GM Holden has celebrated the manufacture of its four millionth engine for export partners around the world.

Victoria's Minister for Manufacturing and Export, the Hon. Mr Andre Haermeyer, joined employees at Holden Engine Operations, Port Melbourne, to mark the milestone.

Mr Haermeyer helped to package a state-of-the-art Global V6 engine ready for its journey overseas.

Holden has produced a range of four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines for export at Port Melbourne since 1981, and currently holds contracts to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America.

It also builds engines for Australia's best-selling car, the Holden Commodore, and its many export variants.

GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Denny Mooney, said engine manufacturing for export and domestic markets was an important part of Holden’s operations and complemented the company’s vehicle exports.

“Our engine operations continue to shine, demonstrating that Holden is a full range automotive company – with the design, engineering and manufacturing of cars and the engines that power them right here in Australia,” Mr Mooney said.

“The fact that we have built four million engines for other markets around the world highlights how serious GM is about manufacturing in Australia. This is a significant contribution to our global operations and has involved many collaborations worldwide

“Of course, you don’t reach four million export engines without a lot of hard work, and this is a testament to the effort, skill and expertise of our employees,” he said.

Mr Mooney said the four millionth export engine – a Global V6 – represented Holden’s many past successes as well as its bright future.

“The Global V6 engine family was the result of many years of planning and more than $400 million of investment in GM’s Australian operations,” Mr Mooney said.

“Our four millionth export engine demonstrates the ongoing contribution which GM Holden makes to Australia's economy through export, and the importance of our products to the world.”

At the ceremony, Mr Mooney acknowledged the overwhelming contribution to the four millionth export made by the Family II four-cylinder engine, which has been produced by Holden since 1981.

“Family II represents the bulk of our four million export engines, and our celebrations of the first three million engine exports were all due to Family II,” Mr Mooney said.

“However, since production of the Global V6 began two years ago, it has been making some important inroads into our export volume, and will continue to do so.”

Bound for Sweden

The four millionth export engine – a 2.8-litre Turbo V6 – is to be shipped to Sweden, where it will become the powertrain for one of the new 9-3 Aero range of vehicles produced by another GM brand, Saab.

Saab is one of several customers of Holden’s Global V6 engine.

“Our turbo engine is the best performance engine to go into a Saab. It represents the quality and high level of performance that Australians have become accustomed to from Holden,” Mr Mooney said.

“Importantly, Australian drivers will have the opportunity to experience that technology and performance, as the Saab vehicles powered by our engines will also be sold here.”

Background – Global V6 engine

GM Holden's $400 million Global V6 plant in Port Melbourne, Victoria, manufactures six-cylinder engines for export to GM brands around the world and to power Holden-manufactured vehicles for domestic and export markets.

The Global V6 engine family comes in three displacement sizes – 2.8-litre, 3.2-litre and 3.6-litre. It was developed by GM to fulfil its strategy to build a new generation of sophisticated, high-feature six-cylinder engines for worldwide application in premium and high-performance vehicles.

Holden’s production of the first Global V6 engines began in 2003. Manufacture of the domestic Alloytec V6 began in June 2004.

The lightweight, all-aluminium construction offers features such as advanced double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, continuously variable camshaft phasing and a dual stage variable intake manifold.

A micro hybrid design 32-bit capacity engine control unit, one of the most powerful currently available for automotive use, can dictate every aspect of engine operation. Electronic throttle control effectively coordinates drivers’ intentions with the actions of various powertrain control components.

Background – Family II engine

Holden has been producing GM’s four-cylinder Family II engine since 1981. Two-thirds of annual production of the original Family II Camtech engine were destined for export markets.

Engine and component exports helped to make Holden Australia's major exporter of manufactured goods in 1983, when close to 150,000 Family II engines were shipped to West Germany, the UK, South Africa and New Zealand.

Production of the second generation Family II engine began in 1985.

In 1987 exports to South Korea commenced and the one millionth export engine milestone was reached in 1988.

The two millionth export engine was produced in 1994. By then, more than $1 million in export revenue was being generated every working day, servicing a global customer base that included Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Germany, India, Egypt, South Africa and the UK.

In 1995, the Family II engine plant received a $200 million investment boost to support the introduction of four-valve, double overhead camshaft (DOHC) technology, foundry modernisation and capacity expansion.

The three millionth Family II four-cylinder engine export milestone was reached in 1999.

In 2000, when the foundry poured a record 50,000 tonnes of metal, a record 264,942 engines were shipped, earning total export revenue of $447 million.

Current Family II four-cylinder engine markets are South Korea, South Africa, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and China.

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GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Denny Mooney