Holden Calais V – previewing the new VF Commodore

Over in Australia, Holden has unveiled its Calais V luxury sports concept, which previewes the design direction of the upcoming Commodore facelift, expected to begin selling around mid-year. The new VF will constitute a major rework of the fourth-gen sedan, which was introduced in 2006 in its VE form. The new car is set to make its way Stateside, as the Chevrolet SS.

The new-look flagship Calais V-Series introduces a premium upgrade to both interior and exterior elements – outside, there’s more flamboyant and contemporary surfacing, and the bolder look has also translated into improved aerodynamic performance. Twenty-inch, double ten-spoke show car alloys help things along visually.

The interior gets a significant rework – everything from the instrument panel, instrument cluster graphics, binnacle hood, centre stack and flow-on console layouts to the steering wheel, seats, storage and lighting has been redesigned, with improved placement of control and function switchgear.

Also on, new redesigned seats featuring improved upholstery material – on the show car, a combination of fine-grained light titanium leather with suede and perforated leather inserts.

Plenty of tech gear on call in the Calais V, with Auto Park Assist, Head-up Display and Reverse Traffic Alert on the list. The company says that the car boasts a range of technology firsts for a local vehicle, one designed, engineered and built in Australia.

No mention made of what the VF Commodore range will wear in terms of powertrains, but it shouldn’t veer from what’s available now for the VE, starting from a 255 hp and 290 Nm 3.0 litre LF1 Spark Injection Direct Injection V6 right up to a 6.0 litre Generation IV V8, the L77.

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