Vale John Bagshaw
End of an era as the last Australian to lead Holden dies at age 87John Bagshaw, who was one of Holden’s most personable and successful leaders — and the last Australian to serve in the top job at Fishermans Bend — died on Friday June 8 at the age of 87.
Mr Bagshaw enjoyed a 42-year career with General Motors, holding senior executive roles in the UK, Europe and the US. He followed his father into the car industry by joining Holden in 1948 after serving in the Royal Australian Navy.
A remarkably successful career saw him at the helm of Holden between 1987 and 1990 after returning from a successful stint in the UK as managing director of British GM brand Vauxhall.
This was on the back of his strong presence within Holden, and GM globally. Prior to moving to the US in 1978, Mr Bagshaw had held management roles in sales and distribution and was named Director of Sales in 1972.
He was the driving force behind the establishment of the Holden Dealer Team and had his stamp on numerous iconic models such as the HQ SS (which stemmed from a one-off vehicle produced by the styling team for Bagshaw himself), Monaro GTS models, the Torana XU-1 and the SLR 5000.
He followed this with nine years in the US, working in corporate international marketing for Pontiac, then moved to Europe where he held senior positions at Vauxhall and Opel before shifting to the UK and eventually becoming MD at Vauxhall.
He is credited with turning Vauxhall around before returning to Australia, where he became Holden’s MD in November 1987.
His successes continued and Mr Bagshaw was largely responsible for returning Holden to profitability via the larger, pumped-up VN Commodore that was able to go face to face with Ford’s hitherto larger Falcon. He was also behind the joint program with Toyota that produced the re-badged Commodore known as the Toyota Lexcen in 1989.
“Bags,” as he was affectionately known, commanded a lot of respect within the GM empire, and his sales background saw him as an immensely popular figure within the Holden dealer group.
He was a straight shooter not afraid to admit the occasional lack of design forethought.
In 1968, during the days of the HK Holden, the company was unable to offer anything other than a dodgy hang-on air-conditioner when rival makes had theirs properly integrated. Mr Bagshaw admitted the car’s design was at fault. “Simply there was no f...g space for one (a built-in air-conditioner),” he said.
Mr Bagshaw is survived by his wife Gillian, his three daughters Liz, Karen and Lauren, his five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on the Gold Coast in the “coming weeks.”
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