Christ, tonight is just gut-wrenching. They've already built the last ones.

[Forg]

Don't get me wrong I don't like our pollies and they don't do anywhere enough for this country and its people. But the closing of Holden was all from GM America it would not change this fact no matter how much money or tarrifs and tax cut they gave them GM was stopping us from manufacturing great cars.
The yanks hate the fact we made better V8 cars then they could. So our blame should be at GM and we should not be buying the US crap they want to send us.
Such a sad day we lost a true Aussie in Holden.
I still love- football,meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars

You mean baseball, hotdogs, apple pies and Chevrolets?

At the time, I think a lot of us thought the gumbyment could’ve kept manufacturing here by continuing the tax breaks which every single car-manufacturing country gives. But in hindsight GM appears to be disappearing up it’s own fundamental orifice, they’re shedding plants worldwide as they go down, so Holden still wouldn’t have lasted long.
Toyota might’ve hung around if the Americans had, but when you’re only buying 1/3 as many widgets from the suppliers those suppliers can’t stay around long either.

I don’t think the thing about American hate is quite right; but the US unions which sent the US manufacturers broke are the reason no non-US GM plant was allowed to build cars & sell them into the world’s biggest single market in any volume. It was more about job protection than anything else.

A country of 25 million people should be large enough to sustain some motor vehicle manufacturing capability. Sweden has a much smaller population than Australia yet they have a very successful and globally competitive brand in Volvo.

Unlike Holden, Volvo weren’t owned by a head office which wouldn’t let it sell outside a small region. So Volvo were able to spend 70-odd years earning a name on the world stage; Holden just weren’t allowed to.
So when Volvo went broke they were bought by a Chinese company who really only bought it for a name which Holden wasn’t ever allowed to earn.

Holden’s real problem all along was in being Australian, but not being owned by Australia or Australians. Brilliant engineering within the bounds of what they were allowed, but having to ask Mum & Dad whether they were allowed to do anything.

 

[zero_tolerance]

I'm sitting here tonight stewing with anger and sadness. I don't think I will ever get over this. The loss of automotive manufacturing in Australia is truly an abomination. Even though we have had a number of years to prepare for this day, it hasn't made things any easier for me.

 

[426Cuda]

No, it's f**ked up.

 

[SSteve]

The FOOLS of Channel seven NEWS called the Redline a ARE LINE. FOOLS Of Channel seven, You don't even know our Countries Manufacturers cars

Don't worry... ACA on Ch9 had a story about Ford...WTF?

 

[zero_tolerance]

New World Order-Gov't only done what the masters told them.
Our future seems to be as a mining pit, dumping ground for unwanted Nuclear waste and holiday destination for Asia.We have to stop this now for our kids sake.
Its time we stated thinking of our own kids and jobs for them. In a small country like ours "Tariffs" are very important., the level playing field is acrock of sh.t. "RIP" Holden and all the best to the not only Holden Workers, but the firms that supported them.

I truly fear for the future of this country, we are well and truly going down the gurgler...
Manufacturing dying, jobs going offshore, sky high housing and energy prices, surging crime rates and drug abuse, incompetent and self-serving politicians who are only interested in feathering their own nests while selling the rest of us out, left wing socialist nutters forcing their twisted ideologies onto us..... Need I go on? When is this all going to stop?? Wake up Australia!!!

 

[SSteve]

Very sad day for me...two funeral's for me today...my wife's grandmother (100 yrs old) and the Aussie built V8 Commodore

 

[Redline457]

Hi all, very sad day, whether your a red or blue fan there's no winners today we're all losers with the manufacturing loss. I was 60 years young earlier this year and grew up on Toranas from XU1 thru A9X and all the Commodores over the years, had my fare share of SS's from LX to VF1 Redline (current DD) & VF2 Redline ( in storage for Sunday drives) saw the same channel 7 news report re "are line" what a knob that reporter is. Would like to wish all forum members all the best with there new cars and remember we are custodians of the past to pass down to your families

 

[Chefie]

What a sad day for Australia, reading all the comments above i raise a question

How many on this forum under 25 years of age ??

 

[LMF 17]

What a sad day for Australia, reading all the comments above i raise a question

How many on this forum under 25 years of age ??

Not me and the under 25’s are probably on the VE forums more, or is that being ageist.

 

[VT&VX]

This.....

Maybe the government would have been better advised to spend the subsidy dollars buying Holden back from GM and selling the enterprise to local interests and I'm sure that business would have been viable, even for a relatively small market.