Holden's Lang Lang site linked to Lindsay Fox and VinFast

The Linfox Property Group and Vietnamese automotive company Vinfast are emerging as leading bidders for the GM Holden Lang Lang automotive proving ground.

But other as yet unnamed auto manufacturers are also said to be interested in the property.

A glossy brochure for the site at Lang Lang in Victoria’s south-east has emerged in the public domain in the past 24 hours.

Prepared by the international real estate company CBRE, it shows off the assets of the 877 hectare (2167 acre) site and says it will be available for vacant possession from the third quarter of 2020.

The CBRE brochure is supplied to potential buyers of the site, which has not be subject to a high-profile sales campaign. The brochure does not outline a buying price.

The sale of Lang Lang has been prompted by General Motors’ decision to close Holden and withdraw from the Australian market by the end of 2020.

The GM design studio at Port Melbourne is also due to close by the third quarter of 2020.

The Linfox Property Group, owned by the Fox family, already owns the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) at Anglesea and the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit.

Family patriarch, Lindsay Fox, is a renowned rev-head and car collector.

If Linfox does secure the site it would available to the automotive industry for testing as AARC is. Key Lang Lang assets include a 4.7km high-speed oval, a 5.5km ride and handling course and an emissions laboratory.

Vinfast is an ambitious start-up that has already set up an engineering office in Australia headed by ex-Holden staff. It also employs Australian automotive engineers and senior management at its home base.

Vinfast’s interest in Holden’s engineering and design facilities in Australia were first reported by carsales in February.

Last week, carsales published images of a prototype VinFast EV undergoing testing in Vietnam. It is due on-sale in the USA in 2021.

When contacted about the sale of the proving ground, a VinFast spokesman said in an emailed response: “We are studying over this.”

At least one other potential buyer is understood to have expressed interest in Lang Lang and carsales sources have indicated there are “several manufacturers circling”.

Porsche has been mentioned in one report as a potential buyer but that has been categorically rejected.

Lang Lang was opened in 1957 and was initially slated for closure when the end of local manufacturing by Holden was announced in late 2013. Linfox expressed interest in buying it then for an asking price in the $20 million range.

But secret lobbying at the very top of GM secured Lang Lang’s future.

Now it appears set to continue on, albeit with a new owner.