Belgian Entrepreneur Wants GM Holden Site

There may yet be life after near-death for the Australian car manufacturing industry.

With the deadline looming for the end to GM Holden, Ford and Toyota manufacturing operations in the country, a Belgian entrepreneur is reportedly interested in buying GM Holden’s Elizabeth car manufacturing plant north of Adelaide.

The Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide reports Guido Dumarey, 56, wants to buy the facility to build Holden Commodores and other manufacturers’ current-model cars.

And before anybody laughs, Dumarey has a track record. In 2013, he bought and turned around a GM transmission plant in Strasbourg, France.

Dumarey tells the Australian website Motoring.com he wants to take the Zeta architecture that underpins the Commodore and develop a premium range of rear- and all-wheel-drive vehicles for local and export sales.

“Dumarey acknowledges he would have to rename and rebadge the line-up but is confident that is a solvable issue,” the website says. “He believes a dealer network can quickly be sourced locally and internationally.”

GM Holden plans to halt Australian manufacturing by the end of 2017, the same year as Toyota. Ford will stop production in 2016.

The newspaper says he is prepared to invest at least A$150 million ($109.2 million) in the project and would retain the existing workforce.

The GM Strasbourg plant Dumarey saved had been scheduled for closure with the loss of 1,000 jobs, but his company, Punch Corp., bought the operation. With GM giving purchase guarantees for the transmissions in the first two years, the newspaper says the business now is heading for 1,350 workers and has BMW as its biggest customer.

Dumarey has made at least three trips to Canberra to lobby for his proposal and is reportedly in early talks with state and federal governments about a plan for the Elizabeth factory that initially involves making vehicles under contract with established manufacturers before building his own cars within five years.

“Holden says it would carefully assess any detailed plans and Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne says he sees real possibilities for Punch at Elizabeth and will work with them to try to make it happen,” the newspaper reports.

Pyne met Dumarey last week.

“Much depends on General Motors and so, because my No.1 priority is jobs and growth, I will be working with them to try to make this happen,” Pyne says.

Federal opposition Labor Party industry spokesman Kim Carr, a longtime booster of the Australian auto industry, says he will work with the government to make Punch’s proposal happen.

“Great opportunity for Australia if the plan can be made to work,” Carr says in a tweet.

But he also tells The Advertiser obstacles remain and the proposal must be investigated.

South Australian Automotive Transformation Minister Kyam Maher says he has met Dumarey and the state government will work on any proposals for northern Adelaide, including the GM Holden site.

GM Holden says it has not yet received a detailed proposal, but says in a statement, “If a party is interested in the ongoing use of one our sites, Holden and GM will carefully assess any detailed plans should they be submitted.”

Dumarey tells the newspaper he is looking to reach an agreement by mid-2016 to ensure a seamless transition of plant operations once GM Holden ends production.

“We have been looking at the GM plant in Elizabeth for some time and, based on our experience with rejuvenating a GM transmissions plant which was due to be closed in Europe, we can see a unique opportunity here to build a different but viable premium vehicle manufacturing and export operation in Australia,” he says.

“To make it a reality will require all parties to work quickly and cooperatively and, to that end, we are pleased to see recent statements by GM that they are open to discussions about options for the plant.”

Dumarey was introduced to government and industry leaders by South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon.

“I have been working closely with Guido Dumarey to keep car making in Australia.” Xenophon says in a tweet.

But he cautions that talks are in the early stages and tells the newspaper it is important not to unduly raise hopes.

“The next six months will be absolutely critical for the future of automotive making in this country,” Xenophon says. “I’m not going to die wondering and want to make sure I did everything I could to (ensure) automotive making stays in this country.”