With Ford ending Australian production, and Holden ceasing production of the Commodore in 2016, it seemed like it'd only be a matter of time before General Motors would decide to shutter its expensive Holden factories in Australia. According to Reuters, GM will be doing just that in 2016, once the Holden Commodore goes out of production.
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Though not yet confirmed by GM, various reports out of Australia say the decision to shut down Holden's two manufacturing plants was supposed to be made this week, before being pushed back until early next year.
As was the case with Ford's Australian manufacturing plants, GM's Holden facilities have long been propped up by government loans and taxpayer support, but a strong Australian dollar, and a soft export market has made Holden a money loser for GM. Holden exported less than 14,000 vehicles last year. Its current U.S. exports include the "fleet-only" Chevrolet Caprice, which is based on the Holden Caprice, and the 2014 Chevrolet SS that we recently tested. The Chevy SS is a rebadged Holden VF Commodore.
Holden currently commands 10-percent of the Australian market, which typically sees about 1.1 million new vehicles sold per year. In October of 2013, the last month in which sales data is available, the Holden Commodore was among the brand's best-sellers with 3315 sold. Holden sold 10,528 vehicles that month. The rest of its lineup is mostly filled with rebadged imports, including the Holden Volt, Holden Malibu, Holden Cruze, and Holden Colorado.
Holden currently has two factories in Australia; an engine plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria, and the Caprice, Commodore, and Ute plant, in Elizabeth, South Australia.
Source: Reuters, Holden
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
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