gmsv

Holden Special Vehicles and the Walkinshaw Automotive Group have appointed a new boss, Joel Stoddart, as the company prepares to broaden its engineering business across multiple brands and ramp up production for General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV). And although Holden Special Vehicles branding will disappear with Holden showroom signage by the end of the year, the company says it will preserve three decades of history of HSV cars and continue to support them with parts and service.

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 V8 petrol pick-up – converted to factory right-hand-drive standards by Holden Special Vehicles in Melbourne – will start from $113,990 plus-on-road costs, or about $120,000 drive-away. This price puts the Chevrolet Silverado LTZ Premium Edition 1500 V8 petrol pick-up well above the Ram 1500 V8 Express ($79,950 drive-away) and the Ram 1500 V8 Laramie ($104,950 plus on-road costs).

Holden will be axed in Australia at the end of 2020 – just three years after the end of local manufacturing and the lowest monthly sales since it was established in 1948 – as US car giant General Motors gets out of right-hand-drive markets globally. Although Holden had been posting record low sales – which led to the end of the Commodore and Astra models late last year – the announcement has still come as a shock to industry veterans now the brand has lost its final lifeline.