In news that’ll break your heart, Holden will be axed at the end of 2021, after a whopping 160 years of association with Australia. Holden’s parent company, General Motors has announced today that they will retreat from the right-hand drive market internationally.
We had a yarn about the death of the Holden Commodore on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
But this news doesn’t just mark the death of a product, it marks the death of a national treasure. The company that was founded in South Australia in the mid-1800s was so embedded into the Australian way of life. The brand was inescapable.
We learnt to drive in it, using a ute that somehow still worked 20 years after its prime. We road-tripped in it when we took our trailblazer to the dirt outback roads. And, we were mesmerised by it when we flicked on Bathurst and contemplated if they had what it takes to beat Ford.
While the news is certainly shocking, the warning signs were there. Similarly to Speedos, the manufacturing ended up leaving Australian shores, which first marked the demise of the iconic brand. This news comes just three years after the company ceased manufacturing here in Australia. Also, Holden has been reporting record-low sales for a while now; recently we’ve seen the lowest monthly sales since it was first established in 1948 and their iconic models, the Commodore and Astra, came to an end late last year.
The news has arisen as a result of telling employees at midday today. Approximately 600 of the 800 jobs will be terminated with redundancies to be awarded. The remaining 200 jobs will deal with Holden’s warranty service for at least the next 10 years.
Holden’s Interim Chairman and Managing Director, Kristian Aquilina, has made a statement on the decision.
He said: “Holden will always have a special place in the development of our countries. As Australia and New Zealand grew, Holden was a part of the engine room fuelling that development… Today’s announcement will be felt deeply by the many people who love Holdens, drive Holdens and feel connected to our company which has been with us for 160 years and is almost ubiquitous in our lives… Unfortunately, all the hard work and talent of the Holden family, the support of our parent company GM and the passion of our loyal supporters have not been enough to overcome our challenges.”
While we may have lost Holden, at least we still have Qantas, Vegemite and Tim Tams that we can still proudly call Australian. Alas Holden, you will be missed.
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