Holden sets October 20 closure date

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 13.01.2017

Final date confirmed, though it comes as no surprise.

Holden Commodore range

Holden has today confirmed that the last locally-built car will roll off the Elizabeth (South Australia) line on October 20, a year after Ford shut down its local manufacturing.

"While this confirmation isn’t a surprise for anyone and we’ve been working toward this for nearly four years" said Holden Executive Director of Manufacturing, Richard Phillips. "We can now confirm the actual date for our people and our suppliers. Putting our people first and foremost has always been our highest priority.

"This October may bring to a close more than 60 years of vehicle manufacturing by Holden at Elizabeth but I know it will be business as usual for our manufacturing workforce until then – we have tens of thousands of world-class cars to build in coming months and I know we all want to see Holden have great success in Australia for many years to come.

"Every day our employees exhibit professionalism and passion for achieving quality. We are categorically building the best cars Holden has ever built and that is backed up by internal and external data. They simply are a fantastic team that will ensure our last locally-made car is also our best car ever."

The Elizabeth site will retain about 1000 people until that date, says the company, and some 30,000 vehicles will be built in that time.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Bernhard, added, "Holden continues to change but we are proud to retain a significant presence in Australia for the long-term that includes more than 300 people across our local design and engineering workforces, in addition to the approximately 700 corporate staff and 10,000 people employed across our dealer network. Holden remains committed to Australia and our customers for many, many years to come."

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