Holden Commodore back on the beat

HOLDEN’S Commodore is back in the police fleet business, with the South Australian Police ordering more than 100 all-wheel-drive RS V6 ZB Commodores for both highway patrol and general duties.

 

The imported vehicles will be deployed over the next two years, replacing locally made Holdens that SA Police has employed since 1948 when the first all-Australian Holden cars emerged from production lines.

 

With no local production in South Australia since October last year, Holden’s imports have had to go head-to-head with other car-makers to win police deals.

 

In February, Victoria Police announced the purchase of 290 Colorado pick-ups to be fitted out as divisional vans over the next two years, again continuing Holden’s long association with that state’s law enforcement.

 

However, Holden lost a major Victoria Police highway patrol contract when BMW secured a deal for 80 diesel-powered 530d sedans.

 

New South Wales Police have also chosen the BMW 530d for its fleet, along with V8 Chrysler 300 SRT high-performance sedan.

 

In Queensland, Kia has won a contract for 50 V6 Stinger liftbacks for the local force’s road policing command fleet.

 

According to Holden, SA Police chose the Commodore after an exhaustive test program against cars from other manufacturers.

 

Holden sales director Peter Keley said Holden’s engineers had worked collaboratively with SA Police to ensure the car met the force’s safety and performance requirements.

 

“I’m sure members of the SA Police will enjoy driving it as much as we do,” he said.

 

At this stage, SA Police have ordered only AWD V6 Commodores, with no front-wheel-drive four-cylinder petrol or diesel vehicles included in the deal.

 

The V6 Commodore – packing 235kW of power and 381Nm of torque in showroom RS and VXR form – is the performance pinnacle of the Commodore line now that V8 powertrains have been axed.

 

The V6 powertrain with its nine-speed automatic transmission was largely developed for Commodore by Holden, who insisted in the larger engine being included in the line-up for Australian buyers including fleets such as SA Police.

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