General Motors’ Australian unit Holden has built its seven millionth vehicle in the year it is celebrating the brand’s 60th anniversary.
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The milestone vehicle was a ’60th Anniversary’ Commodore sedan.
At a lineoff ceremony at the automaker’s plant in Elizabeth, South Australia, Holden’s manufacturing, chief Rod Keane said :“The next chapter in our history will see us delivering a wide range of energy solutions to meet varying consumer needs and budgets. I believe manufacturing the next million vehicles will be one of the most dynamic periods of GM Holden’s rich history.”
Holden built Australia’s first successfully mass produced car – the 48-215 [said to be a small Chevrolet developed for, but never sold in North America], in November 1948 at Fishermans Bend in Port Melbourne, Victoria.
Its one millionth car rolled off the line almost 14 years later. The Commodore, launched in 1978, has been Australia’s best selling car for the past 12 years.
LPG is one of a range of alternative fuel and environmental technologies offered by GM Holden. Others include diesel, ethanol on Saab models, and active fuel management which is planned for introduction on some locally-built Holden V8 models.
The Elizabeth plant manufactures 43 variants from six basic models, including both left and right hand drive versions, making it one of the most flexible plants in GM’s worldwide operations.
Almost half of production is exported with Holden having shipped more than 800,000 vehicles overseas since exports began – to neighbouring New Zealand – in 1954.
