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General Motors announces closure of its Holden unit in Australia

General Motors announces closure of its Holden unit in Australia
General Motors announces closure of its Holden unit in Australia
U.S. auto giant, General Motors has recently announced that it will be pulling the plug on its Australian Holden division. Holden played a special role in creating cult classics like Pontiac G8, Chevrolet SS, and Pontiac GTO.

This decision, which some experts had already foreseen, comes just after GM had shut down its locally producing automobiles in Australia. The 160-year-old automaker is renowned for creating its special lineup of icons like the Sandman, Monaro, the Commodore, and the ute.

Reportedly, General Motors issued a formal statement revealing that the decision to cut off Holden was in line to boost the transformation of global markets. In simple terms, the automaker is planning to withdraw its presence from the right-hand drive markets.

By closing Holden, GM would also end its business in New Zealand. Moreover, it is also planning to pull Chevrolet from Thailand, a prominent right-hand-drive market.

Speaking on the move, Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO, GM, said that in hard times the company has to overhaul its strategic plan and restructure its international operations. This move would help it focus on those markets where it has right strategies to record commendable returns.

Moreover, the company is planning to prioritize its global investments towards the growth of electric vehicle segments and self-driving cars.

Meanwhile, for Holden, it would go down as a street legend in the pages of Australian automotive history, as GM closes its Melbourne-based design center, winds down its financial services and closes the doors of its local Lang Lang engineering center and proving grounds.

However, all warranties and future recall-related activities would be honored by the after-sales network. In addition to this, a “specialty vehicle business” of GM would stay in Australia, fulfilling the import demands for mid-engine Corvette and Chevy Camaro.

Source Credit: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/general-motors-holden-sales-design-engineering-end/

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Saloni Walimbe

With an MBA-Marketing qualification under her belt, Saloni has always had a penchant for words, and holds two years of considerable experience as a content writer in the advertising field. She is currently following her passion for content creation by penning down insightful articles for theresearchprocess.com and a few other news websites.