If the Opel Commodore fails to sell can the Elizabeth plant be switched back on?

[Syndrome]

I thought I'd just throw it out there to see what people say. Australian rules are that spare parts must be available for 10 years after the end of a model's life (with an all time buy option available after 7 years). So in theory all the parts should still be available to build the VFII models.

[b0son]

What's changed since it was closed?

[BENT_8]

Would be nice if they just switched the lights off and locked the doors but reality dictates that it is being stripped apart bit by bit as we speak.
Somewhere between July and October is the cut off for when the decommissioning will be complete im told.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Would be nice if they just switched the lights off and locked the doors but reality dictates that it is being stripped apart bit by bit as we speak.
Somewhere between July and October is the cut off for when the decommissioning will be complete im told.

What happens to all the old documents, drawings, meeting minutes etc
which were accumulated over the years?

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Would be nice if they just switched the lights off and locked the doors but reality dictates that it is being stripped apart bit by bit as we speak.
Somewhere between July and October is the cut off for when the decommissioning will be complete im told.

That seems quick, I drove past Ford Geelong the other day and the door in front of the old cafeteria was open and all the machinery looked like it was still in there.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

What happens to all the old documents, drawings, meeting minutes etc
which were accumulated over the years?

Couldnt tell you, i just know that one of my Wifes work colleagues Husband has a contract until October to finish the clean up.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

That seems quick, I drove past Ford Geelong the other day and the door in front of the old cafeteria was open and all the machinery looked like it was still in there.

From what im told they are pretty keen to lease the site out as they did with the old Mitsi site at Clovelly Park.
Some say it will be a training hub, others say warehousing, not sure on the finer detail.
Its very central to the area so they dont want it to become a wasteland.

[danzvtil]

If the shipping containers/bins going in and out of Elizabeth are anything to go by then no.
Plus it’s been sold.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-1...-group/9260458

[Fordman1]

Sorry mate, No.

Holden are dead too.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

If the shipping containers/bins going in and out of Elizabeth are anything to go by then no.
Plus it’s been sold.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-1...-group/9260458

Well there you go, sold and inteded to become a manufacturing hub much like the Mitsi site and warehousing of spare parts.

[jpd80]

I'm sorry but Holden is fast becoming a zombie brand, still trading while the heads work out WTF to do
and you all know what could be coming without a huge reversal of fortune and more sales activity.

I take absolutely no joy in this because there's an enormous human cost here that goes way beyond
the value of the brand or any of its coulda shoulda woulda decisions that's maybe sealed Holden's fate.

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

..... Australian rules are that spare parts must be available for 10 years after the end of a model's life (with an all time buy option available after 7 years). So in theory all the parts should still be available to build the VFII models.

As I've posted before, with links, there is no such rule, or any law that stipulates this common fallacy.

The wording is service & consumable items must be made available for a "reasonable period" and it's even more ambiguous when it comes to panels for smash repair.

Just ask my brother who had to wait 2 months for a VE washer bottle before the smash repairer would release his ute. On backorder for that time, despite a ready supply going into new cars on the production line. And guess what, the ACL (Australian Consumer Law) was not broken.

[Lukeb]

I doubt they would ever reuse the plant. If they wanted to restart any manufacturing they would be smarter to get a new building and a government grant to build it! 😉

[Interceptor]

Even if the Opel based Commodore failed to sell a single unit beyond dealer demo's, GM's approach would be "Too bad, so sad"

Australia is far too small a market for GM to be bothered about trying cater for what is ultimately a niche market, the fact that they've replaced the outgoing model with a turbo 4 cylinder front driver with a 230kw V6 AWD option and no plans beyond lip service for anything more powerful.

As for parts availability, with Ford, GM and Toyota closing up shop locally, the suppliers for a lot of the parts have simply ceased to exist.

[ebv8]

they will rebadge a camry and call it an apollo...

my money is on the new caddy CT5
prices in the US are very similar spec for spec with Regal and ATS
Holden will beg GM for a RHD design of the new CT5 which would not be too hard
they will be made in China and the US so we might get a bit of both here
i'd say 2021 it will happen as the current commodore will be dead by then
they might even have HSV converting them before 2021 so there is no gap

purely speculation!

[Ford17]

Did the OP get (temporarily) banned for asking this question?

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Ford17

Did the OP get (temporarily) banned for asking this question?

Haha was wondering the same. Probably punishment for asking such a stupid question. Aussie car manufacturing is dead!

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

As I've posted before, with links, there is no such rule, or any law that stipulates this common fallacy.

The wording is service & consumable items must be made available for a "reasonable period" and it's even more ambiguous when it comes to panels for smash repair.

Just ask my brother who had to wait 2 months for a VE washer bottle before the smash repairer would release his ute. On backorder for that time, despite a ready supply going into new cars on the production line. And guess what, the ACL (Australian Consumer Law) was not broken.

^^ This. I'm busy buying up OEM parts, especially interior gear, for my FG. It's dead cheap ATM.

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

What happens to all the old documents, drawings, meeting minutes etc
which were accumulated over the years?

Probably sent back to GM HQ, much the same as Ford was planning. They have excellent archival facilities over there so not a bad outcome really.

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

^^ This. I'm busy buying up OEM parts, especially interior gear, for my FG. It's dead cheap ATM.

I'm really surprised you can get anything. I heard that the major insurers have already bought up everything they can for their repair centres.

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by FairmontGS

Probably sent back to GM HQ, much the same as Ford was planning. They have excellent archival facilities over there so not a bad outcome really.

I'm not sure the Ford stuff actually went. I know that was the plan, and I'm sure they would be much better looked after in a Head Office archive, but I believe the Ford US team wouldn't sort the stuff out, and there's no local resource to do so and it is still sitting in boxes here somewhere. I hope I'm wrong.

[Wretched]

Not sure what has happened to the Holden plant but i can tell you toyota's Altona plant has already been gutted and refurbs are taking place right now.

On a side note, is it too early right now to ask but have the 100,000's of people aligned with the car manufacturing lost their jobs yet? It was predicted by many that these would be the roll on affect of the plant closures.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by simon varley

I'm not sure the Ford stuff actually went. I know that was the plan, and I'm sure they would be much better looked after in a Head Office archive, but I believe the Ford US team wouldn't sort the stuff out, and there's no local resource to do so and it is still sitting in boxes here somewhere. I hope I'm wrong.

There are definitively companies in Melbourne that can convert archive files to a digital format either for safe keeping or ease of search.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Wretched

On a side note, is it too early right now to ask but have the 100,000's of people aligned with the car manufacturing lost their jobs yet? It was predicted by many that these would be the roll on affect of the plant closures.

Plenty have, i dont know how those in the supply sector are going but many of the ex factory workers are buying caravans and heading off around the country on holidays whilst looking for work opportunities.
We've had a few come through our yard buying big vans with this intention.

From what the owner tells me, they've never been this busy at this time of the year.

Unemployment hit the worst in the country again last month.

On another note, rental and owner occupied properties in the Elizabeth/Munno Para/Blakeview area are hitting the market in big numbers, we had 4 listen in our street in 1 week just after christmas and only 2 have sold.
Many of the streets in our estate and suburb are seeing the same trends.

We have some major infrastructure in progress at the moment so that is probably absorbing some of the numbers, however, they are in the later stages of completion so i think it will be another 12 months until we see the full effect of the closure here in SA.

[turbo4]

Originally Posted by simon varley

I'm really surprised you can get anything. I heard that the major insurers have already bought up everything they can for their repair centres.

Must be where all the FG2 XR front bumpers are. I've been thinking of buying a spare and I can't find a new one anywhere

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

There are definitively companies in Melbourne that can convert archive files to a digital format either for safe keeping or ease of search.

It's not that they can't do it, it's that they won't spend the money to do it. They are only archives, and rarely needed for the company's day to day running.

And they won't farm it out to an outside business to do it - there would be a lot of sensitive information in meeting minutes & the like, that they would not want released, no matter how trusted the contractor is. It would be a security risk, and a waste of money for them.

There would be 99% of Australians who couldn't care less if those archives were incinerated or kept. It's only the true fanatics that would want to see them preserved. And remember too - many admin employees aren't there because they are fans. It's simply a job to them. They don't have the passion that the enthusiasts have, so they won't make decisions that suit the minority of us that do care.

[csv8]

Havent seen it advertised on tv, Equinox yes.

[turbo4]

Originally Posted by csv8

Havent seen it advertised on tv, Equinox yes.

How about those Equinox ads. "For people with nothing to prove" - pretty much saying that there is nothing special about it, no wonder the marketing boss got the flick.

[roddy1960]

I think I'm still not over a wealthy country like ours with stuff all manufacturing , not just cars . WE ARE IDIOTS LED BY A BIGGER BUNCH OF IMBECILES IN CANBERRA ...for letting us sell out our country .

[superyob]

I have it on good authority that the site will be turning out locally produced Fender Stratocasters and Fender Twin amps with awesome clean tones but packed with a killer overdrive when needed.

Ok, I'm lying...