STYLIST PETER HUGHES WAS GIVEN HALF
A DAY TO COME UP WITH A SKETCH TO
IGNITE THE FIRES OF MANAGEMENT
Built without any Opel DNA,
the VE Commodore was the
most expensive new car
program ever undertaken
by a local manufacturer at
the time. GM-H unveiled the
VE sedan and luxury WM
Caprice at a gala event at the
Melbourne Convention Centre
on 16 July 2006
THE VE’s story began in 1995, two years before
the launch of the monster-selling VT Commodore.
GM split long-term future projects into five distinct
platforms, each headed by a different Vehicle Line
Executive (VLE). Only one platform, Project Sigma,
was rear-wheel drive. Troublingly, the Commodore
was not assigned under any of them.
The Sigma platform, pegged to underpin the
forthcoming luxury-medium Cadillac CTS and
larger STS, was the only option remotely suited
to the Commodore. Holden’s then-chairman and
managing director Bill Hamel knew they’d need
Aussies on the project if they were to influence
the design, reassigning Holden design boss Phil
Zmood and designer of body packaging for RWD
platforms Stephen Bridger to Detroit in order to
champion Holden’s interests.
Zmood spent almost three years arguing the case
for Holden’s size and technical requirements to
ensure any future Commodore would be no smaller
than the VT. But the Yanks, looking to build the CTS
and STS as competitors for BMW’s 3 Series and
5 Series, respectively, successfully fought against
upsizing their vehicles.
The Aussie team also had serious concerns around
component costs. Expensive alloy suspension
elements and a proposed magnesium dashboard
support could be easily absorbed in the sticker
price of a luxury car like the Cadillac, but in a Holden,
not so much. Despite GM honchos chasing a high
degree of commonality between the two cars, it
became apparent as early as 1997 that the Sigma
program would be split in two.
The lack of a VLE line for Holden was overcome by
Peter Hanenberger; as boss of the four European
VLEs, the former Holden engineer used his
considerable influence to create a fifth ‘non-US’ VLEresponsible for Large/Luxury Cars, International.
Holdens, in other words.
As the only VLE not based in Europe or the
USA, Aussie Rob McEniry’s appointment to the
new role was a telling confirmation of Holden’s
growing strength within GM. Yet despite this show
of confidence, GM still required McEniry’s team to
reconfirm that Australians needed a larger, cheaper
car than the Sigma platform could offer.
On 19 October 1999, McEniry’s proposal for
an all-new car was approved, but only in principle.
Being responsible for large RWD products meant
he had to prove, seemingly for a third time, that GM
didn’t already harbour a ready-made alternative.
The manufacturing team, headed by Nick Baloglou,
investigated a bunch of alternatives – some sensible,
some ridiculous – before reaffirming the conclusion
Holden needed a bespoke platform.
Finally, on 12 April 2002, General Motors officially
sanctioned the development of the Zeta platform, the
upsized, budget-conscious architecture to underpin
the all-new VE. The same year, management decided
the Caprice would be created in tandem with the
VE, rather than after the fact like previous models.
For the first time in Commodore’s history, there
were no hard points, suspension pickups or pre-
designed components with which to launch
the project. The VT, which became so uniquely
Australian, did so by shifting bit-by-bit from Opel’s
Omega B design. For the VE, there was simply a
daunting, blank page.
The man to fill that blank page was stylist Peter
Hughes. He was given half a day to come up with
a sketch to ignite the fires of management, but
after years of discussion around overhangs, front
proportions, wheel-to-body ratios and striking
glasshouses, he had it banged out in no time, rightCOMMODORE