Holden's last Aussie Commodore to be built on October 20

GM Holden will close its Australian factory doors on October 20, when about 1000 workers will be made redundant.

The announcement, originally planned for next week, was made at 3:45pm today in order to give staff and suppliers a mandatory 40 weeks' notice.

Post October 20, a skeleton staff to remain on hand to decommission Holden's Elizabeth manufacturing plant in Adelaide.

Holden, which ceased Cruze production last October, says it will produce more than 30,000 Commodores between now and October 20.

motoring.com.au understands Holden dealers have been allocated their full year's supply of final homegrown MY17 Commodore vehicles.

The company says it will retain more than 300 designers and engineers "in addition to 10,000 employees at its Melbourne headquarters, Proving Ground, Design Studio and across [its] 230-strong national Holden dealer network".

For the avoidance of doubt, the vast majority of dealer staff are not employed by Holden but by the respective dealers themselves.

motoring.com.au understands Holden's closure will not fall on the same day as Toyota's. It is believed the two car-makers consulted with one another as well as suppliers, before deciding their respective manufacturing closures.

Holden said nearly 70 per cent of its former Elizabeth employees have secured jobs within 12 months of leaving.

“While this confirmation isn’t a surprise for anyone and we’ve been working toward this for nearly four years, we can now confirm the actual date for our people and our suppliers," said Holden Executive Director of Manufacturing, Richard Phillips.

"Putting our people first and foremost has always been our highest priority,” he stated.

"This October may bring to a close more than 60 years of vehicle manufacturing by Holden at Elizabeth but I know it will be business as usual for our manufacturing workforce until then – we have tens of thousands of world-class cars to build in coming months and I know we all want to see Holden have great success in Australia for many years to come,” Phillips said.

“Every day our employees exhibit professionalism and passion for achieving quality. We are categorically building the best cars Holden has ever built and that is backed up by internal and external data. They simply are a fantastic team that will ensure our last locally-made car is also our best car ever,” he commented.