History
In 1852, James Alexander Holden emigrated to South Australia from
Walsall, England and in 1856 established J.A. Holden & Co, a
saddlery business in Adelaide. Edward Holden, James' son, joined
the firm in 1905 with an interest in automobiles. From there, the
firm evolved through various partnerships and, in 1908, Holden and
Frost moved into the business of minor repairs to car upholstery.
The company began to produce complete motorcycle sidecar bodies
in 1913, and Edward experimented with fitting bodies to different
types of carriages. After 1917, wartime trade restrictions led the
company to start full-scale production of vehicle body shells. J.A.
Holden founded a new company in 1919, Holden's Motor Body Builders
Ltd (HMBB) specialising in car bodies. By 1923, HMBB were producing
12,000 units per year.
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Vehicles
Holden began to export vehicles in 1954, sending the FJ to
New Zealand. Exports to New Zealand have continued ever since,
but to broaden their export potential, Holden began to cater
their Commodore, Monaro and Statesman models for both right-
and left-hand drive markets. The Middle East is now Holden's
largest export market, with the Commodore sold as the Chevrolet
Lumina since 1998, and the Statesman since 1999 as the Chevrolet
Caprice. Commodores are also sold as the Chevrolet Lumina
in Brunei, Fiji and South Africa, to Brazil as the Chevrolet
Omega, and since 2008 to North America as the Pontiac G8.
The G8 is lightly modified, with a unique front fascia and
rear decklid to better integrate with Pontiac's own design
language.
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The Logo
The logo, or "Holden lion and stone" as it is known, has played
a vital role in establishing Holden's identity. In 1928, Holden's
Motor Body Builders appointed Rayner Hoff to design the emblem.
The logo refers to a prehistoric fable, in which observations of
lions rolling stones led to the invention of the wheel. With the
1948 launch of the 48-215, Holden revised its logo and commissioned
another redesign in 1972 to better represent the company. The emblem
was reworked once more in 1994.
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