Nose and tail job will turn heads in the bazaar
Extracted article by Bob Jennings, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday April 25 2003, www.drive.com.au

Holden has styled the Statesman/Caprice duo to appeal to Middle East markets, which account for more than twice the local sales tally.

With its mid-life facelift, Australia's best-selling luxury car has been redesigned to appeal to Middle Eastern tastes.

Holden now exports more than twice the number of Statesman and Caprice sedans to the Middle East as it sells in Australia -- and Holden has changed the car's appearance to reflect the tastes of its biggest customer.

"The Middle East is more about size and strong appearance," explains Holden's chief of design, Michael Simcoe.

The size was already right -- that has already been demonstrated by consistent sales to the United Arab Emirates -- so, he says, the new model needed to look "sharper and more aggressive".

This is why the new Statesman and Caprice, which go on sale in Australia next month, will reflect a design intended in part to appeal to export buyers.

The roof and doors carry over from the previous model, but there is new bodywork front and rear.

Holden has been at pains to make the new cars look different from the Commodore on which they're based with an American-style grille -- especially on the Caprice -- and the new rear end.

But Simcoe doesn't overlook the fact that the Australian virtues of the vehicle first helped to create export market acceptance, and these attributes would continue.

He says American-built long-wheelbase Chevrolets sold to General Motors customers in the Middle East "were as big as a Statesman on the outside and didn't have as much room as the Commodore on the inside".

"We've turned that around while retaining the front-engine, rear-drive layout they prefer, which they weren't able to get from any US-built product."

How important are exports? Holden expects to sell about 6000 Statesman/Caprice models in Australia in the coming 12 months -- and more than double that tally, about 14,000, in the Middle East.

Not only do buyers there want imposing vehicles but they also want them to go hard. In a shift of emphasis, Holden has made the Caprice, already the more expensive of the pair, the sportier version as well. It will have 17-inch wheels, tighter suspension and, in the 5.7-litre V8 version, 10kW more power than the Statesman.

In fact, the Caprice is the most powerful model that Holden builds (HSV of course does its own, more powerful models), with 245kW, 20kW more than in the previous model. The Statesman's 235kW is 10kW more than the old model.

Mechanical improvements in the latest Commodore appear in the long-wheelbase cars, whose new bodies have 6 percent less drag and nearly 60 percent less aerodynamic lift. With suspension upgrades, this ensures the cars are rock solid on the road and surprisingly nimble, especially the V8 Caprice, despite tipping the scales at 1780kg.

On both models, the engine options are the 152kW 3.8-litre V6 Commodore engine or the Gen III V8; the Statesman also is available with the 171kW supercharged V6. Performance of the unboosted V6s is just adequate.

Interior noise levels have been reduced by using wheel arch liners to damp the sounds of stones thrown up on loose surface roads and water splashing off wet surfaces.

However, on one preview car there was pronounced wind hiss around the front doors at cruising speeds, indicating that correct adjustment of the seals around the door frames is critical to quiet travel.

Holden has had good lights in its locally built cars for years, and those of the Statesman/Caprice are further improved in line with those of the latest Monaro and high-level Commodores.

Projector lights give better down-the-road penetration on high beam and better spread on low beam.

The benefits of GM's global resource base is reflected in the use of the Saab-developed active head restraint system for the front seats. In the event of the car being hit from behind, for example, the force of the occupant's body triggers forward movement of the head restraint, to reduce the likelihood of whiplash.

An additional feature in the Caprice aims to please parents and children by keeping the peace on long journeys: the DVD system has screens built into the backs of the front seat head restraints; a quality speaker system is built into the rear roof lining and there are individual headphones.

As predicted in Drive last month, prices have risen marginally. The Statesman V6 will be $53,490, the supercharged V6 $54,490 and the V8 $58,420. The Caprice V6 will be $68,250 and the V8 $72,990.

Holden and Ford: Sport the difference
Extracted article by Toby Hagon, The Age, Friday April 25 2003, www.drive.com.au

Fresh from criticism that the current BA Falcon and VY Commodore are too similar in appearance, Ford and Holden are once again defending the striking similarities between their respective Fairlane/LTD and Statesman/Caprice luxury models.

This week's unveiling of Holden's updated WK Statesman highlights the uncanny similarities between the two. Some have even questioned whether one maker was looking over the other's shoulder.

While each of the facelifted models maintain the doors, glass and roof from the vehicles they replace, the nose and tails have been changed as part of a major update designed to keep the models fresh for another few years.

Following Holden's move to replace the Caprice's vertical chrome grille with more prominent horizontal bars, each now shares a similar-shaped grille. The headlights of the Ford and the Holden, too, are surprisingly alike, with twin elements for high and low beams along with a squarish indicator on the side. Even the low-mounted fog lights share the same basic rectangular shape.

From the rear, the similarities aren't quite as stark, but there are still plenty. Each has a fairly basic and clean rear design with a prominent chrome strip sitting above a bumper-mounted cutout for the number plate. The Holden's tail-lights are more upright while the Ford's (which are the same shape as the Falcon) are splayed out more creating a slightly flatter stance from behind.

Each brands' badge is mounted in the centre while the Statesman/Fairlane makes more of a feature out of the car's model designation, spreading it across the bottom edge of the boot as opposed to the more common offset badge.

But, whereas the Holden makes a feature of its oval exhaust, the Ford's is subtly disguised behind the lower bumper.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, each maker does not see the styling similarities as a major issue, although each also quietly admits there are more than they would prefer.

"It's not surprising that there are similarities in the designs for a car targetted at a reasonably specific part of the market," said Ford spokeswoman Louise Teesdale. "Good design incorporates functionality and obviously reacts to the latest trends. And things such as the headlights have to offer a certain level of performance."

Holden spokesman Tristan Everett said Holden is making a conscious effort to design vehicles with global markets in mind.

"WK (Statesman/Caprice) is a logical evolution of WH," said Everett. "It has a lot more aggressive presence on the road. We've moved the whole design style forward to a sharper, crisper, European style feel, especially with the grille."

Naturally, neither brand is admitting -- publicly, at least -- that the similarities could dilute brand image or confuse buyers.

"I don't think they're similar enough to confuse the marketplace, so it's not a particular concern to us," said Ford's Teesdale.