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Holden’s Final Day of Manufacturing in Australia Confirmed: October 20, 2017

Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, this is a sad story. On October 20, 2017, Holden will close the Elizabeth plant, thus ending a 69-year manufacturing operation. This announcement also marks the end of the road for the VF Series II Commodore.
Holden VF Commodore Manufacturing - General Assembly, Elizabeth S.A 21 photos
Photo: Holden
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Also known as the final Commodore with rear-wheel-drive, the VF II will be replaced by the NG from 2018 onward. Essentially a rebadged 2017 Opel Insignia Grand Sport mid-size sedan, the newcomer will be front-wheel-drive by nature. All-wheel-drive will be offered as well, as will a range-topping V6.

Speaking to Sky News, Holden executive director of manufacturing, Richard Philips, said: “While this confirmation isn't a surprise for anyone and we've been working toward this for nearly four years, we can now confirm the actual date for our people and our suppliers.” Until October 20, Philips is adamant Holden would build another 30,000 vehicles in the form of the Commodore, Ute, and Caprice. Yup, that includes the Caprice PPV.

Elizabeth plant workers will be offered transition services, which include training for new jobs. In addition to this, Holden promised to retain 1,000 employees at its corporate headquarters in Port Melbourne. Of them, 300 would be designers and engineers who will help the brand adapt imports such as the NG Commodore and GMC-based Acadia to Australian specifications.

Other than the 700 corporate staff and 300 designers and engineers, Holden’s presence in Australia is kept by approximately 10,000 people employed across its dealership network. Even though Holden will end Australian production this October, the automaker remains committed to this market and its customers.

Ford of Australia, meanwhile, stopped local production on October 7, 2016. The last vehicles to roll off the Broadmeadows Assembly line are a blue-painted Falcon XR6 and a silver-painted Territory. These days, Ford of Australia depends on the automaker’s U.S. operations for models such as the Mondeo mid-size sedan and Mustang pony car. The Ranger pickup truck, meanwhile, is built by AutoAlliance and Ford in Rayong, Thailand.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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