FOR RELEASE:
2007-07-17
First Pontiac G8
Prototypes Roll Off The Line
GM Holden celebrated
today as the first Pontiac G8 engineering prototypes to be
produced at Holden Vehicle Operations in Elizabeth rolled
off the line.
The G8 will be
available in Pontiac dealerships in the United States in
early 2008 to take its place among General Motors' flagship
high performance vehicles.
The Pontiac G8
performance sedan will be the first North American product
to be based on GM’s new global rear wheel drive architecture,
developed by the global team based here in Australia.
Production of the
Pontiac G8 is scheduled to commence at the Holden plant in
late 2007, bringing the production line to a maximum
capacity rate of 620 cars per day.
Announcing this
production milestone was Holden Executive Director of
Manufacturing, Rod Keane.
He was joined at the
media event at the Elizabeth plant by government and
industry officials including The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP,
Federal Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources and the
Hon Kevin Foley MP, Deputy Premier of South Australia and
Minister for Industry.
Mr Keane said, “ The
Pontiac G8 highlights GM Holden’s rear-wheel drive expertise.
It shows that international borders pose no limits on the
creativity and expertise demonstrated by a global team based
here in Australia.
“General Motors is
drawing on Holden’s recognised leadership in rear-wheel
drive cars to be able to deliver uniquely tailored vehicles
for markets in Australia, the United States, the Middle East
and South Africa.
"With exports
integral to GM Holden’s future business strategy, the
flexibility we have here at the Elizabeth plant is central
to achieving that. When full production of the Pontiac G8
gets underway we will be building cars here at Elizabeth for
every continent except Antarctica.”
The export program
will expand the model range at Holden’s Elizabeth plant to
18 domestic and 15 export vehicle lines.
Holden has
Australia's longest running and largest automotive export
program which has delivered more than 772,000 vehicles over
the last 50 years.