The Holden Commodore is an automobile series built by the Holden division of General Motors in Australia. Introduced in 1978, the original design was actually a rebadged Opel Commodore, which was GM's 'V-car', sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Royale, and the Chevrolet Commodore in South Africa. The first was the VB Commodore which came with a 2.8L engine and 4-speed manual transmission. Since 1988, it has been largely based on the Opel Omega, a version of which was sold in the United States as the Cadillac Catera. Sedan, wagon, and 'ute' (utility or pick-up truck) versions are marketed.
During the early 1990s, the Commodore also was sold by Toyota in Australia, badged as a Toyota Lexcen, but this proved unsuccessful as buyers simply chose the original version.
The Statesman and Caprice are versions of the Commodore built on a longer wheelbase, with some being converted into hearses for funerals or 'stretched' into limousines. It is also used as an official car by government ministers in Australia and New Zealand.
The Commodore was also assembled in New Zealand, but is now exported completely built up. It has also been also exported to other right hand drive markets such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and to South Africa, badged as the Chevrolet Lumina. It is also exported in left hand drive, to the Middle East as the Chevrolet Lumina, and Brazil as the Chevrolet Omega.
