We underestimated the new role of Ruess

Yes, Craig Lowndes returned to racing red in 2010, but Mark Reuss is not going to be in the top 10 new GM jobs in the US.

But Reuss's news, like the signings of Triple Eight and the Lowndes, is good news.

In fact, the outgoing red team president has been promoted to the top five positions at GM from next month. He becomes head of product development worldwide, a job that effectively makes him the heroic Bob Lutz's replacement in the GM engineering world.

That's great news for Reuss, but potentially even better news for Commodore exports.

The US sales plan for the VE Commodore was originally developed by another former head of Holden, Danny Mooney. He helped sell Holden in America as a Buick, thanks in part to the Monaro's experience in America.

The latest Pontiac G8 is officially obsolete at the end of the year, even if there are hopes of a small-scale Commodore export for police use, but that could change with Reuss in the top product post.

He is well aware of the car's strengths and has spoken privately for some time that he hopes for some sort of new deal, with most people assuming it will be done through the Chevrolet sales channel.

We'll have to wait, but the signs are positive.

But things aren't looking so good for Mooney, who took early retirement last week as part of a corporate reshuffle at GM. He promises to return, and at 53, he still has many good years to contribute to the automotive world.