The last Holden Commodore reaches the end of the production line. (General Motors)
The last car has been built in Australia.
After 69 years, General Motors is ending manufacturing in the country, following similar moves made by Ford last year and Toyota just two weeks ago. High costs and low production volumes led them to shift car manufacturing to other countries in the region.
Last Commodore Ute (General Motors)
All told, GM’s Holden brand built 7,687,675 cars over the years. The last two to roll off the production line near Adelaide on Friday being a Chevy El Camino-style Commodore Ute and a high performance Commodore SSV Redline V8 sedan. A version of the sedan was imported to the United States for several years, where it was sold as the Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet SS.
The Holden brand will live on in Australia with GM cars imported from other countries while also providing engineering services for General Motors. The Ute, a style of car unique to Australia that was also built by Ford under the Falcon nameplate, will be relegated to the history books, for now.