Holden News

[Crazy Paul]

Holden, unions look at job-saving deal.
HOLDEN is facing further pressure to reveal its restructure plans in the face of doubts over its American parent company.
March 06, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html


Holden at Elizabeth to cut production in April
HOLDEN will close for 10 days in April to cope with plunging sales, leaving its 2800 award workers concerned about "inevitable" job losses yet to come.
March 02, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html


Australian new car sales fell 22pc in February
NEW car and truck sales slumped by almost 22 per cent in February, according to industry figures.
March 04, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...005962,00.html


GM Holden not immediately affected by General Motors job cuts.
ADELAIDE-BASED GM Holden will not be immediately impacted by a decision from General Motors in the United States to cut white collar jobs from its global car making operations.
February 11, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html


Holden kicks off planned shutdown.
The plans, which were first announced in November, will see the plant shut for five weeks out of 12 in the first quarter of 2009.
January 27, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html


Pontiac will not import Holden utes made at Elizabeth to US
HOLDEN utes will no longer be built as Pontiacs for export to the US - but the car marker insists the move will not disrupt its Elizabeth export program.
January 07, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html


Holden will still be South Australia in 20 years - boss
HOLDEN will still be building cars in South Australia 20 years from now, says chairman and managing director Mark Reuss.
December 10, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...006301,00.html

[99-LS1-SS]

It's enough to make you want to cry. I sure hope this economy turns around soon. It would truly be ashamed to lose a bad ass manufacturer like Holden.

[R.Penguin]

"Holden will still be South Australia in 20 years - boss
HOLDEN will still be building cars in South Australia 20 years from now, says chairman and managing director Mark Reuss.
December 10, 2008
"

Yeah baby! That's the good old Oz spirit!

[MANOFSTEEL69]

Yea Paul....Sorry our piss-poor management of our country financially has reached you guys.

[Crazy Paul]

I just saw my first Holden with AFM yesterday at a Dealership.

The Auto AFM versions come with "fugly" big fender badges where the 6.0 V8 badges used to be. The AFM badges have a green section on them.



At the rear the V Flag and SS badge have both gone and are replaced by a single badge.
The change to the naming badges all being on the left and adding AFM badges (auto only) on the right is from March production onwards.

[MANOFSTEEL69]

I'm digging the single badge Paul. Let me know when you can get ahold of some!

[Crazy Paul]

I'm digging the single badge Paul. Let me know when you can get ahold of some!

OK, maybe in a couple more weeks I'll go back with a camera and scope out all the new badges. There's about 2 dozen different models and levels of trim in the VE range now. They only had AFM SS and SSV on show the other day.

[MtbDoc]

Sorry that you are getting caught up in this "green" BS as well. Just another attack on the economy and free enterprise in the name of bigger government regulation.

[The Commodore]

Sorry that you are getting caught up in this "green" BS as well. Just another attack on the economy and free enterprise in the name of bigger government regulation.

Going green is about the government getting some green.

[Crazy Paul]

EMBATTLED car maker Holden stands to lose up to $1 billion a year when its ailing US parent dumps major brand Pontiac.

General Motors is this week expected to announce plans to ditch or sell the brand as it desperately works to stave off bankruptcy.

That means the maker of Australia's most popular car could be in for more pain, the Sunday Herald Sun reports.

Holden had been banking on exporting 30,000 VE Commodores each year to the US, where the model is sold as the high-performance Pontiac G8.

World VE Commodore exports began last year in a deal worth about $1 billion annually.

Holden manufactures the left-hand drive VE Commodore - with help from a $6.7 million Federal Government loan - at its plant in Elizabeth, South Australia.

The company spent $77 million preparing the plant for the vehicle's production, hailing the project as the future of the Elizabeth plant.

The deal was expected to lift Holden exports to 70,000 a year - half its total production.

Although the car was well-received by US auto critics, the world economic crisis meant the G8, which retails for $53,000 in North America, has failed to achieve strong sales.

Only about half the 25,000 G8s delivered to the US have been sold.

Holden, which has not made a profit since 2004, had hoped VE Commodore exports would reach up to 50,000 a year.

It is Holden's second blow this year over Pontiac's demise.

In January, Pontiac shelved plans to import a G8 ute from Australia as its performance sports truck.