page_title: Holden
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: Holden / History / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: English: 1988 Holden Calais (VN) sedan. Photographed in Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia. Vehicle registration enquiry results Jurisdiction Victoria Registration DQI786 Chassis code Not available Engine code VH1018760 Compliance date Not available Year of manufacture 1988
context_page_description: Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, is an Australian automobile marque and former automobile manufacturer, which manufactured cars in Australia before switching to importing cars under the Holden brand. It is headquartered in Port Melbourne.
  The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer in South Australia. In 1908, it moved into the automotive field before later becoming a subsidiary of the United States–based General Motors in 1931, when the company was renamed General Motors-Holden's Ltd. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998, adopting the name GM Holden Ltd in 2005.
  In the past, Holden has offered badge-engineered models due to sharing arrangements with Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota, and Vauxhall Motors. In previous years, the vehicle lineup consisted of models from GM Korea, GM Thailand, GM North America, and self-developed models like the Holden Commodore, Holden Caprice, and the Holden Ute. Holden also distributed the European Opel brand in Australia in 2012 until its Australian demise in mid-2013.
  Holden briefly owned assembly plants in New Zealand during the early 1990s.
context_section_description: The 1980s were challenging for Holden and the Australian automotive industry. The Australian Government tried to revive the industry with the Button car plan, which encouraged car makers to focus on producing fewer models at higher, more economical volumes, and to export cars. The decade opened with the shut-down of the Pagewood, New South Wales production plant and introduction of the light commercial Rodeo, sourced from Isuzu in Japan. The Rodeo was available in both two- and four-wheel drive chassis cab models with a choice of petrol and diesel powerplants. The range was updated in 1988 with the TF series, based on the Isuzu TF. Other cars sourced from Isuzu during the 1980s were the four-wheel drive Jackaroo (1981), the Shuttle (1982) van and the Piazza (1986) three-door sports hatchback. The second generation Holden Gemini from 1985 was also based on an Isuzu design, although, its manufacture was undertaken in Australia.
  While GM Australia's commercial vehicle range had originally been mostly based on Bedford products, these had gradually been replaced by Isuzu products. This process began in the 1970s and by 1982 Holden's commercial vehicle arm no longer offered any Bedford products.
  The new Holden WB commercial vehicles and the Statesman WB limousines were introduced in 1980. However, the designs, based on the HQ and updated HJ, HX and HZ models from the 1970s were less competitive than similar models in Ford's lineup. Thus, Holden abandoned those vehicle classes altogether in 1984. Sales of the Commodore also fell, with the effects of the 1979 energy crisis lessening, and for the first time the Commodore lost ground to the Ford Falcon. Sales in other segments also suffered when competition from Ford intensified, and other Australian manufacturers: Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota gained market share. When released in 1982, the Camira initially generated good sales, which later declined because buyers considered the 1.6-litre engine underpowered, and the car's build and ride quality below-average. The Camira lasted just seven years, and contributed to Holden's accumulated losses of over A$500 million by the mid-1980s.
  In 1984, Holden introduced the VK Commodore, with significant styling changes from the previous VH. The Commodore was next updated in 1986 as the VL, which had new front and rear styling. Controversially, the VL was powered by the 3.0-litre Nissan RB30 six-cylinder engine and had a Nissan-built, electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission. Holden even went to court in 1984 to stop local motoring magazine Wheels from reporting on the matter. The engine change was necessitated by the legal requirement that all new cars sold in Australia after 1986 had to consume unleaded petrol. Because it was unfeasible to convert the existing six-cylinder engine to run on unleaded fuel, the Nissan engine was chosen as the best engine available. However, changing currency exchange rates doubled the cost of the engine and transmission over the life of the VL. The decision to opt for a Japanese-made transmission led to the closure of the Woodville, South Australia assembly plant. Confident by the apparent sign of turnaround, GM paid off Holden's mounted losses of A$780 million on 19 December 1986. At GM headquarters' request, Holden was then reorganised and recapitalised, separating the engine and car manufacturing divisions in the process. This involved the splitting of Holden into Holden's Motor Company (HMC) and Holden's Engine Company (HEC). For the most part, car bodies were now manufactured at Elizabeth, South Australia, with engines as before, confined to the Fishermans Bend plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The engine manufacturing business was successful, building four-cylinder Family II engines for use in cars built overseas. The final phase of the Commodore's recovery strategy involved the 1988 VN, a significantly wider model powered by the American-designed, Australian-assembled 3.8-litre Buick V6 engine.
  Holden began to sell the subcompact Suzuki Swift-based Barina in 1985. The Barina was laun
caption: The second generation Commodore (VN Calais pictured) overcame the previous generation's width problems.
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