Holden Special Vehicles has confirmed its new HSV Commodore range based on the new VF model will be called Gen-F when they go on sale in June.
The performance arm of Holden called its VE Commodore-based cars E Series 1 to 3 through their lifecycle, though for VF (SS V model pictured below) HSV has opted for the Gen-F name to avoid naming rights clash with Ford's famous big utes and motorsport's premier racing category.
"It was obvious, from the beginning, that we were going to have to adjust our [naming] approach," said Tim Jackson, HSV's director of sales and marketing, "because F Series or F1 wasn't going to work.
"We had three basic objectives. Firstly, we needed to ensure we referenced our vehicle's relationship with Holden's VF. Secondly, we have a new-generation vehicle so we wanted to use language that people would find easily relateable. And finally, we wanted it to be simple."
HSV won't reveal details of the new Commodore Gen-F models until May 15th, but Jackson said "some of the rumours surrounding Gen-F were on the mark".
It's a comment that is likely to refer to expectations that a new supercharged V8 engine will feature in the range to create the fastest production model yet from the Lion brand.
The engine is likely to be the 6.2-litre V8 found in the likes of the US market Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 (pictured bottom) and Cadillac CTS-V – in 432kW/754Nm and 415kW/747Nm guises respectively.
That engine should end up returning to the US in an HSV Commodore rebadged as a Chevrolet SS Performance model as part of Holden's VF export program to the States.
