Holden's Last Day: General Motors-Holden 1931 - 2017

Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, is an Australian business and former automobile manufacturer, which manufactured cars in Australia before switching to imported manufactured cars under the Holden brand. It was headquartered in Port Melbourne.
The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer in South Australia. In 1908, it moved into the automotive field and even built the Ford Model T for a period before later becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931, when the company was renamed General Motors-Holden's Ltd. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998, adopting the name GM Holden Ltd in 2005.
In the past, Holden has offered badge-engineered models due to sharing arrangements with Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota, and Vauxhall Motors. In previous years, the vehicle lineup consisted of models from GM Korea, GM Thailand, GM North America, and self-developed models like the Holden Commodore, Holden Caprice, and the Holden Ute. Holden also distributed the European Opel brand in Australia in 2012 until its Australian demise in mid-2013.
Holden briefly owned assembly plants in New Zealand during the early 1990s. The plants had belonged to General Motors from 1926 until 1990 in an earlier and quite separate operation from GM's Holden investment in Australia. From 1994 to 2017, all Australian-built Holden vehicles were manufactured in Elizabeth, South Australia, and engines were produced at the Fishermans Bend plant in Melbourne. Historically, production or assembly plants were operated in all mainland states of Australia. The consolidation of final assembly at Elizabeth was completed in 1988, but some assembly operations continued at Dandenong until 1994.
Although Holden's involvement in exports has fluctuated since the 1950s, the declining sales of large cars in Australia led the company to look to international markets to increase profitability. From 2010, Holden incurred losses due to the strong Australian dollar, and reductions of government grants and subsidies. This led to the announcement, on 11 December 2013, that Holden would cease vehicle and engine production by the end of 2017. On 20 October 2017, the last existing vehicle plant, located in Elizabeth, was closed as the production of the Holden Commodore ended. On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced that the Holden brand would be retired by 2021.

[@elizabeththatwas]

Thank you for watching 🙏

[@pakjohn48]

I started at GMH Woodville in 1965 as an apprentice fitter and turner. The record breaking EH Holden was in full production. I went on to gain an Engineering degree as a GMH cadet and was then employed as a mechanical project engineer at Elizabeth until I left in 1981 under the lure of working overseas in the mining industry. Those 16 years gave me a good grounding in a wide range of engineering and business practices such that I later started my own consultancy with a partner, operating in Australia, Indonesia and South America. GMH was very good to me. Vale Holden's. p.s. my first car was an FB Holden and my current is a VE Holden.

[@elizabeththatwas]

Great share mate. Thank you :-)

[@joanneburford6364]

Hang on to that VE.

[@CAROLDDISCOVER-FINDER2525]

Great insight.

[@WestAussieTrainz]

6:52 we should still be making cars in australia 😢😢

[@PLANETIA01]

I used to drive Japanese motorcycles and then Japanese cars. I purchased my first and only HOLDEN CALAIS VE V8 V in 2007. I still have it and I named him "Butch". He went through HSV to be a "one-off", now with an engine badge of HSVi [HOLDEN SPECIAL VEHICLE INDIVIDUAL]. He hasn't even hit 90,000 kms yet. What GENERAL MOTORS in the USA did to our car industry in unforgivable. Just because THEY were in bankruptcy doesn't mean that we here in Australia have to do the same. I am extremely passionate when it comes to my HOLDEN and the company. I truly just don't know why in Australia, when we have so many billionaires, they didn't donate 1 billion dollars each to break away from GM in the USA and just keep "HOLDEN" in Australia for Australians. Jobs would have been saved, new models would have been produced and, the economy would have been much better off without the US General Motors association. Thanks so much for compiling, creating and posting. Much appreciated. DM.

[@maxrockatanksyOG]

Holden had been essentially bankrupt since the early 1980's right up to closure. Not one cent that was given to Holden & Ford Oz, stayed here; it all went back to Detroit

[@Xlerv8]

Thanks to Gough Whitlam and him signing our industrial expertise and know how to China via the Lima Agreements of 1975, that's why we are devoid of industries!

[@Eric-kn4yn]

Yes i was boots on the ground against globalisation from 1986 👽 migration too thats when the racist tag started sth africa was taken over by ANC then now a failed state. Its sad.

[@davidr4332]

The best cars on the planet and that's no bull , HOLDEN ..

[@davidshepherd265]

A sad day for Australia. Holden for many years seriously punched above their weight, and their cars were a hell of a lot better than the garbage tier products being pushed on Australians now.

[@bryanmurphy3328]

This is a symptom of a bigger global trend. It is unfortunate that manufacturing around the world has shifted to lower cost countries. As a former employee, I can advise that many of the components in the last Commodore were made overseas. This was a short strategy enforced by GM in America based on level playing field thinking. While reducing cost, it also destroyed the local industry as it ran down the local supplier industry. With few local suppliers, then at a point it becomes so much cheaper to import rather than manufacture in the long term. This in turn meant the commodore became a car built here with foreign parts, mostly from Asia. Many voices around the world especially in North America, England and Europe now recognise that to offshore manufacturing lowers economic growth, national income, jobs and know how. The concept of a level playing field has destroyed the forests of industry that supported in part the complex fabric of our industrialised society. An economy without Income, Jobs, value adding and knowledge in the long term has no economic wealth to import. The wealth is transferred overseas and then overseas spend this wealth buying assets around the world that previously were owned locally.

[@elizabeththatwas]

Love this share Bryan. Very insightful, cheers mate and thanks for watching too

[@zchettaz]

There are few days throughout history that will always be embedded in our minds, not just for the sadness they bring, but also for the changes they represented. Just like the days of Port Arthur, 9/11 and the deaths of Peter Brock, Steve Irwin and Paul Walker, where everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news, the end of car manufacturing in Australia is one of those days, at least for us Aussies anyway. And with the flow on effect of this, alot of things just haven't been the same ever since. Thank you for sharing and for your services within the australian manufacturing icon.

[@hujiaming6151]

Bullshit man, you guys merged with the wrong company, GM is shitty and the whole world knows it, this is a exact typical example of making one wrong move destroys all scenario. Stay independent is totally important.

[@bryanmurphy3328]

You have raised important issues about the capability and competence of GM. GM is not as competent as others. It is struggling to move to electric vehicles. I give GM a short life moving forward. It is a company that lives off Government funds. I expect it will do the same to transition to electric vehicles. Always remember that Holden was for most of its time fairly independent of GM. It had its own organisational culture and developed its own vehicles, and was very successful at small volume manufacture and design for most of its years. GM cannot say the same. @@hujiaming6151

[@CAROLDDISCOVER-FINDER2525]

​@@zchettazI'm not sure I remember where I was at when Steve Irvin Made his bad choice and died. Yeah I really like him and his wife don't get me wrong. But the first thing that came to my mind when I heard was limey he bit me! That was from a much earlier episode. And a wild creature is a wild creature, so interaction should be limited by humans. I'm no treehugger either. Just common sense. We've got at least one cougar we have wolves and bears around the property on which I live and I'm not going out thing going blimey it bit me! I'm sitting smack-dab in the middle of the United States. I've only seen two Holden's personally in real life. But the appreciation I have for them has no end. I'm coming by actual Holden's put the steering wheel is on the wrong side 🤣🤣. I found an interesting that the last vestige of American muscle cars came from another country. But I was already familiar with the intense car hobby fever in both Australia and New Zealand. I just wish it was cheaper for you guys so you can enjoy it more. One could argue the Challenger charger Ford GT and even some of the Camaros have been revived to be the last of the muscle cars before they go electric. But the Holden Car that we call the GTO was affordable. the guy in South Central Illinois we live in trailer court had a nice one. Him and his friend showed us around and let us to lead where my son could buy a classic car. There's more story to that we just happen to stumble across him in a McDonald's restaurant. So you wrote a very well-written reply and all these things are brought to mind by it. Thank you

[@williamfindlay1385]

Great video. I have a 2017 VF commodore made at the Elizabeth plant and probably one of the last ones 😢

[@elizabeththatwas]

Would definitely be one of the last one William. Cheers for watching mate

[@Martin-rj3ib]

Thanks Will. Such a sad time for all employees of the Elizabeth plant. A sad time for Australia..The need for Investors to triple their profits, at the expense of peoples livelihood’s is appalling.. I have a Holden made at Elizabeth..Thanks to all of them..God bless all..

[@elizabeththatwas]

My pleasure Martin. Well said mate, and God bless you too 🙏

[@peterbrittain1963]

i was hoping you had some film of the last day.. philip highway was packed with old holdens anywere they could park... even ford owners came down to pay there respect .. it was a very sad day.. i worked there in the old paint shop way back in 1988,, even brought a HK monaro body and built the car from second hand parts. 18 years old,, painting VL then VN commodors on arvo shift and working on the HK before work every day.. still have that car today... my son also got the chance to work there,, as people were leaving, they hired temp staff to fill there place..

[@elizabeththatwas]

Het Peter. I have a GMH Elizabeth Timeline video coming in a few weeks which does have footage from the last day. The video is similar in style to the Elizabeth City Centre Timeline video posted here last year, but focusing exclusively on Holden's from 1958 when they started clearing the land for construction to the final day in 2017.

[@peterbrittain1963]

@@elizabeththatwas sounds good,,, interesting that some videos have now poped up on the side bar with the last day videos from philip highway.. keep up the great work..

[@elizabeththatwas]

@@peterbrittain1963 yeah, great. It takes a lot of effort to track on KZbin, that's for sure. Slowly does it..haha. Cheers for all your support mate, much appreciated.

[@crapmalls]

Thanks Tony

[@terri-mariecook4219]

Thanks for the memory, Such a sad ending indeed. Driving past GMH sites now is so strange without all the vehicles. I always thought if the changed focus and rebuilt some of the old classics with newer technology etc, the company would have survived.

[@elizabeththatwas]

You're most welcome Terri-Marie. Yes. Typical in changing times though. There's always companies who fail to make the transition. GMH could have gone down the TESLA route much earlier - its' leadership though seemed too attached to the old ways of doing things - not unlike KODAK, who developed the first handheld digital camera in 1975, but then dropped digital for fear it would threaten Kodak's main income, its photographic film business. The rest, as they say, is history.

[@user-fx2sh6pk9u]

Consumers wouldn't have wanted them either

[@WilliamOfficeSupply9832]

It is greed and selfishness by big business.

[@WestAussieTrainz]

Just like that an Australian Icon just another part of history

[@christinehandley1746]

A very sad day I hope they found a good life after Holdens

[@elizabeththatwas]

Me too Christine.

[@CAROLDDISCOVER-FINDER2525]

I like the insightful nest of this documentary. Even living in the midwestern part of the United States I would like to see that holding was still making cars.

[@vincentthao3497]

Holden's even had a Train station in the factory for employees , the ' GMH " line

[@elizabeththatwas]

Yes. I worked there twice. First in 1990, then again between 1992 - 3. In many ways is was like a small town unto itself.

[@peterbrittain1963]

@@andyl645 do you remember what year the rail line was ripped up ? it was still being used when i worked there in 88..

[@vincentthao3497]

@@andyl645 a portion of track still remains near the old water tower

[@peterbrittain1963]

@@andyl645 there is still a bit of track on the holdens side of the road.. i use that road every couple of days.. i did wonder when they stopped the train.. thanks for the info ... i posted photos of the GMH train station yesterday on a SAR rail page ..

[@vincentthao3497]

@@andyl645 it's in the trees, left hand side heading north just after the bridge

[@paulsz6194]

Sadly, even if Holden was given one more reprieve and manufactured one more generation of commodore here in Australia, Mary Barra would have eventually killed off the brand, with her decision to exit GM from RHD markets, starting off by selling of Vauxhall/Opel to PSA .

[@elizabeththatwas]

Thank you for sharing that Paul, appreciate it. You've done your research, by the sounds. Cheers for watching too :-)

[@asingularbowlofsoup8816]

Maybe she would have sold Holden to PSA too? They were already importing some of those to Australia, they could have kept up at that, and eventually PSA joins Stellantis, why not bring in a rebadged Challenger, Durango etc. Having access to American vehicles which Holdens were generally based on would have been a good ides. Would have been low value anyway, so why wouldn’t they sell it to get some money instead of just killing Holden

[@paulsz6194]

@@asingularbowlofsoup8816 PSA probably didn’t want Holden, as Australia / N.Z is such a tiny market when compared to other RHD markets, like the UK , and most of their business Is within Continental Europe, so they probably wouldn’t know what to do with Holden , and if they put in some French CEO to work at Holden, it would not have gone gone well locally. The juice was just not worth the squeeze for PSA…

[@bryanmurphy3328]

Spot on . Mary Barra announced the other day that GM was struggling to convert to electric cars and make them with a profit. GM America has a history of relying on Government handouts to keep going since the sixties. Since that time, GM have only made a profit on Tariff protected trucks and AWD's. GM has lost money on non-protected vehicles in America since this time. I give GM 10 years before they disappear.

[@airdbreck]

Great video so sad. I think after they closed GMH.The voice of the people decide close our plant well we won’t buy your cars. Hence sales dropped at an unbelievable pace

[@elizabeththatwas]

Yes, that's very true. Right on the money mate 👌

[@MecTecher]

Holden (90s onward) was a Commodore company with low quality imported rebadges to fill out their range. They refused to adapt to the changing market in the 2000s and make an SUV (or even a small car as war on terror inflated fuel prices). Ford saw the writing on the wall and released the Ford Territory in 2004. What did Holden do? Nothing. 2 years later they rebadged the infamous Daewoo Captiva (more commonly known as Craptiva). For years this was Holden’s only SUV until the also poor Chevy Trax (2013) and GMC Acadia (2018) / Chevy Equinox (2018). While I do miss the brand, Holden made no effort to expand their local portfolio to meet changing consumer demand.

[@maxrockatanksyOG]

Yep- Holden were nought more than a badge engineering company from start to end. Ford were initially the same until the XA, but from then on at least they went their own way.

[@stevetallarida7037]

Love your videos mate. I'm the security guard taking down the flag. And I seem to make it in all holdens documentaries post closure lol. Even in Jimmy Barnes song lol

[@elizabeththatwas]

Oh, man. That's awesome. Yes, it's (you're) an iconic image now mate. Great way to end the vid. Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated. I hope life post Holden's has treated you well mate

[@stevetallarida7037]

@@elizabeththatwas hey mate I started there in 2012 and I am still there today. As you probably know it's called Lionsgate Business Park now. It was great working there during production. But it's good to see the place hasn't gone to waste. Lots of tenants lots of people movement plenty of incoming traffic

[@elizabeththatwas]

@@stevetallarida7037 that's awesome. I've heard very little about how successful the transition has been, so great to hear good feedback. I'll have to check it out, maybe do a video on it. By the way, I have a GMH Timeline vid coming up in a few weeks, and yes, you cameo in that one too...lol

[@stevetallarida7037]

Awesome. I look forward to it

[@stephaniego61]

i've just acquired an ek to restore and as a young aussie it makes me sad nobody my age seems to remember (let alone know) how beautiful these cars used to be. it makes me more determined to restore it to it's former glory and show off the beauty of these australian cars, yet it makes me sad knowing we'll never see anything like this ever again. i'll always be a holden girl, even though they're not around anymore. :(

[@elizabeththatwas]

That's awesome Stephanie. Thank you for sharing. Have fun restoring your ek :-)

[@stephaniego61]

@@elizabeththatwas thank you for posting about a crucial (yet sad) part of australian history! it's going to be a long process but it'll be worth it in the end, i've already got friends lining up to see it 😅

[@conmichaliadis2846]

dad went from woodville to Elizabeth

[@mvnorsel6354]

I have shed many tears when Mitsubishi closed😅. I know the feeling.

[@elizabeththatwas]

Yes - Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi. A different world now. Thank you for watching, much appreciated!

[@paulsz6194]

Lets not forget Toyota as well...

[@mvnorsel6354]

@@paulsz6194 So true, they always get forgotten.

[@pakjohn48]

I would add Chrysler Australia which later became Mitsubishi. Straight out of WW2 both my father and grandfather worked for Chrysler at Keswick, Adeliade.

[@RS-rj5sh]

Nissan ....which took over the old VW factory in Melbourne before they closed local manufacturing in 1992.

[@lesklower7281]

This is a pity that this happened but the Holden Comodores Kingwoods will go on and the one thing us that the Hooldens were built so well

[@emgee9775]

A sad but heartwarming story, of a town united by industry. Great to see that, despite the sad end to manufacturing, it seemed well organised, unlike the catastrophic collapse of MG Rover in the UK. The factories lay abandoned like time had stopped; car bodies, bumpers, files, strewn papers, computers, calendars, phones, uneaten food, all left in a hurry. Complete and utter destruction of peoples lives and their communities.

[@elizabeththatwas]

Wow. Sorry to hear that emgee. That's very sad

[@murraymclean9072]

Every government department should have had one car and one car only a Holden.

[@RS-rj5sh]

They did. The Federal and most State Govt Fleets were almost exclusively either Holden, Ford's or locally manufactured Toyota's. It was mandated as a way of supporting local car manufacturers. Of course after local manufacturing ceased it now doesn't matter.

[@donny8619]

Will never forgive gm for this

[@fantaz963]

My EH Holden was a rust bucket, but I loved it. MY HT was a ripper, unfortunately my HZ was a sick pup. I never liked Commodores, but am sorry to see the Holden factory and Australian automobile in general close down.

[@randallk2556]

You might not like commodores but your mother did. She enjoyed my black donga in the back seat with my black creampie in her box 📦

[@user-fx2sh6pk9u]

I saw the writing on the wall for Holden in the 90s...Consumers were moving away from big family RWD Sedans...but Holden took NO NOTICE...hence went broke

[@elizabeththatwas]

I think they were probably lost in their own little bubble - unable to read the signs and adapt to a changing world.

[@amuxpatch2798]

But still they had good sales in the 90s and early 2000 (fleet sale + private buyers).

[@slug.racing]

If you mean broke by having the highest selling car .. yeah

[@SirSpinalColumn]

@@amuxpatch2798 they still didnt have an eye on developing trends. Fuel was already well over a dollar a litre and they kept smahing out the V6s and V8s when they should have been developing more suitable cars for where the market was heading.

[@_wallnutz_]

If they sold V8s and Barras today all over the world they would sell out fast. People still want them.

[@georgepearse9069]

3:55 the kingswood you're not taking the kingswood

[@xbgtfella]

450k HQs!!!! What the hell happened to all of them now i want one?????

[@elizabeththatwas]

Me too :-)

[@Andrew.quigley]

GM lied and still took the money.

[@martythemartian99]

I like cricket, pastys, platypus and motor bikes. Do I have to leave Australia? 😵‍💫

[@gregbassace1]

How much more must we lose before we is a nation have nothing left to lose? 😭😭

[@TalkingPoint773]

Our politicians sold out. They are paid to close up shop here, while we buy from foreign producers such as Japan.

[@timfordfalconxf7714]

Even as a ford man Thank you holden for making some of the best cars in the world. I think im a holden fan as well. RIP aussie cars

[@elizabeththatwas]

You can be both mate :-)

[@timfordfalconxf7714]

@@elizabeththatwas and good old valiant and others

[@matthewlucas157]

I have a Holden fj Ute

[@davidmotoman4956]

still makes me angry that GM pulled an Australian Business out of Australia ! specially Not Long after a multi Billion dollar loan from the Australian Tax Payer s

[@DavidSmith-tn9qq]

Love both my Subarus.

[@AngusMacKinnon-xm5ko]

It is indeed a sad time. Sorry to say this but the Holden Dealers let the side down big time, and customer complaints were not backed up by what was left of GMH. I owned Holden cars right up to 2011. I bought my first BRAND NEW EH HOLDEN Station Wagon (Windorah Beige paint job) for the sum of £1,032. 00/-. 00d taking delivery of it on Saturday 12 December 1964 from Momsens in Chelsea Victoria. I was the PROUDEST 18 year old at the time. From then on I had a string of Holdens until 2011 when I purchased an Australian built Holden Cruise Diesel from a GM dealer. The engine of that car was fine but everything else was wrong. I was conned into buying an extended warranty package by the dealer. The way they behaved when selling m the car for which I paid cash, one would have thought I wa asking them for their virginity. In the end, they declined to cover a number of things under the extended warranty, and I told them to shove their car and warranty where the sun did not shine. I was in the market for a brand new car at that that time and would have bought another Holden but the treatment from the dealer left a sour taste in my mouth, so I went out and purchased a brand spanking new 2014 Mercedes Benz 280 E Elegance for my wife and a new 2014 BMW 528i for myself. The attitude of the dealer, and that of GMH when I complained; left a lot to be desired of the service I received. Had GM or the dealer been more caring of their customers, I would have purchased another two Holden cars (A Calais) and another top range GM car, but there was no way I would have anything further to to with GM or their dealers. To date, The Merc I bought for my wife has travelled less than 40,000 km whilst the Bemer has travelled 71,000 km, without a hint of problems. Both cars like my Holdens were serviced regularly. To this day, I still have a 1972 HQ Holden sedan which is in near mint and original condition that I kept rather than trading it in. That vehicle stays garaged unless it gets taken out for a run on non rainy days. Pity Holden has ended its run, as I loved the brand until the coming of the Cruise!

[@elizabeththatwas]

Great share Angus. Thank you - and thanks for watching. You are appreciated here mate :-)

[@AngusMacKinnon-xm5ko]

@@elizabeththatwas Many thanks Elizabeththatwas. I appreciate your comments very much. My son is also a Holden fanatic. As a child, he and I used to take a lot of pleasure doing up a Holden 186 engine from a HT Holden my father in law gave my wife and I. We rebuilt that engine, and blue printed it; I can tell you that you could balance a tea cup full of cha on that engine and never see a ripple. Sadly, that car which I restored back to it's original state and resprayed it, was stolen and wrecked. My son always told me he wanted to work for Holden as an Engineer. Believe it or not; he got into Swinburne University and in his third year, Swinburne used to have Engineering students undergo 12 months Work Experience, and guess where he did his W/E; GMH Engine Plant at Port Melbourne. There one of the things he did was to design a modification for the Commodore gearbox to alleviate a shudder. I don't remember the details of the modification and the model of the Commodore. I'll ask him next time I see him and let you know if you are interested. My son graduated as an Engineer and regretted the fact that GMH closed down. He is now a Company Director with KPMG, specialising in Building the Bush Masters for the Defence Force, and has recently been seconded to work on the AUKUS nuclear submarines, but he doesn't discuss that aspect of his work with me saying: "I am a secret Squirrel. My father in Law who was a very particular man when it came to his cars, owned a HQ Holden. Dad left the car to my son, and he still owns it. The lad has gone to a lot of trouble to renovate the vehicle in its original colours (paint, upholstery, and original steering wheel), and it is his pride and joy. He still has the original number plates on it. He has sourced an upholsterer to reupholster the seats in the HQ to the original colour. It is going to cost a packet but to him, it is worth it. Once again, many thanks for your welcome.

[@elizabeththatwas]

@@AngusMacKinnon-xm5ko Brilliant. Many people can relate to that generational connection with GMH. I'm sure it's the same for FORD and MITSUBISHI, with their plants folding and other towns suffering the same fate as Elizabeth. Your Son sounds very accomplished - you must be very proud. Love the share mate - thanks again

[@timneaves519]

Can I ask how you could afford a brand-new car at the age of 18 in 1964?

[@AngusMacKinnon-xm5ko]

@@timneaves519 I joined the Regular Army aged 15 by lying about my age. I should have been 17 to enlist but I changed my year of birth;' backdating it 2 years. I already owned a 1956 Hillman Minx which cost me £275. 00/- 00d.. I got a trade in for £250. 00. 00. I saved my money. The New EH cost me £1032.00.00. I was able to get a loan though the then Custom Credit Corporation which cost me £32.00.00 a month. Having bought my first car through CCC, and having paid it off in 6 months instead of the 2 years, they were happy to give me the loan. BTW, I know your next question is going to be, how did I enlist at 15 years of age without getting sprung. My dad who signed the enlistment papers said to me:: "You have not put in your date of birth" I said "opps, sign the papers and I will put the date in" What dad did not realise at the at the time was that the British army took lads of 15 years into the service, and thought Australia did the same. I have obtained a copy of all my enlistment documents from Victoria Barracks. When I applied to the Directorate of Awards in Canberra for my Australian Service Medal, I confessed to the lady who took my call that I had back dated my date of birth. She laughed and said: "You and every other kid of your age kid the same thing. Don't worry, put your application in, and tell us the date you gave at enlistment and you will get your medal by post. Oh BTW if you want to know what I did after my discharge from the Army; I went back to High School FULL TIME to sit for my Matriculation at the ripe old age of 26 years. My wife encouraged me to go back and try for my Matric. In 1973, I entered High School as an adult, chose five Subjects including Legal Studies which was in fact the first year University Law Paper but the Universities allowed the paper to be presented for that one year on the proviso it wasn't called LAW but LEGAL STUDIES. I presented five subjects, and passed four; English Expression with First Class Honours (that was the very first year High Schools were allowed to mark the entire paper rather than stop marking the paper when the cut off mark was of 50 % was reached. I received a score of 94% for English expression, 82% for Legal Studies, 81% for Australian History and 71% for Social Studies. I failed Geography with 29%. I received a place at Monash University Law Faculty graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Jurisprudence, and a Bachelor of Laws after five years full time study. Your next question is going to be; how did I afford to study full time as a married man. My wife supported me whilst I worked part time. She is now a lady of leisure as I owe her everything.

[@xtfairmontlover]

The writing was on the wall when Labor reduced the tariffs, they killed the car industry

[@castrain1419]

Not a Holden fan boy but still see it as one of the biggest loses to Australian Manufacturing. Wish the Government did more on import tariffs to support local manufacturing. We used to do Holden, Ford, Toyota now we have nothing.

[@WilliamOfficeSupply9832]

Greed and selfishness have taken over this planet. Big business have been eliminating Employment for over forty years globally.

[@TalkingPoint773]

Correct, Globalisation, no borders! Big companies buying and pushing out smaller

[@MeaHeaR]

Than-Fully thosé ignorant ancient thymes arê bé Ovér

[@Aaron-is9xo]

They left because profits weren’t enough. As usual greed kills manufacturing.

[@tomnewham1269]

so you expect a company to run at a loss then?

[@RS-rj5sh]

@@tomnewham1269 they weren't running at a loss. GMH was profitable, just not profitable "enough" by GM HQ in Detroit's books

[@arnolddavies6734]

My first brand new car was a Holden Sunbird.

[@jamesburke2759]

It wasn''t the global crisis that killed Holden. its was the purposely tanking of the brand to promote cheaper overseas made vehicles. We needed a cheap Australian made small car and a new Monaro to compete with the new Mustang. They failed. The Government failed.

[@philbowden1961]

Our Governments should be ashamed of themselves and the sad thing is that we vote these life destroyers into Parliament.

[@robertrockwell7581]

Don't know how a car company even considers closing a plat putting people out of work and then import the car from somewhere else and expect the same people to buy it. as far as I can see there was really no reason to close the plant with as good of sales it had. strange. I guess they think everything built with cheaper wagers in china will sell everywhere else. hope the workers found good jobs later on.

[@elizabeththatwas]

I think partly they suffered from hubris, a lack of foresight and an inability to adapt to changing times. Thank you for watching. Much appreciated

[@tomnewham1269]

They were only making 35 000 cars a year. No way can a car factory survive on making so few cars. To be profitable a factory would have to be making 200 000 otherwise it is not viable.

[@edplat2367]

A country that doesn't invest in its people and culture is a soulless rotting corpse. I really hope we can see the return of Australian made sedans for Australian families again in the future but not very hopeful.

[@BruceLee-sw4ms]

I wrote this online in October 2019. Parity ~ Guest November , 2019 3 months ago . Well they won't be GMH much longer. General Motors will get rid of the cancer they call Holden . GM are looking for a buyer since last Christmas. The Holden name will go altogether .

[@MeaHeaR]

Onyer Kobblerzz

[@jesstill7833]

I hate General Motors with Passion they Killed Holden ,I will never forgive them 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎😢😢

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

The Liberals didn’t like businesses that had Labor supporting unions. Never mind the fact that the Australia car industry was the least subsidised car industry in the world during the entire 21st century.

[@tomnewham1269]

Holden was leaving Australia anyway. Even if the government continued to subsidise the plant, Holden admitted they were going to shut the plant down by 2021.

[@mickvonbornemann3824]

@@tomnewham1269 They wouldn’t be able to leave if the federal govt passed a law barring the transfer overseas of implemented manufacturing infrastructure, such as over half the countries of the planet have. They would be stuck having to leave all their manufacturing infrastructure behind, like what happened to western car makers in Russia with the sanctions, which are all leased by the govt to local & Chinese manufacturers now. Incidently both an Indian company & a Vietnamese company tried to buy Holden but GM wouldn’t sell. However they would’ve if they couldn’t transfer any of the plant abroad. GM had a policy of always shutting down companies & tranfering the plant, rather than selling the whole company. Think Olds, Pontiac & Saab. Them selling Vauxhall-Opel to Peugeot Citroen was a big change & was purely because of similar old legislation meaning they couldn’t transfer plant out of some of the countries they had plants in. I think specifically Spain & Portugal

[@hifivaliant8937]

​@@mickvonbornemann3824 no contemporary Australian government has any balls to pass any legislation which advantages the Australian people. Least of all doing anything to upset an American company. As you know, Australia had an aerospace industry, electronics Industry, shipbuilding industry, electronics industry. Australia could have been one of the most advanced manufacturers in the world. Research the lima agreement. This will explain at least in part why Australia now leads nobody and makes nothing of any impact. Now we exist as only a mine to supply china with ore. If it were not for the mineral reserves Australia would be a third world country.

[@gregbassace1]

Sadly, Australia is becoming just that, and nobody cares a jot. Take away job creation and there’s no economy, and no economy means we’d all be living in tents starving to death. It’s EXACTLY what our politicians want of us.

[@RS-rj5sh]

One of the most idiotic PM's Australia ever had (and that's saying something), peanut brain Tony Abbott "dared" GM to cease Australian car manufacturing.....they called his bluff and did. Sure GM wasnt blameless, but the moderate taxpayer subsidies the industry was receiving was more than paid back in maintaining local manufacturing.

[@dumpy4289]

such a loss

[@seanlander9321]

The Coalition detests Australian industry, it was inevitable that they would throw away the mainstay of our industrial capacity and burden our economy with imported cars.

[@brianhalberg131]

Isn't the thumbnail image a rebadged Opel? Its not ACTUALLY a Commodore.

[@brianhalberg131]

@@jamestorrens645 I suppose, the difference being where they were manufactured. At least every Commodore, before the "last" version, had been made in Australia.

[@TalkingPoint773]

Why isnt Japan closing down its car manufacturing plants? Why arnt they inclusive and diverse? Why arnt they helping the environment and climate change? Because they are not supid, and they have a spine!

[@cyclemoto8744]

Good reminder that the Labour gov's investment strategies carry a great risk and a good reminder to never buy a GM based vehicle due to their immoral behaviour in accepting the gov's investment.

[@the_failed_states]

But it was the Abbot government that killed it, and the Button care plan that kept it alive. It was always going to close, but Abbot didn't stand in their way.

[@AussieWhitePride]

It’s an American company anyway lol.. gimp cars..

[@bernie2108]

Being a "POM " no great loss.

[@BaeLasso]

I didn't like Holden because since I stepped on to the land of Australia, I noticed its existence, its marketing material always gave me a feeling of excluding, bogan. Sorry but that's what I felt as a new immigrant. Holden basically just narrowed itself down into a certain group of potential buyers and aussie aussie aussie every single moment. it gave many others the impression that only locals could buy Holden, or perhaps more specifically white aussie guys with strong bogan accent.... Excuse me.... Also its cars are not that reliable as other brands, GM just produces many rubbish engines and transmissions let's face it. So Holden's death was not surprising and it was confidently heading itself into that way

[@TalkingPoint773]

Yeah sure, lets see you in Japan where they make most of the cars we drive now, lets see your inclusion there.

[@BaeLasso]

@@TalkingPoint773 Dear, when Holden was alive, so were Ford and Toyota Australian factories. Many of their cars were made in Australia, their marketing were great, positioned themselves well ...

[@frankielove31]

The greatest day ever in the Australian automotive industry was the day that holden died and went away

[@allyearrounddeckspergolas9647]

Why does it show a pic of a commodore which is os.....so wrong

[@h4tchetman]

This makes me very sad