Bartons Holden faces a future without the Aussie car

They’ve sold Holden motor vehicles since the beginning but now one major Queensland dealership is preparing for life after the Lion.

QUEENSLAND Holden dealers are urgently assessing how the departure of the Australian car will affect their multimillion-dollar business.

General Motors, Holden’s American owners, dropped a bombshell on the company’s 800 staff and 185 dealers on Monday when it announced the 160-year-old brand would be axed within a year.

Dealers were told during a teleconference on Monday morning Holden, which has sold 7.6 million cars, was pulling out of Australia.

General Motors’ decision was described as “shocking” and unexpected by Mark Beitz, the managing director of one of Queensland’s biggest Holden dealerships, Bartons.

In 2019 Bartons embarked on a $10 million renovation to refurbish its dealerships using Holden’s sleek new branding.

Bartons Holden staff Ben Rowe, Brad Nevin, Jennifer Pyle, Managing Director Mark Beitz, Simon Wilson, Dodie Millar, Dan Davis, and Cindy Holloway, Capalaba. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

General Motors’ move to axe Holden could now leave Bartons’ state-of-the-art Redlands showroom empty by the year’s end.

“We just completed a new showroom in Capalaba with an assurance from Holden that they’d be here for the long term but now that won’t happen,” Mr Beitz said.

“We were the first dealership in the country to feature the new branding and everything for Holden and now it turns out we will be the last.

“Of we don’t find something new to go in there, which I think we will, we will be left with nothing in that new showroom after a year.”

The Redlands dealer is now one of almost 200 Australian dealerships discussing a compensation package with General Motors, which is expected to cost the American corporation more than USD$1 billion.

Bartons Holden Managing Director Mark Beitz. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

Bartons’ roots run to 1945 when Ken Barton and his longtime friend Alf Giles founded

G & B Motors – three years before the first Holden rolled off the production line in Port Melbourne.

G & B Motors became franchised Holden dealers in 1961 and, 45-years later, welcomed nine-time Bathurst champion Peter Brock to launch its refurbished dealership in 2006.

While Holdens have been a staple of Bartons for more than 70 years, sales had steadily declined.

Last year Bartons sold 420 cars and only 30 of them were Holden.

“Unfortunately Holden has contracted each year, which has led to this decision,” Mr Beitz said.

He said none of Bartons’ 230 workers were at risk of losing their jobs in the short term.

“I met with staff internally yesterday to advise them not to panic right now,” he said.

“In the short to medium term, there will not be any job losses with us but beyond that you can never be sure. Obviously, we’ll take a bit of a hit money wise.”

While Bartons has five car brands on offer, others like Devietti Holden in Ingham only sell one make.

Doug Barton Holden has been selling Holdens for more than 70 years.

Dealer Principal Michael Devietti is concerned the business will have nothing to sell by the end of the year.

“Unfortunately, it’s a huge shock.

“We’d like to think we are going to stay in the motor industry, but what we are going to be selling, who knows?”

Devietti employs 10 people and will be forced to decide what cars to sell in the North Queensland community while supporting existing Holden customers.

Back in the Redlands, Mr Beitz encouraged buyers to get into dealerships and pick up a bargain Holden.

“They’re still great cars,” he said.

“Also, people who have Holdens and buy new ones before the brand is gone, your warranty and services are still guaranteed and will be honoured.”