General Motors has announced that the iconic brand Holden will cease production and trading by the end of the year. The brand we think of as the ultimate Australian car was founded in Adelaide in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer, but it was actually sold to General Motors, based in Detroit, 89 years ago. The parent company General Motors has made the decision and announcement.
While production will cease in June, Holden vehicles that have already been built will be sold over a period of ‘several months’, according to GM Holden’s Interim Managing Director Kristian Aquilina. For those who already own a Holden, General Motors has announced it will continue to support its cars with ‘warranty, spare parts, servicing and recalls for at least the next 10 years’.
Holden currently employs 800 people, and by June, around 600 will be out of a job. The remaining 200 will constitute the after-sales teams to support existing customers. Apart from employees, there are 185 Holden dealerships in Australia and 31 in New Zealand. General Motors has announced it will work confidentially with these dealerships to ensure a just and equitable transition.
The decline of car manufacturing in Australia.
This announcement comes just three years after the end of local manufacturing in Australia. On 11 December 2013 Holden announced it would cease vehicle and engine production by the end of 2017, and on 20 October 2017 the last existing vehicle plan closed.
Between 1997 and 2012, this industry received $30 billion of assistance in subsidies and other government assistance. In March 2012, Holden was given a $270 million lifeline by the federal government, and the state governments of South Australia and Victoria. However, clearly this assistance was not enough to stop the inexorable shift away from manufacturing in Australia. Some have also said that the assistance in recent years has lessened and become insufficient.