General Motors axes Holden operations in New Zealand

Monday, 17 February 2020

General Motors has announced that Holden is no more.

Just three years after the end of manufacturing in Australia, the Holden brand will be 'retired' from sales in Australia and New Zealand and local design and engineering operations will wind down by 2021.

General Motors International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett said GM had taken the difficult decision after implementing and considering numerous options to maintain and turn around Holden operations.

Holden recently axed the long-running Commodore nameplate.

'Through its proud 160-year history, Holden has not only made cars, it has been a powerful driver of the industrialisation and advancement of Australia and New Zealand,' said Blissett.

'Over recent years, as the industry underwent significant change globally and locally, we implemented a number of alternative strategies to try to sustain and improve the business, together with the local team.'

Former Holden NZ managing director Kristian Aquilina is interim MD of Holden Australia.

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Blissett says that GM undertook a detailed analysis of the investment required for Holden to be competitive beyond the current generation of products. Factors impacting the business case for further investment included 'the highly fragmented right-hand-drive markets, the economics to support growing the brand, and delivering an appropriate return on investment.'

'After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritise the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally,' said Blissett.

After withdrawing from other right-hand-drive markets over the past three years, such as United Kingdom, Japan, India and South Africa, GM's only remaining three main remaining right-hand-drive countries were Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, but General Motors says it has become unprofitable to develop new vehicles for such comparatively small markets.

The company says it intends to focus its growth strategy in Australia and New Zealand on the specialty vehicles business and plans to immediately work with its partner on developing these plans to sell selected US models – most of which will be converted to right-hand-drive by the company formerly known as Holden Special Vehicles, and which currently imports the Chevrolet Camaro and Chevrolet Silverado.

It would likely also include the RHD Corvette.

Holden says its customers can be assured that the company will honour all warranties and servicing offers made at time of sale. Holden will provide servicing and spare parts for at least 10 years, through national aftersales networks in Australia and New Zealand. As required, Holden and its aftersales network will also continue to handle any recalls or safety-related issues if they arise, working with the appropriate governmental agencies