Holden closure

It's been a big year for automotive in 2020, with the exit of Holden, the cancellation of international motor shows and the Australian Grand Prix due to coronavirus, and the steady decline of new car sales. In a challenging climate, it's perhaps unsurprising that carmakers are reducing their ranges, discontinuing under-performers and replacing older models with hybrids, electric cars or new creations altogether.

Little-known Vietnamese car company Vinfast is believed to be the winning bidder for Holden’s test track, however a local green group is continuing to lobby for the preservation of more than half the site for environmental conservation. The iconic Holden test track on the south-eastern outskirts of Melbourne is being sold after General Motors announced in February it was axing the Holden brand from the end of this year.

General Motors will not sell the iconic Holden logo to Australia for $1 – or offer it to a Chinese car company that might use the famous badge to rebrand its vehicles. Holden boss Kristian Aquilina told a Senate Inquiry in Canberra today that General Motors in Detroit will formally decline a request earlier this year by Queensland Senator James McGrath to offer the Holden badge to Australia for $1 to preserve its future.

The birthplace of every Holden built in Australia over the past 60 years – the Lang Lang test track on the south-eastern outskirts of Melbourne – has caught the interest of a number of potential bidders, CarAdvice has learned. The property has been listed for sale on behalf of US car giant General Motors by industrial real estate specialist CBRE, who also handled the sale of former Holden manufacturing sites at Elizabeth and Port Melbourne.

EXCLUSIVE A white HSV Colorado SportsCat SV has become the last vehicle to wear the Holden Special Vehicles badge, as the final example rolled off the Melbourne assembly line late last week, marking the end of a 32-year run for the brand which put its name to more than 92,000 cars. The vehicle, completed on 22 May 2020, has been bought by a Holden dealer in Queensland and is expected to be kept as a collector’s item.