It's finished: General Motors announces the death of Holden

It's a sad day for petrol heads in New Zealand and Australia as General Motors has announced that Holden vehicles sales, design and engineering will finish at the end of 2021.

GM International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett revealed that the American brand has made the difficult decision to finally close the doors at the struggling brand.

"Through its proud 160-year history, Holden has not only made cars, it has been a powerful driver of the industrialization and advancement of Australia and New Zealand," said Blissett.

"Over recent years, as the industry underwent significant change globally and locally, we implemented a number of alternative strategies to try to sustain and improve the business, together with the local team."

Analysis of the profitability of right-hand drive markets and the potential for growth in the markets down under were reportedly considered in GM's decision.

"After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritize the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally," said Blissett.

"This decision is based on global priorities and does not reflect the hard work, talent and professionalism of the Holden team."

Going forward, GM intends to focus its growth in New Zealand and Australia on specialty vehicles such as the Camaro and the upcoming Corvette. This opens the possibility of importing and re-engineering other American-only offerings that we previously didn't get down here.

Holden will honour all warranties and servicing offers made at the time of sale, and will continue to offer servicing and spare parts for at least another 10 years. This will be completed through the aftersales network.

More to come...