Holden gets design tick from head office

GM Holden will significantly expand its Port Melbourne design centre to design vehicles for General Motors markets around the world. The announcement was made earlier this week by General Motors Vice-President Global Design, Ed Welburn, during a visit to Australia with GM Holden Design Director, Tony Stolfo.

Mr Welburn said GM Holden would take on design programs for other GM brands.

"This decision means the coming of age for GM Holden Design, its place in the GM design world and frankly, the world of design in general," Welburn said.

"It is natural that GM would harness the abilities and vision of its designers around the world to expand and develop its vehicle portfolio. GM Holden has earned its place at the table through delivering internationally successful production cars as well as breathtaking concept cars over the past few years," he said.

"Our Australian operations are making their presence felt around the world, with GM Holden designers currently based in the United States, Europe, Korea and China.

"GM Holden has been a high output design house for many years and we're about to make it something much bigger," Welburn opined.

The decision will see the Port Melbourne operations grow to be GM's third largest design centre behind Detroit (USA) and Russelsheim (Germany). Local staff will increase from 107 to 176. According to GM, this will cement Holden's place as the largest automotive design centre in Australia.

Via its new role GM Holden will assume key roles in the design and engineering of GM models outside the Australian market. Ironically, it's this factor that may halp cement the future of icon Aussie models names like Monaro and Torana (2004 TT36 Concept pictured). One of the cars slated for design by the Australian operation is a large rear-wheel-drive performance car for the US market. Holden currently builds rebadged and restyled Monaros as Pontiacs for GM's home market.

Similarly, a mid-size rear-wheel-drive platform has long been rumoured to be on GM's (and Holden's) wishlist. Holden's expertise could economically produce such a platform which in turn could underpin a new Torana (locally) and a 3-series/C-Class competitor for Cadiallac and other brands globally.

In preparation for the expansion Holden has already commenced a recruitment program.

Tony Stoflo said almost 400 applicants from around the world had responded to preliminary calls for expressions of interest to GM Holden, initiated to determine the depth of available talent for such a large-scale design staff hiring process.

"This takes GM Holden Design to a new level. We're no longer just a GM Holden design team, we're part of a global design team," Stolfo said.

Stolfo said GM Holden enjoyed strong links with Australian design educational institutions and hoped to be able to hire strong local talent in the process. He said hiring completion was expected in the first quarter of 2006, depending on availability of candidates.

"This is a great opportunity for us and we want to make sure we can tap into Australian talent as much as possible. At the same time, we would also love to bring in ideas from overseas to create variation in the way our designers think about and view cars."