HSV Could Become as American as Apple Pie

Holden is an Australian brand owned by GM. They will close up shop in 2017, sounding the death of the Australian automotive industry. While never being sold here as is, some Holden vehicles have been adapted to the American market, like the Pontiac G8, or more recently the Chevrolet SS, both of which are in fact rebadged Holden Commodores. And do you remember the last-gen Pontiac GTO? It was a Holden Monaro, with a nose reworked by Pontiac.

Most of Holden's factories will close, dealerships will be sold and numerous models with a rich history (the Commodore, the Monaro and the lovely Maloo) will be forgotten. There is a ray of hope, however: Holden's high-performance brand, HSV (which stands for Holden Special Vehicles) could become part of GM America.

• Also: General Motors Will End Holden Production in Australia
• Also: 2014 Chevrolet SS Will Offer Rear-Wheel Drive Sedan Performance

Born of a partnership between the Walkinshaw group and Holden in 1987, the HSV division builds high-horsepower variants of the Australian brand's sedans, station wagons and utes. The HSV-branded vehicles are renowned for being ridiculously fast, luxurious and for having a tendency to chew through their rear tires!

The Americanized brand would probably be renamed CSV (Chevrolet Special Vehicles) and would work its magic on the new Camaro for starters. They would eventually participate in the development of a high-performance version of the replacement for the Chevrolet SS, due in a few years. This one will be fully American-built, by the way.

While there are no official statements yet, Chevrolet would benefit from this partnership too, since it currently lacks a high-performance brand, like SRT for Dodge, or AMG for Mercedes-Benz.