Posted on: Aug 22, 2012 | 6,742 reads

Holden Ute Isn't Coming to the US

It's sad but not the end of the world that Americans won't be able to buy a modern day El Camino.

If only the world worked the way in which we'd all want it to. Sadly it doesn't and one of the victims of this unfair fact of life is the Holden Ute. According to Herald Sun, US customers won't have a Chevrolet-badged version of the Holden Commodore Ute because of the light commercial tariff rate and the strong Australian dollar. Also known as the "chicken tax", this rate is currently at 35 percent, which is triple the amount when going from the Commodore sedan to the Ute.

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Because of this, New Zealand and South Africa will remain the only export markets for the Ute. The VF Commodore sedan will arrive stateside next year rebadged as the Chevrolet SS. An earlier version was previously sold as the Pontiac G8 before that brand's demise. In fact, GM once had plans to bring the Ute to the US where it would have been dubbed the G8 ST but again, Pontiac's closure changed that. Bottom line: General Motors simply can't make the business case for a Chevy-badged Ute for the US market. Fortunately, the V8-powered SS sedan will be on sale hopefully by around this time next year at your local Chevy dealership.

by Jay Traugott
Holden Ute Isn't Coming to the US

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Holden Ute Isn't Coming to the US

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