Shuttered General Motors plant targeted for EV production
Electric vehicles from a new startup company could be built in former Chevrolet SS Australian home.
The decision made by General Motors to cease vehicle production in Australia at the end of last year meant that US car enthusiasts sadly lost the Chevrolet SS and car nuts in Australia lost the Holden Commodore as they knew it. It also meant the disappearance of Australian manufacturing jobs with the shuttering of the plant that may find new life producing cars again if British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has his way.
Gupta, who has invested heavily in steel production in the United Kingdom and Australia, is now targeting assets from the former Holden site in Elizabeth, Australia in hopes of producing electric vehicles using Gordon Murry's iStream platform, according to reports. That's a far cry from a V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan, but it would mean the return of manufacturing jobs to the region.
The Chevrolet SS disappeared after 2017.
Holden has announced that the Commodore model will continue to be offered in Australia. The new car will be based off the Open Insignia offering four- and six-cylinder engines in front- or all-wheel-drive configurations. For folks in the US, a replacement to the SS doesn't appear likely.
As for the former birthplace of the Commodore and SS finding new life as an electric vehicle production facility, that'll come down to whether or not Gupta's group and General Motors can make a deal.
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