Holden Ute

The Holden Ute is a coupe utility built by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors, from 2000 to 2017. The word "ute" is a colloquial term used commonly in Australia for 'coupe utility'. Between 2003 and 2007, Holden built a crew cab version, called the Holden Crewman and between 2003 and 2005 a cab chassis version known as the Holden One Tonner. The VX Commodore-based Ute launched with a locally built 3.8-litre Ecotec V6 engine of Buick design. A 5.7-litre Generation III V8 engine option was also available, but this was replaced by the 6.0-litre Generation 4 in 2006, and updated to the L98 specification later on that year. In 2004, Holden replaced the V6 with a 3.6-litre Alloytec unit. The Australian-assembled Ute was to be sold in the United States as the Pontiac G8 ST starting in 2009 alongside the four-door Commodore-based G8 sedan. However, due to GM's company-wide model review, due to the 2008 financial crisis, such plans were shelved on 6 January 2009. Exports of the G8 sedan remain unaffected. Sales of the Ute in South Africa as the Chevrolet Lumina SS commenced during 2006/2007 and in Middle East in 2009/2010, making it the first full-size Chevrolet coupé utility ever since the 1987 discontinuation of the El Camino (even though this Lumina was never sold in the USA).