UK billionaire wants to turn Holden site into EV factory

A UK billionaire has commenced plans to turn Holden’s defunct Adelaide manufacturing facility into an electric car manufacturing hub.

Sanjeev Gupta, the same man who saved Whyalla steelworks from the brink of disaster, has approached the South Australian government with a vision to return manufacturing to the Elizabeth site – barely three months after Holden shuttered its operations.

Gupta’s company, GFG Alliance, recently commenced discussions with a plan to purchase some of the Holden factory’s former assets, SA treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has confirmed.

It is understood Gupta intends on using a prototype developed by Gordon Murray Design, a British design and engineering firm specialising in low-volume production and performance models.

"They're keen to manufacture and they saw this as an opportunity, I understand, to purchase some equipment from General Motors Holden from a site that's now closed down," Koutsantonis told the ABC.

"What Mr Gupta is realising, like the rest of the world, is that electric vehicles … are the way of the future."

Holden effectively ended mass car manufacturing in Australia in October when it called quits on its Elizabeth plant in Adelaide's north. The Lion brand followed in the wheel tracks of Ford and Toyota, which also ended their respective operations in the months prior.

However, with remnants of the underlying parts manufacturing industry still alive, tightening emissions standards and scope for huge fleet contracts with green-savvy governments, Gupta clearly sees life in the industry yet.

Treasurer Koutsantonis is backing the proposal. In a letter to General Motors the minister urged Holden to consider Gupta’s bid a priority.

“We are incredibly excited and supportive of the GFG Alliance’s bid and subsequent plans to ensure the continuation of our very proud history of automotive excellence and innovation in South Australia,” Koutsantonis writes in the letter obtained by News Corporation, dated January 17.

“We believe that the GFG Alliance’s plans would put South Australia at the forefront of the inevitable transition of the Australian market to electric vehicles and ask that all due consideration be given to their bid and the potentially significant benefits to the automotive industry and broader community in South Australia.”

Federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg welcomed Gupta's bid, while Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young called the proposal an “exciting step forward for South Australians”.

Gupta’s credentials suggest his intentions around car manufacturing are genuine. In July last year, he inked a $700 million deal to buy the former Arrium steelworks in Whyalla.

Holden is in the midst of decommissioning its Elizabeth site in a process that will extend through to mid 2019.

Melbourne-based Pelligra Group was last month announced as the new owners of the manufacturing site, to be known as Lionsgate Business Park. It will turn the site into a manufacturing hub featuring local, national and international tenants.

Under the arrangement Pelligra will lease back about 30 per cent of the site to Holden for the next decade, as a parts and servicing operations centre.

GM is yet to comment on the proposal but two years ago knocked back a proposal by Belgium entrepreneur Guido Dumarey's Punch Corporation to continue producing vehicles at its Elizabeth factory.