ADH Vehicles Corporation

Chris Griffith - Head of ADH R

**ADH Vehicles** is an Australian multinational company that produces automobiles.

Luxury vehicles are sold under the ADH brand, while performance models are handled by ADH R and commerical products are sold by **Kommerci Trucks & Vans**.

## History

In 1992, Australia's automotive industry was crippled. RWD, V8 powered sedans were all the rage on the road, and the track, but a proposal framed in 1987 meant that the tariff on new cars was slated to fall 2.5 percent a year from its current 40 per cent to bottom out at 35 per cent by 1992. However, the industry bounced back, and everyone was driving Commodores and Falcons like meat pies at a footy game. On November 28, 1992, ADH Ltd was formed.

They began with, naturally, a large, V8 powered sedan, not to compete with the Falcon - Commodore combo, but to fight the imports. The ADH Kookaburra was born. It worked, up until 2006, when Holden released its new VE, based on the $1 billion GM Zeta (aka Global RWD Architecture) platform. It was an instant knock-out, but it also brought class to the Aussie car scene. Cars were no longer V8 only, instead offered in either V6 or V8. Ford knew that it would have to bring it’s A-game to attempt to beat the VE. ADH knew it needed to scrap the Kookaburra. No one was buying an Aussie sedan for its sheer power alone anymore, and the Kookaburra sure had that, but it lacked refinement.

In 2007, ADH responded with the E-Spec. It marked the shift from brute force to power wrapped in a refined vehicle.

ADH knew it had the Falcon beat, but only a true comparison would settle the score for the VE and L1 E-Spec. This finally happened in the September issue of Wheels, 2007. And it was a dead heat. Peter Robinson wrote "the VE is so dynamic, but the ADH has such fantastic ride quality. If I had to pick, it would be to take both home."

ADH, relieved with its success, realised that neither of the other Aussie brands had a smaller sedan. In 2010, the K1 C-Spec was launched. It caught the attention of everyone working innercity, as the Blue Oval offered no hatchback-based sedan nor a shrunken Falcon to combat it, while the Red Lion had the V6 powered Commodore, which was far too large, and the Barina, which was a hot mess.

ADH had CEOs and urbanites covered, but it lacked anything truly fast. **ADH R Ltd** was formed on the 6 July 2011, and it instantly set to work making the L1 E-Spec unreasonably powerful. The result was the ADH E40 V8 R, an absolute bonkers machine which frightened everyone. At least, those who were brave enough to turn the ESC off.

By 2012, 4x4s, more commonly known as Sport Utility Vehicles, were beginning to gain traction. They were much taller than normal passenger cars, but offered better ride height as well as a better view of the road. ADH needed to jump on the bandwagon, but needed to better the Ford Territory. This was a hard ask, as the Territory was very well known as well as extremely capable. The LH1 EX-Spec was born. It certainly had presence, but it wasn’t quite as able to off-road as the Territory.

ADH was selling well now, but by 2013, the L1 E-Spec was ageing. The company had a plan for 2015, so for then, it needed to have something to fill the lineup. It wasn’t god-awful, it was actually decent. It just didn’t live long. The L2 E-Spec was a great car, and it built on the already solid foundations of the successful L1, but it didn’t bring anything fantastic to the table.

By now, the Barina was less of a hot mess, and ADH needed to do something about it. The J1 A-Spec was born in 2014. It was nothing spectacular, but with ADH having had no experience with such a vehicle, they didn’t do terribly. It was still better than a Barina.

In 2014, Tony Abbott challenged 3 companies that manufactured in Australia to close down: Toyota, Holden and Ford. The companies could do nothing about it.

In October, 2016, Ford stopped production of Falcons and Territorys. At this time, Holden finished production of the Cruze. Toyota followed a year later, stopping the building of Camrys, Camry Hybrids and Aurions at Altona.

At 10:45am on Friday 20 October 2017, the last Aussie-built Holden Commodore rolled off the Elizabeth production line.

Strangely, though, he never challenged ADH to close. Maybe it was the quality of the cars. Maybe it was because they all sold well. We may never know.

ADH, heartbroken at the closing down of the other manufacturers, commissioned 3 one-off specials for each brand, and 100 commemorative editions for workers. The L1 ADH E-Spec, the model that Peter drove, was given to the team at Holden as the ADH E40 V8 Holden Commemorative Edition. Ford was given an LH1 EX30 V6 Ford Commemorative Edition. Toyota was sent an L2 E20 Toyota Commemorative Edition. These were all in their individual colours. All 3 left the factory in Clayton simultaneously, bound for Elizabeth, Lang Lang, and Altona, respectively.

During the time that the manufacturers shut down, ADH had achieved several things. At the end of 2013, a new K2 C-Spec was launched. By December 2013, ADH R tweaked the L2, and gave us not only a brand new E50 V8 R, but also the E30 V6 R, so that performance became more accessible. In 2015, the brand new E-Spec was released. Not having Australian opponents for much longer, it aimed its sights on Germany. Not waiting around on Lexus or Infiniti, just going straight to the top. ADH R released a performance version of the L3 called the E45 V8 R Performance, marking the company's first Performance model, meaning it had even more power, but now it had a way to put it down. A German magazine performing a 4-way comparison between it, the RS 5, the E63 and the M5 said: "this car used to be in a different category. On their first try in this new one, they've nailed it." In 2016, small SUVs based off the company's hatchbacks became popular, so not only did the J1 A-Spec get replaced, it also got a brand new JH1 AX-Spec. It added a little more ground clearance, for not much more money.

ADH went quiet after that, continuing to produce very decent vehicles, winning comparison after comparison. In 2017, however, they pulled a big one. Something to rival the biggest of the best. The M1 S-Spec was designed to rival the S-Class, 7 Series and A8. And it most certainly did that. Not only was it luxurious, it was perfection. It allowed the driver to have full control of his experience, whether the owner is in the rear seat, or the driver's. The LH2 EX-Spec was also released, a vast leap over the previous LH1, and beating out the Thai-built Ford Everest.

2020 hit. ADH completely renewed the lineup. Everything was refreshed, and a whole new design philosophy was created. ADH somehow stepped up from their already high foot on the podium. Only time will tell what happens in 2021.