It became an iconic brand.
Despite ever increasing competition from other manufacturers entering the market place eg. Ford, Nissan, Toyota, British Leyland et al, they held their own for decades.
Granted the governments of the day supported the local industry with subsidies and by imposing huge tariffs on imported cars.
In the mid 60's my parents bought me an FB model which I had to pay off when I eventually found a job post a year's failed university course.
The colour (see below) caused much amusement among my friends who called it 'monkey bum pink'. Amazing how far a weekly salary of $21.25 stretched in those days having to pay off a 'car loan', pay board and income tax as well as having something left to live on.
Enriched by my employment after a few years I had enough saved to buy a brand new HR station wagon model of my own colour choosing. Fitted with board racks and a mattress in the back it became my mobile home away from home for my surfing days in Queensland.
When my employment took me interstate, I had to sell it as company cars were included in my package. I had a mixture of Holden and Ford from then on.
As time progressed, tariffs on imported cars were reduced and governments were reluctant to keep propping up local manufacture. Competition from imports, mainly from Japan and Korea, began to bite into the local market. One by one manufacturers closed down.
In late December 2013, General Motors announced that Holden would cease engine and vehicle manufacturing operations in Australia by the end of 2017.
Beyond then, Holden's Australian presence would consist of a national sales company, a parts distribution centre and a global design studio. They began to import their cars from Opel in Germany and GM plants in Canada, USA, Thailand, and South Korea.
Then on 17th February 2020, General Motors announced that the Holden brand would be retired by 2021.
The end of an era.
1 comment:
enjoyed reading this, wish I had some of my first cars/trucks
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