Holden to recruit 150 additional engineers

General Motors today announced plans to employ 150 more engineers at Holden’s Port Melbourne facility to join the company's global Advanced Vehicle Design (AVD) wing dedicated to the development of autonomous and electric vehicle technology.

All 150 of the vacant positions are expected to be filled by the end of next year, recruiting both experienced and graduate engineers, bringing the Australian design, engineering and development team to over 500 strong.

Australia's history of vehicle production and engineering prowess played a critical role in GM's decision to extend its Advanced Vehicle Design program to Australia, which also has teams working in Detroit, China and South Korea.

At a media event held at Holden's Port Melbourne headquarters, GM executive vice-president of global product development – and former Holden managing director – Mark Reuss, expressed the brand's commitment to autonomous and zero-emissions vehicles, for which Holden in Australia will play a “significant role”.

“GM is determined to be the first company to bring safe, autonomous vehicles to market — not within years, but in quarters. Make no mistake, we’re moving to a driverless future — a future of safer roads and zero crashes,” he said.

“At the same time, GM is well on its way to bringing at least 20 new all-electric models to market by 2023.

“The world-class vehicle engineering capability we have at Holden in Australia will play a significant role in GM delivering on its commitment to create a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”

Recruitment has already begun, targeting “the best of the best” according to GM Holden executive director of engineering Brett Vivian. “We want to harness the best young engineering minds in the country,” he said.

Holden's new chief Dave Buttner lauded the work that has been done by Aussie engineers, and has no doubt they will continue to have a positive impact on vehicle design both locally, and globally.

“Before any vehicle can earn the right to be a Holden, our engineers clock up 4000 hours and 200,000 kilometres in Australian conditions, testing everything from the suspension to radio performance and recognizing Australian road signs,” said Buttner.

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