The Nation Maker

In disbelief that it’s October already, we call a toast to 69 years of Holden manufacturing in Australia

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ON OCTOBER 20, 2017, the production line at Holden’s Elizabeth plant in Adelaide will produce its last vehicle, marking the end of a 69-year epoch of Australian vehicle manufacturing for General Motors. Once one of 13 nations that built a car from the ground up on its own soil, this won’t be the case anymore. With the exception of Holden Special Vehicles, which will continue to assemble cars in its Clayton, Victoria, facility until December, Australia will have produced its last car, closing the curtain on a near 120-year-old Australian motoring industry.   This is, obviously, momentous. It comes off the back of Ford discontinuing its local manufacturing on October 7, 2016, ending a 91-year stretch of Australian Blue Oval car making stretching back to the Model T. And if you’re reading this issue after October 3, 2017, Toyota will have produced its last car locally as well, ending 54 years of manufacturing in Australia for itself. Between these three car makers, more than 16 million cars will have been built on Aussie soil by Aussie hands – Toyota more than 3.4 million, Ford 5.9 million and Holden, more than 7 million.   Of course, an entire industry is in shock including the businesses which supply parts and expertise to these man