End of an era: Holden’s last Australian-made car produced

The last Commodore has rolled out of Holden’s Adelaide assembly plant, marking the end of nearly 70 years of production | WATCH.

The final car has rolled out of Holden’s assembly plant in Elizabeth, Adelaide, marking the end of almost 70 years of Australian production and 7.6 million vehicles.

The VF II Commodore Redline sedan was the centrepiece of a private ceremony for workers at the plant, with 950 clocking off today for the last time.

Holden chairman Mark Bernhard paid tribute to those employees and the generations before them who helped build the brand.

“Today ... is about paying tribute to the generations of men and women across Holden and our supply network who have given so much to our company. Holden is the icon it is today only because of these passionate people,” Mr Bernhard said. “On behalf of everyone at Holden, I thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart.”

The final Holden Commodore produced locally.

The very first Holden 48-215 – “Australia’s own car” – was built at the company’s plant in Melbourne in November 1948 but Elizabeth has been the centre of vehicle production for the past 30 years.

It has been solely responsible for the Commodore and its variants, both for domestic showrooms and export, since 1988 and at various times also built the Gemini small car and Vectra mid-sizer.

At peak output during the early noughties Elizabeth was churning out 780 cars a day and operating three shifts.

Holden’s association with Adelaide goes back to its origins as a saddlery in the 1850s, before turning to the production of car bodies for imported General Motors chassis in the early years of the last century.

It was bought by GM in 1931 and began planning to engineer a car especially for Australian conditions prior to the second World War.

Holden now becomes a sales and marketing operation for imports made by GM operations globally and also models from the giant’s former European subsidiary Opel, which was sold this year.

Holden staff on the final day of production at the company's Adelaide assembly plant.

One of the first new models to arrive will be the next ZB Commodore, a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia, which lands in February.

Before that, one of the first cars from North America will be the Equinox mid-size SUV.

About 1000 staff will remain at Holden, including a 350-strong design and engineering team who will work on projects for GM and also fine-tune imported cars for the local market.

The closure of Elizabeth is the final act of Australia’s local car industry after Toyota shut down its Melbourne factory in early October and Ford shuttered its Melbourne and Geelong plants last year.

Then and now: Former PM Ben Chifley inspects the first Holden to come off the production line in 1948, and the last Commodore leaves Holden’s Adelaide assembly plant.