Holden Drives Up Costs
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday June 21, 2008
AS the cost of petrol races towards $2 per litre, Holden has confirmed the price of the fastest, thirstiest and most expensive car it has ever built.
The $150,000 limited edition Holden Special Vehicles sedan, due in showrooms in August, is more than twice the price of today's dearest Commodore model.It is powered by a massive 7.0-litre V8 engine originally designed for the Chevrolet Corvette and engineers are trying to "get the economy down to 16 litres per 100km", roughly twice as much as a medium-sized family sedan.Despite rising fuel prices, HSV says there is strong demand for the car. Last year, one in five Commodores sold was a V8 - more than any other year.One theory is buyers are getting in before petrol runs out. When Ford announced it would axe the V8 Falcon in 1982, the company built enough V8s to last two years but sold out in six months."We now believe there is an element of people getting in before petrol runs out, or it becomes so insanely expensive they'll never be able to afford it," HSV general manager Scott Grant said last month.
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury