Earlier, Reuss had explained that, in his view, export potential for the car can be hampered by waiting for new-model-year upgrades. That acknowledgment has informed the company's decision to go with on-the-fly running changes without slowing production or delaying the introduction of necessary new features while a significantly upgraded model is tested for crash safety and durability.

"We've been working on export programs to replace some of the export volume that came out of Elizabeth for Pontiac going away in the United States -- and I'll leave it at that."

Reuss paid tribute to the local team for their 'can-do' attitude.

"You know the first word out of everybody's mouth [at Holden] is 'gee, how can we make that happen?' -- not 'we can't do this or we haven't got that...'

"It's none of that, it's 'sounds like a good thing, how can we make that happen?' [or] 'we think we can make it happen, let us go try and make it happen'. That's the most refreshing thing here.

"I'm going to bring that back to everybody."

"I think that this job has been the opportunity of a lifetime for me here -- with engine, vehicle, engineering/design, its own brand... this is its own company, which I'll take with me for the rest of my life. Will it have influence on me in my job in the United States? Boy, you bet."

Will he feel conflicted by a sense of loyalty to his 'home' over the past 18 months or his long-standing loyalty to the corporation over which his father presided? One example of potential conflict arising is the American market's migration to front-wheel drive for larger passenger cars. For the time being at least, Holden's rear-wheel drive commitment in the Commodore seems safe, but would Reuss feel compelled to guide Holden in the direction of front-wheel drive, for instance? And would he feel pressured from above to be 'impartial' with the company he once headed?

"Hell no, I love this place, I love the company..." was his succinct response.

"We're going to do what's right. I would do what's right... what's right for here and what's right for GM -- there's no conflict in that, at all."

“High end brakes, huge engine, big and fast. Like four door corvette,” Feder wrote, verbatim, on Twitter after a brief chat with Lutz. Though hardly an official comment from Lutz, it seems that the General’s car guru will still not write off the possibility of a four-door, performance-oriented sedan based on the Zeta platform for North America. Lutz did tell Feder that the Caprice name is a no-go, however. GM rebadges the Holden Commodore, which also served as the basis for the now-defunct G8, as the Chevrolet Caprice for some markets.

GM is believed to have a contractual obligation for export models with the Australian factory that builds the large sedan.

Lutz did tell Feder that the Caprice name is a no-go, however.

That's a pretty good line of thinking. They might want to shed the last Pontiac G8 before announcing anything for a possible Zeta Chevrolet sedan. Maybe Lutz simply jumped the gun before other things where in alignment?