Holden’s billion dollar baby wins car of the year

HOLDEN’S $1 billion baby, the VE Commodore has been named Wheels magazine car of the year.

Judged on performance, fuel economy and value for money, Wheels judges tested 50 vehicles and ended up with a short-list of 21 of the best new models of 2006, which were through their paces.

The judged said this year’s COTY was one of the most grueling events and closely fought.

Among the finalists were the BMW 3 Series coupe and Toyota Aurion.

Among the other vehicles considered were the Mazda CX-7, Honda Civic, Audi TT and Mitsubishi Outlander and Colt.

Holden’s Captiva and WM Statesman were also nominated.

After the magazine’s gruelling six-day test program the VE and its HSV stablemates emerged victorious, despite some concerns about the base model Omega’s equipment shortcomings.

Launched in July 2006, the Commodore was the largest single automotive program in Australia’s history and helped Commodore remain Australia’s most popular car, a title it has held for 11 consecutive years.

Holden invested big in the car’s engineering program to deliver exceptional ride and handling, performance, quality, more technology and more features than ever before at a point of unquestionable value.

Holden’s chairman and managing director, Denny Mooney, said the win as the perfect start to 2007.

"This is certainly a fantastic honor," he said.

"The award gives much deserved recognition to everyone at Holden who worked so hard on making the VE Commodore range a success.

"We are in no doubt that this was an incredibly tough award to win. The competition was tough and the judging criteria is of an extremely high standard.

"We designed, engineered and manufactured this range to meet world class standards and to be able to compete against some of the most expensive and most carefully crafted cars around the world. Winning this highly respected award is recognition that we achieved these objectives." The VE has already enjoyed some success in the automotive arena, among them winning Motor magazine’s Bang for your Bucks drive.

Started in 1962, Wheels car of the year is considered the pre-eminent car award, with many other news outlets now trying to imitate it.

It is Australia’s original new car award and the longest continuously-running award of its type in the world.