2017/18 Commodore?

[johnydep]

It's a front drive concept, its the right size & it's designed here, built in China.

Hope it happens, though the article makes it sound like a very remote possibility.

Buick's new Avenir concept has been hailed a "celebration" of Holden's local design team.

The design team based at Holden's Melbourne headquarters was chosen by the General Motors leadership to not only design but also build the Avenir concept ahead of the company's American studio.

Speaking at the unveiling of the Avenir ahead of the 2015 Detroit motor show, Alan Batey, GM North America president and former Holden managing director, said the Australian team will play a crucial role for the company into the future, despite the closure of its local manufacturing operations by 2017.

"I'll always have a part of me in Holden," Batey said. "This is a celebration of Fisherman's Bend and the team we have down there, they are the best. It's not by chance they were selected to work with our team here. There are a lot of our people here tonight."

Asked why they were chosen, Batey said the Holden team remains highly respected by General Motors management that includes another former Holden managing director, Mark Reuss who is now head of GM's global product development, and New Zealand born GM President Dan Ammann.

"They just do great work… They always exceed everyone's expectations. Mark, as you know, like myself is always going to have a part of him embedded in Holden," Batey said.

Batey added: "We've got a lot of capability down there and a lot of experience and we're going to leverage it and use it and that isn't going to change… Holden will play a key role in our future design work."

Ammann said the Holden team did "great work" while Reuss said the company would continue to utilise the local design team long after production stops in Australia.

"Holden has got an incredible design capability and they have an incredible engineering capability and we leverage that all over the place with all our different regions and countries with capabilities," Reuss said.

Holden employs approximately 140 designers at its Melbourne studio to work on three key areas - advanced design for GM in general as well as future production cars and concept cars like the Buick.

Holden design director Richard Ferlazzo was joined by six colleagues from Melbourne in Detroit for the Avenir's unveiling.

Although Ferlazzo is eager for the design studio to continue to work on future production cars for overseas markets – such as the Chevrolet Camaro which it turned from a concept into a production-ready model – he admits that concepts like the Buick Avenir will be the brand's biggest showcases.

"Yes, that's our service that we provide to any brand for Ed Welburn [GM's global design boss] another interpretation, from another studio that can detach itself a bit and offer something fresh," Ferlazzo told Drive.

He also revealed that it was the Holden studio's decision to make the Avenir a large sedan, not any directive from GM management.

Whether the Holden team, or any other GM development team, get to turn the Avenir into a production car remains uncertain.

Batey, Reuss and Ammann all stressed it is currently strictly a concept.

"What it ultimately comes down to is a business case," Batey said. "And at this point in time we haven't even started looking at a business case. This was done, honestly, as an appreciation to show the world what we can do with Buick."

Reuss was equally cagey but didn't rule out the possibility of the Avenir making Australian showrooms wearing a Holden badge.

"There's no Buick in Australia so it would have to be something different in Australia. We'll see," he said.