Sam Armytage’s question for Holden lovers

With Aussies mourning the loss of Holden, Sunrise host Samantha Armytage has issued a question for the so-called lovers of the iconic brand.

Australians are still reeling after General Motors’ (GM) announcement yesterday that the Holden brand would cease to exist at the end of 2020.

GM’s move to no longer make cars suitable for Australian roads comes just three years after local manufacturing ended with the shuttering of the Holden plant at Elizabeth in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

The company released its first all-Australian built car in 1948, and devoted fans of the brand have taken to social media to pay tribute to the Holden cars they’ve owned, saying “Australian culture” will never be the same.

While many are in mourning, Sunrise hosts David Koch and Samantha Armytage have issued a hard truth for all of the so-called Holden lovers.

RELATED: Follow updates on Holden and other motoring news

General Motors has confirmed it will axe iconic Australian car brand Holden, with 600 workers to lose their jobs.

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— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) February 17, 2020

“They’ve really got no one to blame but themselves,” Kochie said of the car brand on Tuesday morning, saying that the reason they’d failed was because they had a poor range of SUV models, too many dealers, and acted like a leader rather than a challenger.

Armytage agreed, then said, “For everybody out there saying, you know, ‘We loved Holden’, why didn’t they buy Holdens? They wouldn’t be in this problem.”

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"Why didn't they buy Holdens?" Picture: Sunrise

Among the many people devastated by the news were Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who on Monday afternoon said he was “disappointed but not surprised”, and retired Australian motor racing driver Mark Skaife, who revealed he was “battling to hold back tears”.

“I just never in my lifetime thought that there’d be a day where we would see Holden move out of this country,” Mr Skaife told Sky News host Paul Murray.

“The reality around football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars, it’s been part of our psyche … it’s been part of the social fabric of Australia.”

Mr Skaife said the announcement will impact upon “Australian culture and the Australian landscape and the DNA of what we are as a nation and what we’ve manufactured and what we’ve loved”.

GM has blamed “significant change globally and locally”, which despite attempts to sustain and improve the business”, have ultimately brought about its demise.

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“After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritise the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally,” GM international operations senior vice president Julian Blissett said.

He said Holden had been a “powerful driver of the industrialisation and advancement of Australia and New Zealand” over its “proud 160-year history”.

If you’re one of Holden’s many Australian or New Zealand customers your warranties and servicing packages you got when you bought your car will still be honoured.

The company also promised it would continue to provide servicing and spare parts for at least a decade through its aftersales network, which would also continue handling recalls if they arise.

– With AAP