How the Holden Commodore was sold to the Australian public

From fury and safety, economy and adrenalin, to world-class pretensions, when it came to advertising the Holden Commodore, GM-H’s marketing department tried it all.

No other car epitomised the local car industry like the Holden Commodore. A mainstay on Australian roads from the moment of its launch in 1978, it remained there for nearly 40 years. While it didn’t always sit at the top of the sales charts, it certainly topped the charts in the minds of Australians. When Australians thought of a local car, they inevitably thought of Holden Commodore.

Designed to replace the decidedly clunky and ageing Kingswood, the European-inspired Commodore was at once smaller, lighter and utterly more contemporary than the Kingswood which had been Holden’s player in the large sedan segment.

But with the Commodore, Holden had a European-designed family hauler ready to shake up the establishment.

When it came to promoting its new sedan – and wagon – Holden didn’t mince words, calling it “A new kind of car for Australia”.

Tracing the history of the Holden Commodore via GM-H’s advertising provides an interesting glimpse, not only into the nameplate itself, but also into the minds of the Australian public.

Starting out with the trumpeting “Commodore wins ‘Car of the Year’”, GM-H’s marketing soon shifted its attention to the benefits of fuel economy and its new four-cylinder Commodore: “You couldn’t expect this much from a 4-cylinder car before”.

Never mind that the four-pot VC Commodore and its lamentable Starfire-4 engine were about as powerful as an elastic band trying to shift around 1200kg of metal.

Perhaps Holden learned its lesson, for the next model to make an advertising splash was all about V8 grunt, certainly when it came to marketing the new VH Commodore SS.

“To fire your imagination. Commodore SS. Burning with V8 power.”

It’s almost as if Holden was apologising for its previous four-cylinder misfire.

As our automotive industry matured, so too did the cars we made right here on our doorstep, as Holden proudly declared of the VK Commodore.

“World Class Luxury” and “Holden Commodore Executive. The World Class Australian”.

That world class theme continued with advertising for the VL Commodore before switching up a gear for the new VN: “New Commodore SS VN. Australia’s classic sports sedan.”

‘Yes.” And “Yess.” were the clever tags for marketing the new VP Commodore S and SS models.

“You only have to look at the Commodore S to know it’s going to perform,” read the marketing guff for the Commodore S. But the spin for the SS Commodore seemed to give its tamer sibling a bit of backhander.

“The SS doesn’t just look good. It delivers.” Hmm, take that Commodore S.

By the time the VR Commodore rolled around, the focus had switched to safety.

“Introducing the safest Australian car ever.”

Its safety systems ran to an airbag and ABS, laughable by today’s standards but as Holden was keen to point out, “For some time, the level of automotive safety you wanted belonged to the realm of expensive European saloons.”

At first glance, the VS Commodore’s “Fasten your seatbelts” tag continued the safety theme until you realise the promotional guff for the new Commodore S and SS shouted loudly about the performance chops of both new models.

Safety was back in vogue for the VT Commodore, with snapshots of cute kids and the tagline “I’d move heaven and earth to keep them safe”, even if both Heaven and Earth should have been, as proper nouns, capitalised. Pedantic? Yes.

Still, Holden claimed “more standard safety features than any Australian built car. Drive secure. Drive safe.”

That all went out the window with the VX Commodore, certainly when spruiking the new Commodore SS.

“Aggressive lines reflect the contained fury…” and “… an intimidating combination”.

It’s not hard to imagine the target market for such hyperbolic wordplay.

GM-H’s marketing department had clearly been to Anger Management school when it came time to promote the next Commodore SS, the VZ model given an altogether gentler demeanour.

“Look sharp. Stay in control”, read the blurb before adding “smooth responsive handling”.

The copywriters did slip in a “pure menace” but then signed off with “… the new Commodore delivers pin-point accuracy to keep you in control”.

By the time the all-new VE Commodore rolled around, the spin was all about fuel economy and Holden’s new SIDI Direct Injection technology.

“With incredible fuel economy and proven performance under the bonnet, the Commodore SV6 leaves gas guzzlers for dust.”

And reflecting the buying public’s growing appetite, the advertising for VE Commodore ute played on the brand’s heritage: “After over fifty years of building an Australian legend, we’ve arrived at the all-new SS V-Series ute – the ultimate Holden performance ute”.

By the time the final Australian-built VF Commodore came around, print advertising was as dead as the local car industry, leaving the niche players to fly the advertising flag.

Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) ‘pushed the boundaries’ with its new VF-based Gen-F GTS, “the most powerful performance production car ever built in this country”, little knowing it would also be amongst the last.

Still, HSV’s was a fitting send-off to the Commodore, which had for almost 40 years flown the local flag, an Australian-made family car that didn’t look or feel out of place lined up against overseas imports.

But consumer tastes change and GM-H didn’t read the tea leaves. The end when it came, came swiftly, and was as brutal as the performance once promised by so many of Holden’s hot Commodores.

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