Holden End of Manufacturing in Australia - Last Commodore Rolls Off the Elizabeth line

GM Holden today celebrated nearly 70 years of proud manufacturing heritage with the final Holden Commodore rolling off the Elizabeth line today (20.10.17) at 10.45am (Adelaide time). A private ceremony for employees was held today to mark Holden’s proud manufacturing history and pay tribute to the generations of hard-working men and women who literally built the Holden legend.

From the very first Holden 48-215 to roll off the Fishermans Bend production line on 29 November 1948, to the final VFII Commodore Redline to come out of the Elizabeth factory on 20 October 2017, Holden has been a part of the fabric of Australia and that’s an honoured position that the Lion brand is committed to keeping for many years to come.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Bernhard, said: “Treating our people with dignity and respect was always our number one priority during this transition and we’re all proud we were able to achieve that, we see it as recognition of their dedicated service over the years. With 85 per cent of all workers to date successfully transitioning, we’ve worked closely with our people to support them.
“Holden also appreciates the partnership and assistance of the state and federal governments, along with the unions, over many years.

“Right after supporting our people comes ensuring we set Holden up for success for many years to come. The best way we can honour our people and our heritage is by building a successful future and that’s exactly what we’ll be focused on when Monday rolls around.

“Today, however, is about paying tribute to the generations of men and women across Holden and our supply network who have given so much to our company. Holden is the icon it is today only because of these passionate people. On behalf of everyone at Holden, I thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart,” said Mr Bernhard.

Holden’s award-winning employee transition centre will remain open on the Elizabeth site for at least two years’ post factory-closure to ensure all Holden and supply chain employees have the best possible chance to successfully transition.

Holden’s Executive Director of Manufacturing, Richard Phillips, paid tribute to the people and achievements of the Elizabeth plant: “The passion and dedication of the team here is second to none, it has been an honour to work alongside them. In the final years of production, we have been building categorically the best-quality cars to ever roll out of this plant, and our last car was our best. Together we achieved a string of productivity and quality awards in recent times, doing so during the closure period is testament to the skills, professionalism and dedication of the team.”

Looking to the future, Holden will remain a diversified business and a powerhouse of the Australian automotive industry for many years to come. Employing approximately 1000 direct employees in Melbourne and across national zone offices, Holden will also retain its highly-skilled Design and Engineering teams, working on local and global vehicle and transportation programs. This includes retention of Holden’s world-renowned Design Studios and the famous Lang Lang vehicle Proving Ground near Melbourne in Victoria.

This is in addition to the nearly 6000 people employed across Holden’s 200-strong national dealer network, ensuring Holden’s customers are continued to be looked after and all warranty and spare parts needs continue to be met as they always have been.

[davidmathersonparanormal]

To my Australian brothers, Thanks for making these great Holden Commodores. Sorry to tell you that all the presses, welding and ancillary machines have now been shipped from your Holden factory in Elizabeth SA to our GM Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly where the new Chevy SS will be built in 2021 with a minor cosmetic makeover from the 2017 model which was built in Australia. In years to come it is possible that these amazing cars will be exported back to Australia from the USA. How mixed up is this? I have driven the Chevy SS and I believe it to be the best 4 door car ever built in the world with its 415hp LS3 V8. Take care.., David Matherson

[teddyboo]

They can’t take the lifetime of wonderful memories I had in the Kingswood and Commodore.

[davidmathersonparanormal]

The German made Commodore was very well built however it suffered from a lack of power and also a narrow cabin compared to the Australian made Commodore that it replaced. The replacement German made Commodore was losing sales to the cheaper Astra and people were even commenting that the new Astra was a better car. See even though the Australian made Commodore was updated over the years, its design concept successfully blended proven motor/chassis/suspension and steering engineering suitable for long distance driving over rough roads with state of the art safety and parking technology never seen before in a mass produced car. This safety and parking technology was not included in the replacement German made Commodore. GMH also underestimated the patriotism of the Australian public and realized after severe financial losses that their forward planning team failed to increase market share, which nearly lead to the collapse of GMH in the Australian market.

[kaiserlex]

Why everyone smiling? its very sad in fact a hundreds lost the job and its end of a extraordinary car brand

[davidgruen]

2:39, for a split second I thought people are doing the “gesture”, to the Commodore SS. Only to realize they have cameras in their hand.

[quontumleeep]

The one shown here 2:40 technically wasn't actually the last one produced there was one more after it apparently.

[wickedleeloopy]

$55k+ Commodore vs $36k Imported fully equipped SUV 🙄 . Family values the $19k difference more than the brand . It is a shame, but true.

[dawsoo]

The day Holden die in this country I’ll never buy another one sad day

[timmartinl]

The new Holden Commodore how sad in the new ZB Commodore why does embarrassment to the Commodore lineup he didn't need to go down that path but you did I will never buy a Commodore made in the Opal because opal is also no longer part of General Motors you sold that to Peugeot and the the real car models are rear wheel drive not some bad swap done with another opal

[bobbritten]

All part of the button plane, back in the seventies, with world trade plane, very little manufacturers in this country, wen government of this country signed the Lima agreement 1974 were it all started, down hill after that,

[macedonianalexanderthegrea]

They should of all gone on strike and kept working and kicked all the bosses out