The high-riding, all-terrain version of the next Commodore has been revealed.

CONFIRMATION the next Commodore wagon will entertain a degree of off-road aptitude has come with unveiling today of a high-rider edition.

Holden has provided two images of the Commodore Tourer that is set to launch early next year alongside liftback sedan and Sportwagon road cars.

The all-wheel-drive model will apparently eschew the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel powertrains that will be available in the road-format Commodore sedan and wagon and instead only be powered by the Holden-exclusive 230kW/370Nm 3.0-litre V6.

The emphasis on a high-performance six-cylinder petrol ensures the Holden charts a more singular course than likely competition, other rugged all-wheel-drive mid-sized wagons including the Subaru Outback, Volkswagen Passat Alltrack and Skoda Octavia Scout. All of which provision in diesel as well as petrol formats.

A lack of diesel at a time when petrol prices were on a steady rise was one issue that knobbled the Tourer’s spiritual forebear, the Commodore Adventra of the early 2000s.

Holden New Zealand managing director Kristian Aqualina has expressed enthusiasm for the car, which stands to be a well-timed tap into a market desire for sports utilities that keeps strengthening. SUVs accounted for 40 percent of last month’s record new car registrations count.

In comment aligned to that also provided by Holden Australia, Aquilina suggested the Tourer has particular potential here.

“(It) …gives the range a new level of appeal, combining New Zealanders love for SUVs with the practicality of a wagon and the driving appeal of a sedan.”

The Tourer will also leverage a number of new technologies found on the incoming rebadged Insignia range, including an advanced twin-clutch torque vectoring system and switchable drive modes with a Sport and off-road optimised option.

Conjecture is that it will also run a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The Tourer has 20mm more ground clearance than the standard Commodore Sportwagon and is 20mm longer.

Interior volumes are identical. The wagon format can swallow up to 1640 litres with the 40/20/40 split rear seats tucked away.

The Tourer will also wear unique off-road body cladding that is denoted by a revised lower front fascia, black-coloured wheel arch protectors and rugged rear diffuser treatment, as well as sharing the Sportwagon’s design flourishes of a roof-mounted spoiler and roof rails.

Specification levels seem set to mirror those for a V6 Sportwagon. Thus the Tourer will provision a power tailgate, heated seats front and rear, cooled front seats and active noise cancellation, along with a suite of safety features such as autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, forward collision alert and rear cross-traffic alert. 

The Tourer will launch locally in the first quarter next year, side-by-side with the liftback and wagon Commodores.

Though the next Commodore is built by Opel, which of course also sells it in Europe and the UK as the Insignia, the V6 is exclusive to a Holden supply deal that is unaffected by Opel now being owned  by Peugeot-Citroen maker PSA.

And why Tourer when Adventra already has brand history? Basically, because it has brand history.

In a briefing to Australian media, Holden said it resisted the urge to dust off the old badge.

"Adventra was a stand-alone vehicle, albeit built off the Commodore base -- this is a variant in the same way ‘Sportwagon’ is a variant," said Holden Australia product communications manager Mark Flintoft.