Holden Oz production to end
The word is that the last Holden car to be built in Australia will happen in 2017, and that's a bitter blow for the workforce of the plants at, respectively, Elizabeth (assembly plant) in Adelaide, and Port Melbourne (engine manufacturing) in Victoria, both in South Australia.
▲ 1948, and the first Holden car to be manufactured in Australia. It was called the model 48-215, but was also known as the FX. Sixty-odd years on, the firm is facing the last Holden-badged vehicle to be built on the Australian mainland.
Holden was founded in 1856 by James Alexander Holden, an emigrant from Walsall in the West Midlands of the UK who settled in South Australia and founded a saddlery business. Edward Holden (grandson) joined the firm in 1905, and in 1913 the company branched out into the manufacture of motorcycle sidecar bodies.
In the early 1920s, Holden began producing vehicle bodies for the Ford Motor Company, and later for General Motors. It was good times for the firm which also received orders from Vauxhall, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Dodge.
The first Holden badged car arrived in 1948. It was based upon a Chevrolet design, but was all-Australian in detail and spirit. The company's prime markets were, naturally enough, Australia and New Zealand, and the firm quickly became the dominate manufacturer underpinned by parent, General Motors.
Holden cars, however, were exported to other world markets (notably throughout Australasia, the wider Pacific region and Africa), but it was the domestic customer who most enjoyed the classic "utes" (utility vehicles) and station wagons, and adapted them for the extremely rugged outback conditions that saw owners cover prodigious mileages and rack up numerous feats of endurance.
The Ford Falcon and Chrysler Valiant arrived in the 1960s and gave Holden fresh competition, but the company thrived and introduced numerous new designs and retained its dominance. But by the end of the next decade, the sales graphs were slowing and Holden lost much of its market share.
As a result, it began cutting costs and producing domestic vehicles based upon overseas models (Vauxhall, Opel, Chevrolet). And by the 1990s, new commercial alliances were being made with the likes of Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki. In the next decade, Holden was looking at Korea and began marketing badge-engineered Daewoos.
Other marques historically manufactured in Australia include British Leyland, Renault, Standard, Volkswagen, Triumph, Rambler, Mercedes-Benz, Hillman, Humber and Singer.
More recently, wage freezes, a falling consumer market and fierce foreign competition saw Holden constantly look towards the Australian government for grant support, and on 11th December 2013, General Motors said that it was pulling the plug on car production with (depending on who you read) the loss of 2,900 jobs. The last Holden vehicles will be built in 2017.
Moreover, Ford is also said to be exiting manufacturing in Australia (by 2016) which, following Mitsubishi's exit in 2008, will leave Toyota as the only car builder on the continent.
There is yet talk of a salvage package, with the Australian government being asked to step in and provide fresh support. But manufacturing costs have continued to rise, and the strong Australian dollar has made exports more expensive, thereby adding to the company's woes.
Worse still, the knock-on effect of Holden vehicle production coming to an end is expected to have a major impact on the Australian labour force. The economy is therefore going to take a major hit.
As ever, it isn't over until it's over. But at this moment, it looks like a done deal, and "local" Holden manufacturing is on borrowed time. No doubt, the brand—which is still strong—will continued but only on imported vehicles designed specifically for the Australasian market.
— Big End
Copyright Sump Publishing 2013