Motor racing legend Craig Lowndes says future of V8 Supercars competition is at risk after shock decision to close Holden
- Craig Lowndes is uncertain of the future of Australia’s V8 Supercars competition
- Holden are committed to the 2020 season, with no further plans announced
- More than half of the V8 Supercars grid is made up of Holden Commodores
- Lowndes offered condolences to the families effected by the close of business
Motor racing legend Craig Lowndes says the future of Australia’s V8 Supercar competition is up in the air following the decision to close Holden.
The 45-year-old grew up in a Holden family and raced the famous cars for most of his driving career and said he was devastated with General Motors’ call to end the iconic Australian brand.
‘I’ve spent 90 per cent of my racing career piloting a Holden Commodore and to hear that it’s going to cease to exist is a shame for me,’ Lowndes told Today.
Holden Commodores make up more than half of the grid in Australia’s V8 Supercars races, making Lowndes uncertain of the future of the competition once Holden’s commitment ends after this season.
Craig Lowndes said he is uncertain of the future of Australia’s V8 Supercars competition following the decision to close Holden. Pictured: Jamie Whincup and Lowndes (L-R) celebrate after winning the Sandown 500 in the 2019 Supercars Championship last November
Lowndes behind the wheel of a Holden Commodore in practice for the Sandown 500 in 2019
‘They’re the discussions which are above me,’ he said. ‘All the team owners down pit lane are going to be chatting with the manufacturer of Holden and Supercars to find out what the future looks like going forward.’
The seven-time Bathurst 1000 champion offered his condolences to the employees and families effected by the news.
‘I am very humbled I’ve been able to drive a car like this and have the results we have had over the years that I’ve been driving, but you’ve got to remember the families and employees still involved in Holden at the moment, as well as the dealers,’ he said. ‘And all those people who are unfortunately going to lose their job.’
Lowndes’ disappointment was echoed by racing legend Mark Skaife, who told Sky News he didn’t expect to see the company’s collapse in his lifetime.
‘Two of us were battling to hold back the tears, it was one of those ones where I know we might be big sooks, it’s a very very big change to a landscape that I never envisaged, I just never in my lifetime thought there would be a day when we would see Holden move out of this country,’ Skaife said.
Skaife described the company as something so iconically Australian, it was like losing a part of the culture when the close was announced.
The closure was announced on Monday – two years after the stopping of production in Australia and the brand began to solely sell imported vehicles. Pictured: a classic Holden vehicle in Fremantle in 2017
‘It’s been part of the social fabric of Australia. You’ve either been blue or you’ve been red- the reality around football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars- it’s been part of our psyche,’ Mr Skaife said.
After closing the company’s local manufacturing operations in 2017, GM announced on Monday it would retire the brand in both Australia and New Zealand.
GM will not just axe the Holden name but also stop selling cars in Australia.
Holden has suffered recent crumbling domestic sales, while GM also announced plans to shut a car plant in Thailand and withdraw the Chevrolet brand from the market there.
Together the two shutdowns will cost the US multinational more than $1billion.
GM has pledged to provide ‘fair’ redundancy packages for its 600 staff members left in limbo, with most to be gone by the end of June.