Sexy Torana concept show car may rise again

"NOT yet." It was this small statement from GM Holden's executive director of engineering Tony Hyde last week that indicated that Holden's 2004 Torana TT36 concept could still be alive – and that the Australian arm of General Motors could be developing a compact rear-wheel drive car for the world.

Responding to a report by US automotive website Edmunds.com that quoted GM product chief Bob Lutz as saying a new rear-drive Cadillac hatchback was under consideration to rival BMW's 1 Series and Audi's A3 – and which could be developed by Holden in Australia – Mr Hyde told GoAuto that Holden was "not working on anything rear-wheel drive that's Torana-sized or smaller than Commodore – yet".

He added that GM Holden was heavily involved in engineering the next-generation Camaro for GM brand Chevrolet, which shares the VE Commodore's chassis architecture formerly codenamed Zeta and is likely to debut at next year's Chicago motor show.

But Mr Hyde did not rule out the possibility that Holden could engineer and even build a smaller rear-drive model for global markets.

"It would be no different from Mercedes-Benz building one of its models for the whole world in South Africa," he said.

Mr Lutz told Edmunds that Cadillac needed an entry-level model, which would also "be required to support four-wheel drive", to be positioned below the GM luxury brand's Saab 9-3-based compact front-drive BLS model.

"We are looking at the possibility of rear-wheel drive, but nothing is decided just yet. (This layout) provides the best possible basis for agility," Mr Lutz said.