Holden Service and Owner’s Manual

Holden is a well-known automotive brand that was established in 1908 by General Motors (GM). The brand is recognized for producing a wide range of vehicles, but it's most famous for its role in manufacturing and marketing automobiles in Australia. Here's a brief history of Holden:

1. Early Years (1908-1948):

   • In 1856, James Alexander Holden founded a saddlery business in Adelaide, South Australia.
   • In 1908, the company shifted its focus to car upholstery, which eventually led to the production of car body shells.
   • In 1917, Holden began working with General Motors, and this collaboration would become more significant over time.
   • In 1931, General Motors purchased Holden's Motor Body Builders, solidifying the partnership.

2. Post-War Expansion (1948-1960s):

   • After World War II, Holden released its first mass-produced car, the Holden 48-215 (commonly known as the FX).
   • This car became highly popular in Australia, and it marked the beginning of Holden's manufacturing of uniquely Australian vehicles.
   • The 1950s and 1960s saw Holden producing a variety of models and becoming the dominant carmaker in Australia.

3. 1970s and 1980s:

   • During this period, Holden introduced the iconic Holden Commodore, a mid-sized car that quickly became a best-seller.
   • The 1970s and 1980s were a time of growth for Holden, as the company expanded its product line and export markets.

4. 1990s and 2000s:

   • Holden continued to produce popular models like the Commodore and the Holden Ute.
   • However, the 2000s marked a challenging time for the Australian automotive industry as the government reduced tariffs and opened up the market to more foreign competition.

5. 2000s to Closure (2010s):

   • In 2013, General Motors announced that it would cease manufacturing operations in Australia by 2017. This decision marked the end of Holden's production in Australia.
   • Holden continued to sell imported vehicles in Australia, but the brand's market share declined.

6. End of Holden (2020):

   • On February 17, 2020, Holden officially ceased to exist as a brand, marking the end of an era in Australian automotive history.
   • The closure of Holden was a result of changing consumer preferences, increased global competition, and General Motors' global restructuring.

Holden played a significant role in the Australian automotive landscape for many decades, and its cars were considered iconic by many Australians. While the brand no longer exists, its legacy lives on through the vehicles it produced and the impact it had on the automotive industry in Australia.

Social Histories of Holden in Australia. In 2013, Holden announced that it would cease manufacturing vehicles in Australia at the end of 2017, thus ending more than a century of automotive manufacture in this country. As South Australia’s largest private employer for much of its life-span, and the linchpin of the state’s manufacturing sector, Holden’s announcement evoked grave concern for its workers and the hundreds of smaller component manufacturers and local businesses that figuratively and literally fed its factory and workforce. This story was repeated in Victoria, though to a lesser extent due to that state’s greater economic diversity. The despair that marked the ‘end of the line’ at Holden risks overshadowing the remarkable history of this company and its workers who for many decades were so successful in building and selling vehicles. The role that workers, and the working-class communities in which they lived, played in Holden’s business warrants thorough investigation,as does the efficacy of the company’s attempts to help its workforce transition to new jobs.

Historians at the University of Adelaide (Jennifer Clark, Paul Sendziuk and Carolyn Collins) and Monash University (Alistair Thomson and Graeme Davison)have accepted this challenge, and are investigating the making and breaking of Holden’s manufacturing arm in Australia in the post-WW2 period. The team is focussing on the reciprocal relationship between the company, its employees, and the places where its factories were located and its workers lived. Whereas most histories of Holden (and histories of automotive manufacturing in general) focus on the mercurial careers of senior executives and the cars, this project puts manufacturing workers and places at the centre of the story. In particular, it seeks to understand:

1. how the experience of working at Holdenwas mediated by gender, ethnicity, class, andgeneration
2. how working at Holden impacted on family lifeand featured in strategies for security and socialmobility
3. how, within a tightly disciplined and regulatedworkplace, workers managed to ‘make theirmark’ and developed unique sub-cultures withinthe workplace
4. how technological innovation changed the natureof work
5. how workers sought to protect their employmentrights and conditions, and related to their bossesand the US-based parent company
6. how the location of Holden’s manufacturingplants influenced the nature of its business, andhow the company’s decisions about where tolocate its factories irrevocably changed the urbanlandscape and socio-demographic profile ofAdelaide and Melbourne
7. how Holden behaved as a ‘corporate citizen’ inthe places where its workers lived and its factorieswere located, and, conversely, what thesecommunities contributed to Holden’s success
8. how workers responded to previous periods ofeconomic contraction, and
9. how they interpreted the challenges facingautomotive manufacturers in Australia in the 21stcentury
10. how morale and production standards weremaintained once it was announced that Holden’smanufacturing plants would close
11. how Holden sought to assist workers to transitionto new employment, and whether its efforts havebeen successful
12. how working for Holden is remembered and howthose memories continue to impact on ex-Holdenemployees, their families and communities, andthe wider society

Sendziuk, Social Histories of Holden
Beginning in late 2019, the research team will conduct 100 in-depth interviews with former Holden employees. These will take approximately 12 months to complete. Most of the interviewees will be ‘factory floor’ workers, but design, engineering, and marketing employees will also be interviewed. The oral histories will be held and, depending on the access conditions specified by the interviewee, made publicly accessible by the National Library of Australia. This research will be complemented and supported by a critical examination of archival sources, particularly GM Holden’s archive held by the State Library of South Australia, and trade union records held mainly by the Noel Butlin Archives Centre in Canberra. The oral histories and the interpretative work will form the basis for a series of publications aimed at scholarly and general audiences, and exhibitions at the National Motor Museum and online. The project is supported by GM Holden, the National Library of Australia and the National Motor Museum. It has received generous funding from the Australia Research Council.

If you, or anyone you know, worked in some capacity in Holden’s manufacturing operations between 1945 and 2017, please consider submitting an expression of interest to be interviewed for the project. Former Holden workers who are unable or unwilling to be interviewed can also submit written reflections of their time at Holden, or submit copies of photographs and other material related to their time in the workforce.