Holden has also written three separate letters to owners of thee vehicles explaining the action Holden was taking and what the owner could do. "For those whose roles are impacted, we will provide an appropriate separation package, we will provide placement support and we will provide transition support.". Supercars founder Tony Cochrane believes General Motors will replace Holden's presence in the competition with another of their brands, and that rusted-on Holden fans would embrace the new car. investing heavily in electric and autonomous cars, Holden by the numbers: the highs and lows since 1948, Holden history: from the beginning to the end, The man who saved Holden four times in 10 years, but was beaten in the end. By comparison the Holden Colorado’s rivals have much larger and more sustainable annual production outputs: Toyota HiLux (335,000), Isuzu D-Max (175,000), Mitsubishi Triton (145,000), and Ford Ranger (115,000). In addition to last year posting its lowest monthly sales since the brand was established in 1948 – and the weakest annual tally since 1954 – Holden has been left with a spartan model range while rivals have filled gaps with niche models and SUVs of all shapes and sizes. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. That rumour now seems to carry some weight, as does the likelihood of a secret analysis by an independent accounting firm that was investigating the viability of shifting Holden to an independent distributor. Even Holden's great rival Ford Australia expressed its sadness. Or General Motors can allocate that same $1 billion to the next Chevrolet Silverado and GMC pick-ups, of which more 750,000 are sold annually in the US, at substantially more profit. General Motors has basically said that the investment required to keep Holden alive is greater than the return it is getting, so it will no longer be making that investment.

Now the rest of the range will be sold at distress prices before the showroom signs come down by the end of 2020. The exchange rates with Holden’s two biggest source countries have climbed by between 15 and 18 per cent since it stopped making cars here two years ago. “It has led to some difficult decisions, but when we have two examples of the same car, a first and last built for example, the decision is almost always to keep the last one built,” Holden heritage curator Vic Garra told Motor Magazine. Ford Australia (@FordAustralia) 1/1 - All of us here at Ford Australia are saddened to hear the news that Holden will cease operations. However, it's now apparent that even a century or more of history is not enough to sway General Motors in its pursuit of profits. Jason Bargwanna, a 15-year Supercars veteran who won Bathurst in 2000 driving a Holden, agreed with Cochrane. Of the approximately 800 people currently employed by Holden, around 600 will be out of a job by June. Soon after the future model plans disappeared, key personnel in charge of Holden’s forward products left the business and were not replaced, about mid way through 2019. As clearly one of the most popular touring car competitions in the world, he said, Supercars would survive and Holden fans would not abandon the sport. It will be up to individual dealers and dealer groups as to what they do next. The problems go way beyond the use of the Commodore name on the imported model after local manufacturing ended in 2017 (the name probably helped not hindered sales), or the series of misguided TV advertisements and billboards that tried to radically change Holden’s image to appeal to a more cosmopolitan audience. Jamie Whincup, Tony Cochrane and Will Davidson promoting the V8 Supercars in Sydney in 2009. So if you want to buy a new Holden before the closure, the clock is ticking — they'll all be gone by the end of the year. Mr Gardner said for the wider automotive industry there was sadness "but not a great amount of surprise" at the news. It is a great loss. "If it was a Chevy Camaro for example as the GM car, I think that passion [for it from Holden fans] would still be there," Bargwanna said. "If the words of the executive team are to be trusted — and they must be, because Holden is legally obliged to support existing owners for a number of years — Holden's saying 10 years [ongoing support]," Mr Gardner said. Free of debt-ridden Opel and Vauxhall, General Motors President Dan Ammann said of the sale in 2017, GM will now “be able to more sharply focus our time and resources on higher-growth, higher-return investments in our core automotive business, and in new technologies that are transforming our industry”. "We have seen this writing on the wall for many years, if I'm completely honest," Mr Gardner said.

GM is holding a "Q&A session" with dealers today, and says it will formulate a transition plan and "treat them fairly". Time for nostalgia is over. "The Commodore will remain on track for the 2020 Championship season and we're looking forward to seeing it alongside the Ford Mustang once again this weekend when the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship begins in Adelaide. Even Holden's great rival Ford Australia expressed its sadness. The bold attempt to revamp the way the public viewed Holden soon after the factory shutdown was, instead, an own goal: it alienated traditional buyers and was seen as “try hard” by new customers it was trying to attract. The new season begins this weekend in Adelaide and Holden cars will continue to race through to the end of the current campaign. Bargwanna celebrates winning Bathurst in 2000. the Holden brand leaving Australia was a sad development. The recent media statement about its exit from Indonesia gave another telling insight into the new thinking at General Motors, which is investing heavily in electric and autonomous cars – and the two biggest markets globally, China and North America. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Now we know why it's not coming. COMMENT Like all major disasters, the demise of Holden after 72 years in Australia is the result of a vast number of factors – some of which were out of its control. So, what does Holden's closure actually mean for them? No. "The truth of the matter is there will be a GM presence.

The rest make up the after-sales teams who will be required to fulfil the commitments made to current owners. In 2017, about the same time as Holden was preparing to send off the last locally-made Commodore, General Motors got out of Europe and the UK after decades – and billions of dollars – in the red, and sold the Opel and Vauxhall badges to French car giant Peugeot-Citroen.

How exactly that will work remains to be seen — although Holden has said it will "establish a national after-sales network" to support existing customers — but Daniel Gardner from WhichCar magazine told the ABC GM had a legal obligation to make good on its promise. "It's a very sad day. The sudden departure of would-be saviour Dave Butner is not good news for Holden, but his immediate replacement is much more of a friend to the Lion brand’s involvement in Supercars. In the end even Thailand, with its cheap labour costs, couldn't save Holden. Bargwanna celebrates winning Bathurst in 2000. Credit:Dallas Kilponen. That rumour, reported by the Australian Financial Review in early 2019, was dismissed by Holden at the time. Holden fans are GM fans," Cochrane said, pointing out that Ford supporters were quick to latch on to the Mustang (driven by current champion Scott McLaughlin) when the Falcon was axed. The shutdown of local manufacturing in October 2017 was, it turns out, the beginning of the end. “Globally, GM is taking tough actions to focus its capital and resources. "I think what will happen is, as the V8 Supercars move to a future car for 2022 [Gen3 cars], they are probably in deep negotiations with GM to replace the Holden Commodore," Cochrane said. Each has been offered the chance to remain a Holden servicing and aftersales outlet beyond the closure, but they will steadily wind down Holden sales operations as stock runs out.

The sale proved nowhere in the General Motors world was sacred and loss-making divisions were being jettisoned. GM Holden's interim managing director Kristian Aquilina said this process may take "several months", with a few thousand cars either currently for sale or about to come out of the production line. Ben Chifley, then Australian prime minister, at the 1948 launch of ‘Australia’s own car’, the General Motors Holden 48-215 (often referred to as the Holden FX). Butner has quit just 16 months after he was brought out of retirement from the top job at Toyota Australia to guide Holden’s post-manufacturing restructure. GM won't vacillate and move from this part of the world, they will have a presence here. Since emerging from bankruptcy in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and 2009, General Motors has been brutal about pulling out of loss-making markets – regardless of the region, or GM’s long-standing history in a particular country. "Supercars is head and shoulders above anything else in Australian motor sport. "The Mustang has been stronger than Ford have been for 20 years. General Motors’ promise of 20 new models by 2020 never eventuated. The remaining line-up, the Trax city SUV (introduced in 2013), Trailblazer four-wheel-drive wagon (introduced in 2012) and Colorado ute (introduced in 2011) were all overdue for full model changeovers. Supercars chiefs only learned of Holden's demise in Australia on Monday and are planning to talk with Holden about plans for the competition. Mr Blissett said there were "lots of tears, lots of hugs" among staff when the news was broken. "There's so much history there … of that particular brand right across the country. "Today's news is understandably disappointing for fans who have followed Holden's success in Australian Touring Cars and Supercars since its debut in the 1960s," a Supercars statement read. Not a lot will change.". That's probably, we suspect, when General Motors executives in Detroit made the decision to pull the plug on Holden in Australia, but didn't say so in as many words. General Motors’ Thailand factory only produces between 35,000 and 50,000 vehicles a year. While a strong Australian dollar made Holden exports unprofitable, by an unfortunate coincidence the tide turned after the factory closure and Holden has since been paying the price for a weak Australian dollar. Holden has 185 dealers in Australia and 31 in New Zealand. General Motors has been making a quiet retreat from right-hand-drive markets such as India and South Africa – despite being growth markets – over the past couple of years. Supercars founder Tony Cochrane believes General Motors will replace Holden's presence in the competition with another of their brands, and that rusted-on Holden fans would embrace the new car. However, the cost of developing vehicles unique to this region have now been deemed prohibitively expensive. GM international operations senior vice president Julian Blissett said the decision was "dreadfully heartbreaking for the team back at Holden". This difficult decision is consistent with GM’s global strategy to focus on markets where there is a clear pathway to sustainable profitability,” the media statement about the company’s Indonesia exit said. General Motors had owned UK brand Vauxhall for 92 years (since 1925) and German brand Opel for 86 years (after acquiring 100 per cent ownership in 1931). GM says it will continue to support its cars with "warranty, spare parts, servicing and recalls for at least the next 10 years". As much as Holden fans will be sad about this, General Motors is a business. That left Thailand, Australia and New Zealand as the three key remaining right-hand-drive markets for General Motors.

"Holden has been firmly part of the heritage of our sport and has helped shape Supercars to become the sport it is today.

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