The final shift siren sounded at the Holden Plant in Elizabeth in Adelaide on October 20th, signalling the end of an era for car manufacturing in Australia.
While hundreds of Holden workers are now out of a job, the end has finally come for Australian manufactured cars with Holden heading overseas to cheaper manufacturing plants.
The closure has come after Toyota closed their Altona manufacturing facility and Ford’s Broadmeadows plant also closed off their Australian-based manufacturing and sees the end of a decline automotive industry.
Demand for fuel-efficient, small cars and SUVs as well as overseas manufacturers, have signalled an end to the iconic Holden being made on our shores, as Australians move to foreign made cars.
The Holden plant in Australia has been in operation since 1948 and to government is looking to increase defence spend and focus on the manufacture of a fleet of frigates, armoured personnel carriers and submarines in South Australia.
The government is working on a range of projects to employ some of the 2,500 newly unemployed who will require government help to find work within the automotive manufacturing industry following the closing of the factories.
While the “The direct job losses at Australia’s final three car manufacturers — Holden, Toyota and Ford — is about 5000”, the real number is closer to 50,000 when all the key suppliers are taken into consideration.
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