General Motors-Holden's

Holden

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1856
Founder	James Alexander Holden (original firm) Edward Holden (automobile division)
Headquarters	Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Area served	Australia
Key people	Mark Bernhard Chairman and managing director
Products	Automobiles Engines
Number of employees	2,900 (December 2013)
Parent	General Motors
Divisions	Holden Special Vehicles (50%)
Website	www.holden.com.au

Holden, formally known as General Motors Holden, is an Australian automobile manufacturer with its headquarters in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer in South Australia. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931. After becoming a subsidiary of GM, the company was named General Motors-Holden's Ltd, becoming Holden Ltd in 1998 and General Motors Holden in 2005. In 2017 October 20 it will cease manufacturing vehicles in Australia.

Holden sells the locally produced range of Commodore vehicles, supplemented by imported GM models. Holden has offered badge engineered models in sharing arrangements with Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota and Vauxhall Motors. In 2013 the vehicle lineup consisted of models from GM Korea, GM Thailand, GM in the US, and self-developed Commodore, Caprice, and Ute. Holden also distributed the European Opel brand in Australia in 2012 until the Opel brand's Australian demise in mid-2013.

Since 1994, all Australian-built Holden vehicles were manufactured at Elizabeth, South Australia, and engines were produced at the Fishermans Bend plant in Melbourne. Historically, production or assembly plants were operated in all mainland states of Australia. General Motors New Zealand Limited operated assembly plants in New Zealand from 1926 until 1990. The consolidation of car production at Elizabeth was completed in 1988, but some assembly operations continued at Dandenong until 1994.