With a heavy heart, Holden announced today that General Motors will be retiring the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand.

Holden will immediately begin working with their dealer partners across Australia and New Zealand to implement an orderly transition, including support to existing customers.

GM has taken this difficult decision after an exhaustive analysis of the investment required for Holden to be competitive for the long term in Australia’s and New Zealand’s new car markets. Regrettably, this assessment determined such an investment could not meet GM’s investment thresholds, including delivering an appropriate return.

Factors weighing against further investment in Holden included: the highly fragmented right-hand-drive domestic markets; the economics to support growing the brand; and delivering an appropriate return on investment.

More broadly is the issue of scale. The global consolidation of the automotive industry has made it increasingly challenging to support a brand and a business that operates in only two markets, which represent less than one per cent of the global industry.

This decision has not been taken lightly, especially considering the iconic status of the Holden brand and the contribution it has made not only to GM, but to the development of the economies of Australia and New Zealand.

It impacts all aspects of the Holden business, including the wind-down of the National Sales Company, GM Holden Engineering, GM Design Australia, Holden Financial Services and Maven Australia.

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