Holden ended local manufacturing 5 years ago today – this is how we covered the news

Today, October 20, marks five years since the final locally-built Holden rolled off the production line.

It marked the end of mass vehicle manufacturing in Australia, with Ford and Toyota exiting local production in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

The final vehicle, a red VF Commodore SS-V Redline, completed its run down the assembly line in Elizabeth, South Australia, at 10:45am.

While the locally-built Commodore was replaced by the German-made ZB series, its lifespan was short.

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By the end of 2019, lower-than-expected demand and the sale of former GM brand Opel to Groupe PSA – now Stellantis – contributed toward its discontinuation, along with the Astra hatch.

Less than two months later, in February 2020, it was announced the Holden brand would be retired, as General Motors retreated from right-hand drive markets.

Here is how Wheels and MOTOR covered the end of local manufacturing in October 2017, and the demise of the Holden brand over the past decade.

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Holden ends manufacturing in Australia

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Australia’s almost 70-year run as a car manufacturer is over. At 10.45am today, Adelaide time, the last Holden Commodore rolled off the manufacturing line.

The occasion was marked in what Holden described as a private ceremony for employees, designed to “mark Holden’s proud manufacturing history and pay tribute to the generations of hard-working men and women who literally built the Holden legend.”

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In all, Holden built more than 7.6 million vehicles over 69 years, starting with the 48-215 that launched to an Australian public instantly enamoured with the idea that we could produce a big, powerful and fuel-efficient family car here that was tough enough to handle everything our landscape could throw at it.

Holden, the world’s second-oldest transportation company, had almost made it to seven decades, but fell tantalisingly short after announcing three years ago – largely in response to intense government pressure – that it would follow in Ford’s footsteps and quit local manufacturing. The first Holden rolled off the line on November 27, 1948 in a sawtooth-roofed factory a few hundred metres away from where the national sales office now sits; the last one more than 1000 kilometres away on October 20, 2017.

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Holden's last day of manufacturing: live

OCTOBER 20, 2017 – Elizabeth, South Australia

13:37
And that's it. The cameras have been packed away, the final farewells made and, just like the machines which screwed together some of Australia's most loved cars, the Philip Highway outside Holden's Elizabeth plant has fallen eerily silent.

It's only as the convoy of historic vehicles departs that it becomes chillingly clear that the party is over and this really is the end.

12:57
[Former Holden managing director] Mark Bernhard addresses the media.

“We've been able to build the best vehicles we've ever built".

Bernhard says the vehicles which will be imported from today on will continue to uphold those quality standards.

12:04
Fans have settled in for an event and brought camping chairs, drinks and, of course, the ultimate three-seater spectator's seat.

From the archives: Holden's downfall

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Holden's last Aussie-built Commodore on the block for $250,000-plus

JANUARY 21, 2021

Everybody who loves Holden, and even plenty who don’t, remember Holden’s last car…

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The Lion sleeps tonight: Holden's last day in Australia

DECEMBER 31, 2020

As it turned out, WhichCar attended the last vehicle launch Holden would ever hold – but at the time, we had no idea that was the case…

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Secret documents reveal lost VE Commodore variants – including a Torana!

AUGUST 5, 2020

A design document kept secret by Holden for two decades has been uncovered by Wheels, revealing initial plans for several tantalising VE Commodore variants…

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Exclusive: Uncovering the genuine final home-grown Holden

MAY 31, 2020

At 10:45am on Friday 20 October 2017, the last Aussie-built Holden Commodore rolled off the Elizabeth production line to great fanfare…

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Looking back: Holden's countdown to destruction

MARCH 1, 2020

The Holden brand will be retired by 2021 in Australia and local design and engineering departments shuttered, General Motors announced last week…

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Holden brand to cease operations in Australia – as it happened

FEBRUARY 2020

General Motors shocked car lovers across Australia when it announced the Holden brand would be axed at the end of 2020, as part of a move to retreat from right-hand drive markets.

Here is how we reported the breaking news, as it happened:

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Why manufacturing (and Holden) failed in Australia

WHEELS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2017

"We have worked for the last four and a half years to make Holden a company that will last for decades,” said Peter Hanenberger, Holden Ltd chairman and managing director, back in July 2003…

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Holden announces end of production date

JANUARY 13, 2017

Holden has announced it will close the doors of its Elizabeth manufacturing plant on October 20, 2017, bringing an end to its unbroken 69-year run as an Australian carmaker…

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Holden closure: company statement

DECEMBER 11, 2013

As part of its ongoing actions to decisively address the performance of its global operations, General Motors today announced it would transition to a national sales company in Australia and New Zealand…