10 years since GM announced they would cease making cars in Australia

[Syndrome]

Hard to believe today is 10 years since this announcement.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-...y-2017/5150034

I predicted this would occur when Ford announced in 2012 they were ceasing production in Australia. At that time people were rubbishing my claim saying Ford were only closing because they made shyte cars. Holden on the other hand made "good" cars and were here to stay.

As a 2 decade veteran working at a large, high tech tier 1 supplier to Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota, I understood that Ford needed Holden and vice versa to justify the expense of designing and building unique cars for Australia. Once one ended local production the other was likely to follow.

In early 2018 it was clear GM's move to make Holden 100% imported vehicles was not going well. In early 2018 I questioned if the Holden brand would survive. But GM leaving Australia was not something I thought was a real possibility.

https://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11471430

However as I write this I still cannot believe that GM decided that it was all too difficult and exited the Australian market altogether. I am fairly confident in saying that 10 years ago today nobody predicted that the Holden brand would be dead by now.

This demonstrates to me how little the parent companies knew or understood the Australia car market. Holden imploded very quickly once the last VF rolled off the assembly line.

Ford would be in a similar position if the Ranger wasn't selling so well.