GM Holden Celebrates 50 Years at Elizabeth

[Darren]

GM Holden employees and retirees were joined today by the Premier of South Australia, local VIPs and community partners as the company celebrated a half century at its Philip Highway, Elizabeth site.

50 years to the day since the first concrete was poured at the Elizabeth facility on 8 May, 1958, GM Holden Executive Director Rod Keane and the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann MP buried a time capsule, to be opened at the site's 75th anniversary in 2033.

Included in the time capsule are items including a Holden worker's shirt, emblems and brochures for the cars currently made at Holden Vehicle operations, pictures and other contributions from the local Elizabeth Grove Primary school, a membership badge for Central District Football Club and perennial Aussie favourite, the Holden stubby holder.

School children from Elizabeth Grove Primary school participated in the burial of the time capsule, assisting Rod Keane and the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann to lower the capsule into the ground before it was later covered with a commemorative plaque.

Rod Keane said the event was an opportunity to recognise the contribution of employees and the local community in GM Holden's success.

“Since the first concrete was poured at this site back in 1958, GM Holden has been proud to play its part in the Elizabeth community. We're immensely thankful for the commitment to this facility which has been shown by successive generations of employees, over half of whom live within ten kilometres of the plant.

“We also recognise the contribution of the local community, our suppliers, Federal and State Governments for their ongoing support of automotive manufacturing in South Australia.”

Holden's milestones for the year extend beyond the 50th celebrations at Elizabeth and the 60th anniversary of the first Holden car, the 48-215.

“We have an extraordinary number of key dates to recognise this year including the centennial of General Motors and 30th birthday of the Commodore.

“Of particular significance are two of our community partnerships as we celebrate the 20th season as major sponsor of the Central District Football Club and the 40th year supporting Bedford's annual achievement awards.”

Established at an initial cost of £10,500,000, the Holden site at Elizabeth started life making hardware components including locks, mufflers, air cleaners, brake drums and mouldings.

Today, Holden Vehicle Operations includes a press shop, highly automated body shop, paint shop and plastics operation as well as a general assembly plant running at its maximum line rate of 620 cars a day. The site currently produces one vehicle every 76 seconds, delivering world class cars around the globe, under brand names including Holden, Vauxhall, Pontiac and Chevrolet.

Over $530 million has been invested in the site since 2000, making the plant one of the most advanced automotive manufacturing facilities in the world. 3,400 highly skilled employees work at Elizabeth in roles including manufacturing engineers, production operators, maintenance technicians and support services.

Later this year, production will begin on the newest addition to the Holden range, the VE Sportwagon for Australian and New Zealand as well as the Pontiac G8 GXP, a high performance car for the US market.

Source - Holden Media.