We have been reporting for quite some time that General Motors is planning to bring the next Holden Commodore sedan to the States as a Chevrolet, and now the Detroit carmaker has made it official.

The General confirmed the news that next Commodore will return to North America in late 2013 as the new Chevrolet SS rear-wheel drive performance sedan, adding that the SS will also be the brand’s next NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar beginning with the 2013 Daytona 500.

“As a passionate race fan and performance enthusiast, I am thrilled that Chevrolet will deliver a true rear-wheel-drive NASCAR racecar in the SS that is closely linked to the performance sedan that will be available for sale,” said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.

The production Chevrolet SS will be a derivative of the yet to be launched VF Commodore equipped with a V8 engine and will be sold as a limited production 2014 model. Holden noted that the VF Commodore will benefit from significant technology advances including innovations in light weighting and fuel efficiency.

While Chevrolet’s SS moniker has a long history with the first production vehicle offered with this option being the 1961 Impala of which 453 examples were built, and the latest, the Camaro, it will be the first time in 17 years that the bow-tie brand will sell a rear-wheel-drive sedan in the US (the Caprice PPV is not available to the public).

GM Holden’s Executive Director of Engineering Greg Tyus said Chevrolet and its customers will benefit from the brand’s expertise in rear-wheel drive vehicles.

“Holden has a great track record of producing performance cars for GM and the world,” said Tyus. “We were responsible for the design and engineering of the Chevrolet Camaro, VE Commodore was sold as the Pontiac G8 and we are currently exporting the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle – so we understand the needs of the North American market.”

He continued: “I’m incredibly proud of the talent we have here at Holden to design, engineer and build performance vehicles that appeal to both local and overseas markets and the new VF Commodore will be no different.”

The Chevrolet SS will be built alongside the VF Commodore at GM Holden’s plant in Adelaide.

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CHEVROLET SS HISTORY VIDEO