GM abandons Australian and New Zealand markets

The American automaker General Motors (GM) leaves Australia and New Zealand. The US company is also closing the door behind in Thailand. The factory sells a factory there to the Chinese counterpart Great Wall Motor Company.

The Holden brand comes to an end with the departure from Australia. Founded in 1856, the company started producing cars at the beginning of the last century, and in 1948 the first Holden designed and built entirely in Australia came onto the market. The company was the market leader for many years, but now only has about 4 percent of the market.

Due to the departure from the three countries, General Motors records a depreciation of almost $ 1.1 billion. GM has long been busy with divesting loss-making components such as Opel and leaving countries where not enough is earned.

With the departure from Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, GM focuses primarily on the United States home market. The company also remains active in China, Mexico and South America.