issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . december 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message holden new zealand type private industry automotive founded 4 january 1926 headquarters m ngere east new zealand key people kristian aquilina managing director owner general motors number of employees 36 july 2016 parent holden website www.holden.co.nz holden new zealand limited formerly general motors new zealand limited before 1994 is the sales subsidiary for general motors in new zealand . holden new zealand was incorporated as a company on 4 january 1926 . contents 1 assembly plants 2 brands 3 name change 4 differences between holden australia and holden new zealand 5 references 6 external links assembly plants edit the petone assembly plant opened in 1926 and the trentham in wellington s hutt valley area assembly plant opened on 26 august 1967 by the prime minister of new zealand keith holyoake . at this time the company had almost one million square feet of floor space situated on three petone and trentham assembly manufacturing plants ; upper hutt parts and later assembly warehouse and office facilities properties in the hutt valley totaling 117 acres 0.47 km2 . the petone assembly plant was sold in 1984 . in 1990 general motors new zealand announced its decision to phase out local assembly of passenger cars . in 2015 the former trentham plant was sold to weta digital while existing space is used by the new zealand army . 1 brands edit while the holden name was and is used on virtually all gm products in australia in new zealand other gm products from vauxhall bedford chevrolet isuzu pontiac and opel were sold as well . however for such a small market it made little sense to have so many brands so each was rationalized from the 1960s . chevrolet and pontiac had effectively disappeared from the market by the 1970s though there were still chevrolet trucks from the us and a top end holden statesman with a chevrolet v8 engine known as the chevrolet 350 . vauxhall s full line up was pared back to the chevette and viva by 1977 as holden s range expanded to include mid sized cars the torana and sunbird . isuzu selling the gemini and vauxhall with the last chevette disappeared on the launch of the holden gemini te series in 1981 while bedford met its demise with the assembly of the last cf vans in 1984 . as 1983 began holden began fielding something close to a full range the gemini as the entry level car the camira as the mid sized one and the commodore in the large sector . all ranges had sedan and wagon variants the gemini also had a van version and each lineup included sporting and luxury versions . however the australian gm j car based holden camira jb series fared so badly due to quality problems in new zealand that local gm bosses decided to replace it with the gm j car based isuzu aska or jj from japan . this was known as the jj camira and proved to be much better than its australian sourced predecessor . the isuzu based model survived until holden introduced the ultimate camira the je which made it across the tasman sea in 1987 . as the 1980s continued and holden s future became uncertain general motors new zealand pondered the reintroduction of other gm brands . in around 1985 there were strong rumours and a gm report that indicated that holden would cease to exist in its current form and that its models would be exclusively designed offshore . certainly what was happening in australia did not instil confidence rebadged suzukis nissans and isuzus were occupying the bottom end of the range while the commodore was about to shift to a japanese designed three l engine . therefore opel made a small reintroduction with a tiny selection of highly priced models kadett gse ascona gt senator monza of european origin . research showed that pontiac had a good reputation so rather than follow the australian route with a rebadged toyota corolla in 1984 gm new zealand brought in the opel kadett based lemans from daewoo of south korea attempting to fill both the compact and mid sized sectors until the arrival of the opel vectra . as in other countries it was badged as the pontiac lemans . despite the car s origins and place of manufacture it was marketed in new zealand as american only for the reason of the well known fact of the pontiac name being american . in the late 1980s general motors new zealand attempted to use many makes and have gm as the main brand . therefore the mainstream range in 1989 consisted of suzuki swift but this was marketed by suzuki new zealand not general motors holden barina a rebadged suzuki cultus swift pontiac lemans imported from daewoo of korea opel vectra holden vectra from late 1994 opel calibra holden commodore holden piazza commercial vehicles were branded as isuzu . general motors new zealand s marketing strategy created little brand loyalty and consumers did not accept gm as a brand probably due to the multiple brands on offer . name change edit from 1994 with holden s future starting to look more secure general motors new zealand changed name to holden new zealand . the opel name was dropped and the vectra was rebadged as a holden even though it was at the time not available in australia . the astra was introduced the following year branded as a holden even though identical opel badged models imported second hand from japan were already being sold locally . early models of the holden astra and vectra in new zealand differed from those sold in australia in that they had a distinctive grille with a v containing the holden badge similar to that used by vauxhall in the uk . later on this was changed to bring the new zealand model range in line with australia . similarly the isuzu trooper off road vehicle was rebadged the holden jackaroo as in australia although owing to the widespread availability of the identical isuzu bighorn as a used japanese import that name was used on brand new models imported by holden new zealand . this policy of rebadging the isuzu trooper under another general motors brand name was used by opel and vauxhall in europe and asia with the vauxhall opel monterey and in latin america as the chevrolet trooper for a short period between early 1998 and late 1999 the holden frontera was sold new in new zealand as the isuzu wizard although this range is now semi identical to holden australia s line up . differences between holden australia and holden new zealand edit there are still differences between the holden model ranges in australia and new zealand . it was only in august 2005 that the wagon version of the holden astra went on sale in australia while in new zealand the astra wagon was not available until june 2008 like the zafira in 2004 . the tigra was also released in australia but not sold in new zealand . due to the large number of second hand japanese imports into new zealand such holden vehicles sold in australia only as holdens can also be seen on new zealand roads as their international equivalents such as the chevrolet optra which was the holden viva in australia or the 2002 2006 suzuki ignis derived chevrolet cruze only known as the suzuki ignis in australia . as of july 2016 the range of vehicles sold in australia and new zealand has been unified with both markets selling the korean sourced holden spark and holden barina the australian assembled holden cruze until the plant closes in october 2016 and the european sourced holden astra small cars . for medium sized cars holden sells the korean produced holden malibu and the european built holden cascada convertible and holden insignia sedan vehicles . in the large vehicle segment the holden is represented by the australian produced holden commodore and holden caprice . references edit colin williams 18 november 2015 . upper hutt s former car assembly plant sold to weta film group . dominion post . external links edit holden new zealand v t e automotive marques of general motors wholly owned current buick cadillac chevrolet gmc holden opel vauxhall discontinued acadian 1962 1971 alpheon 2010 2015 as na 1992 1995 beaumont 1966 1969 bedford 1930 1986 cartercar 1905 1915 daewoo 1982 2011 elmore 1893 1912 envoy 1959 1970 gm diesel 1938 2000 geo 1989 1997 hummer 1992 2010 lasalle 1927 1940 marquette 1929 1930 mclaughlin 1918 1942 oakland 1907 1931 oldsmobile 1897 2004 passport 1988 1991 pontiac 1926 2010 ranger 1968 1976 saturn 1985 2010 scripps booth 1913 1923 sheridan 1920 1921 statesman 1971 1984 viking 1929 1931 yellow coach 1925 1943 former lotus 1986 1993 saab 1989 2010 shareholdings and joint ventures current baojun1 jie fang 50 % ravon 25 % wuling1 former fiat 2000 2005 ; up to 20 % isuzu motors c. 1971 2006 ; up to 49 % subaru c. 1999 2006 ; 20 % suzuki 1985 2008 ; up to 15 % psa peugeot citro n 2012 2013 ; up to 7 % uzdaewoo 1992 2015 ; up to 50 % 1marques of saic gm wuling gm up to 44 % category v t e general motors divisions and subsidiaries vehicle brands buick cadillac chevrolet gmc holden holden special vehicles opel opel performance center vauxhall services acdelco gm certified service gm financial onstar geographic general motors canada cami automotive general motors de mexico general motors do brasil general motors egypt general motors india chevrolet sales india private limited general motors south africa general motors japan opel group shareholdings faw gm 50 % gm avtovaz 41.61 % gm korea 96 % chevrolet europe gm vietnam gm uzbekistan 25 % uzdaewooavto 50 % hrl laboratories 50 % saic gm 49 % saic gm wuling 34 % baojun industries m caniques maghr bines 20 % products and technologies platforms transmissions hybrids vehicles engines i3 family 0 sge i4 family 0 sge family 1 mge family ii ecotec v6 high feature gen v v8 gen iv gen v former divisions joint ventures and subsidiaries allison engine company 1929 1995 allison transmission 1929 2007 atlantic aircraft dayton wright company 1919 1923 delco electronics delphi 1994 1999 detroit diesel 1938 1988 directv 1994 2003 electro motive diesel 1930 2004 electronic data systems 1984 1996 euclid trucks 1953 1968 fisher body fleetwood metal body frigidaire 1919 1980 general motors europe 1986 2010 general motors diesel division 1938 1987 general motors diesel 1949 1969 ghandhara industries 1953 1963 gm defense 1950 2003 gmac ally 1919 2013 gmac real estate 1998 2008 gmc heavy trucks hughes aircraft 1985 1997 hughes electronics 1985 1997 hughes network systems 1987 2003 hughesnet direcway direcpc 1996 2003 kettering university national city lines nummi 1984 2009 new venture gear 36 % 1990 2002 nexteer 2009 2010 north american aviation 1933 1948 nuvell financial services 1997 2008 panamsat 1995 2003 remy electric 1918 1994 rochester products division terex united australian automobile industries 1989 1996 winton motor carriage company yellow coach manufacturing company 1925 1943 places renaissance center gm technical center gm proving grounds factories people william c. durant founder tim solso chairman mary barra ceo dan