GM scraps historic Holden car brand in Australia

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

GM scraps historic Holden car brand in Australia

17 February 2020

General Motors has said it will retire the iconic Australian car brand Holden as it leaves more markets.

The American car giant said it will wind down Holden sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand by next year.

It also said China's Great Wall Motors had agreed to buy its manufacturing plant in Thailand.

The announcement comes three years after GM ended manufacturing in Australia.

In a statement posted on GM's website, chief executive Mary Barra said: "I've often said that we will do the right thing, even when it's hard, and this is one of those times."

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51499775

[mitch96]

1. So what was the Holden like? Chevy? Olds? Pontiac? ....

I just remember they had big honkin V8s..
m

[Thyla]

2. Well...

It's a historic brand in Australia. Wiki is good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden

First Aussie made car and back in the day even made the Model T Fords. GM have owned them for a long time now and I guess rising costs have forced the move. A few years back a handful of mates lost their jobs when manufacturing in Oz was stopped, it was a big deal then because of the jobs lost. Now it's just the next step I guess.
But yeah big V8's was definitely a thing and the classic cars from yesteryear will live on, think Chevy and Old's for sure but they were everyday cars for everyday people. Nothing too fancy.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. They used them as a base for the 2006 GTO.

After Pontiac flopped, they used the Holden Commodore to make the little known Chevy SS. It was essentially a stripped down Impala with a Corvette drive train. Fortunately, I may be able to afford a used one some day.

The GTO and SS were built using the old formula of dropping a big V8 into a standard mid-size grocery getter to create a muscle car. Those days are gone forever. Only SUVs and sports models remain.

[mitch96]

4. " the old formula of dropping a big V8 into a standard mid-size grocery getter"

That was always fun.. 427 in a Galaxy or a pickup.. When we were kids we would drop 289's into small british sports cars a-la Cobra. We put a 289 into a Morgan +4 and a Austin Healy 100-6. Beastly fast and dangerous as hell. Brakes? what brakes..
Drums are good enough mate!
Good times
m