are premiums platforms and I think this Zeta/Omega platform, which was originally developed in Germany, is a good platform.”

He is convinced that his rebadged model line-up would prosper out from under the management of General Motors in the same way Jaguar Land Rover has benefitted from its move from Ford to India’s Tata and Volvo from Ford to China’s Geely.

“It [JLR] was bought for $1.5 billion by Ratan Tata and everybody said ‘an Indian guy what will he do? They are now on 425,000 cars and they go to double. Step by step by step.

“The same at Volvo. Volvo is Chinese owned. It was under the umbrella at Ford but now it is much better,” Dumarey stated.

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