Talking further of Holden’s demise, not unexpected given that it had already killed off the Commodore and Astra models last year, however General Motors move to end right hand drive production globally still came as a shock. I came into this business in 1981 at a time Holden was doing big business and had 22,000 employees. I’m saddened that it will close its Melbourne design studio and impressive proving ground at Lang Lang. Following the demise of local manufacturing Holden had maintained a strong presence providing design work and test facilities for the China and U.S. markets – the loss of these talented technicians is a loss for Australia – some of these guys were at the top of their field and one hopes that Ford and others can take them over. Around 600 of the 800 jobs at Holden will be made redundant with 200 employees left to oversee ongoing warranty, parts and service commitments which the company has to maintain for 10 years.

I’m David Berthon

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