A Holden mechanic who found out he would lose his job by the end of the year after watching a video online says his workshop is ‘freaking out’ about the news.
Ethan, from Zupps Holden in the Brisbane suburb of Aspley, said staff were told on Monday they would be forced to find a new job by 2021.
It comes a day after General Motors announced it is dumping the Holden name by next year.
After closing the company’s local manufacturing operations in 2017, GM made the ‘difficult’ decision to retire the brand in both Australia and New Zealand.
GM will not just axe the Holden name but also stop selling cars in Australia, the American auto giant’s international operations.
Speaking on air with Brisbane radio show Stav, Abby and Matt on Tuesday morning, Holden worker Ethan said he found out the news on an online video before being pulled into a meeting with management.
Ethan, from Zupps Holden (pictured) in the Brisbane suburb of Aspley, said staff were told on Monday they would be forced to find a new job by 2021
General Motors announced it is dumping the Holden name by next year. Pictured: Holden employees leave work at the end of their shift at the Holden plant in Elizabeth in 2013 after 400 jobs were cut
‘All the mechanics, all of us [were in the meeting]. Everyone was in pandemonium, everyone was running around, freaking out and not sure of what’s going on,’ he said.
‘We didn’t know anything really… I saw a video go online and my manager was freaking out.
‘All of a sudden we got pulled in and got told [about the collapse]’
Ethan said staff were told they would keep their jobs until the end of 2020.
‘That’s what they’ve told us so far, they can’t tell us any more really,’ he said.
Managers told the team that the warranty for parts and services will be honoured for the next 10 years.
‘But who knows what dealerships are going to stay open,’ he said.
In a slap in the face to Australia, GM told Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s of its plans just three minutes before issuing a media release.
‘Pretty p*** poor effort,’ a spokesman for the PM told Daily Mail Australia.
Senior vice president Julian Blissett announced the brand’s demise on Monday.
‘After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritise the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally,’ he said.
GM, headquartered in Detroit, is also ceasing design and engineering operations in Australia, leaving 600 people without work.
GM will not just axe the Holden name but also stop selling cars in Australia, the American auto giant’s international operations. Pictured: GM international operations senior vice president Julian Blissett(right) and Holden’s interim chairman Kristian Aquilina
Most of the existing staff are set to lose their jobs by June but 200 would continue their employment for another decade to service existing Holdens on the road, GM told reporters on Monday.
‘This was an agonising decision for us and one we didn’t make lightly or easily,’ Mr Blissett said.
The axing of the Holden nameplate will end a motoring tradition that began in November 1948 when the first 48-215 rolled off the production line at the Fisherman’s Bend factory in Melbourne.
General Motors’s Australian arm continued manufacturing cars for another 69 years, until the last Holden Commodore, the VF, was made in Adelaide in October 2017.
Just a decade ago, the Commodore was still Australia’s best-selling car, a position it had held uninterrupted for 15 unbroken years, as it outsold its traditional rear-wheel-drive rival, the Ford Falcon.
In December, Holden announced the Commodore nameplate would be axed in 2020 after 42 years being synonymous with V8 muscle and six-cylinder family cars.
The Holden car brand will be no more, with General Motors opting to dump the name synonymous with Australian motoring by 2021. Pictured is the last Holden Commodore at the Elizabeth plant in Adelaide, October 2017