GM Holden Ltd
AUDI AG
AUTOMOBILES ETTORE BUGATTI FERRARI S. P. A ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA LIMITED BENTLEY MOTORS LIMITED TESLA AUTOMOBILES ETTORE BUGATTI CHEVROLET |
GM Holden Ltd, commonly designated Holden, is an Australian automaker that operates in Australasia and is headquartered in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931. After becoming a subsidiary of GM, the company was named General Motors-Holden's Ltd, becoming Holden Ltd in 1998—the current name was adopted in 2005.
Holden is responsible for GM's vehicle operations in Australasia, and on their behalf, held partial ownership of GM Daewoo in South Korea between 2002 and 2009. Holden has offered a broad range of locally produced vehicles, supplemented by imported GM models. Holden has offered the following badge engineered models in sharing arrangements: Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota and Vauxhall Motors. As of 2013, the vehicle lineup consists of models from GM Korea, GM Thailand, GM in the US, and self-developed Commodore, Caprice, and Ute. Holden also distributed the European Opel brand in Australia in 2012 until the brand's Australian demise in mid-2013. All Australian-built Holden vehicles are manufactured at Elizabeth in South Australia, and engines are produced at the Fishermans Bend plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria. Historically, production or assembly plants were operated in all mainland states of Australia, with GM's New Zealand subsidiary Holden New Zealand operating a plant until 1990. The consolidation of car production at Elizabeth was completed in 1988, but some assembly operations continued at Dandenong until 1996. Although Holden's involvement in exports has fluctuated since the 1950s, the declining sales of large cars in Australia has led the company to look to international markets to increase profitability. Holden announced on 11 December 2013 that production in Australia would cease by the end of 2017. Holden will retain their design center, but with reduced staffing. In the last few years, Holden incurred losses due to the strong Australian dollar, with government grants being reduced in future. In May 2014 GM reversed their decision to abandon the Lang Lang Proving Ground and have decided to keep it as part of their engineering capability in Australia History
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