History of General Motors Holden in Woodville
The Holden Woodville Plant was a manufacturing facility owned by the Australian motor vehicle manufacturer Holden. Although the plant is named after the Australian town of Woodville, South Australia, the actual plant was located in the adjacent suburb of Cheltenham.
In 1923, Holden's Motor Body Builders Ltd established a 23.5-acre site known as the Holden Woodville Plant, expanding to 40 acres and employing 5,500 people three years later, which had an impact on all of the surrounding suburbs.
The Woodville plant got its first orders from General Motors. When Holden became the exclusive supplier of car bodies for General Motors, all of them were manufactured at the Woodville plant, from around 1949. The very first Holden car was completed and delivered from the Woodville plant in 1948.
The plant grew and developed largely under the guidance and vision of the Australian motor engineer Sir Laurence Hartnett, who was instrumental in the success of the Australian automobile industry. It was largely due to Hartnett that Holden went from a minor Australian marque to a significant competitor in the global car market.
Between 1959 and 1965, all non-obsolete equipment was moved to Holden's new Elizabeth plant. However Woodville continued to produce replacement parts for discontinued models. The Holden TriMatic transmission was produced at the plant until 1987, although the site was sold off in 1984. Through the 1980s, Holden progressively moved its operations to its Elizabeth plant, leading to the closure of Holden Woodville Plant.
The plant was finally demolished in 1991.
History of General Motors Holden in Elizabeth
The Holden Elizabeth Plant was a vehicle manufacturing facility in the township of Elizabeth, South Australia operated by Holden from 1963 until 2017. It succeeded the Woodville Plant as South Australia's main assembly facility.
The plant pressed and assembled bodies with engines from its Port Melbourne Plant in Victoria.
The plant officially opened in 1963, after the majority of tooling from the Woodville Plant was transferred to Elizabeth, though the plant itself had been operating in a limited capacity since 1960. The first vehicle produced at the plant was the Holden EH.
Elizabeth became the last remaining Holden plant in 1989 after Dandenong closed. After production of the VL Commodore ceased.
In 2006, the plant underwent a redesign known to have cost more than $1 Billion (AUD), this budget was shared with Holdens development of the General Motors Zeta platform, of which's introduction in the Fourth Generation VE Commodore led to the retooling of the facility.
Australian production of the Cruze ceased in 2016, leaving the Commodore and its ute derivative to be the only vehicles being produced at the plant.
The Elizabeth facility was the last large scale automotive manufacturing facility in Australia to close after the Mitsubishi Australia in 2008, Ford Australia in 2016, and Toyota Australia earlier in 2017.
The last vehicle, a 'Red Hot' VF Holden Commodore SS V Redline (which is currently in the collection at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood) rolled off the line on October 20, 2017.
4 окт 2024
