Former Holden Proving Ground sold again

The future of the former General Motors-Holden Proving Ground at Lang Lang as an automotive testing and development facility is in serious doubt. In early May, it was announced that the 877-hectare site in Victoria had been sold to a defence contractor after being on the market since 2021.

Vietnamese vehicle brand, VinFast, purchased the proving grounds from GM in September, 2020. Barely a year later, they listed the site for sale after shelving plans to enter the Australian market.

Between then and this year’s sale, several automotive brands had leased Lang Lang to tune vehicles for Australian conditions. These included local firms, Premcar and Walkinshaw Automotive, as well as Chinese brands JAC, BYD and GWM. The latter claimed to have permanent residency at Lang Lang and was even considering purchasing the facility themselves.

While Lang Lang’s new owner has not been publicly named, some reporting has identified the company as DefendTex, a specialist in autonomous military vehicles (ie. drones). The new ownership,  and the sensitive nature of what they produce, mean shared tenancy will no longer be an option, with GWM asked to leave and all future automotive development work unlikely to be welcomed, either.

Opened in 1957, the Lang Lang facility was used to test and develop every series of Holden from the FC to the final VF Commodore, along with iconic models like the Monaro, Torana and Kingswood. At its height, it featured 44km of sealed and unsealed roads, including the 4.7km high speed bowl that featured in Holden press shots and ad campaigns. Numerous laboratory and engineering buildings were constructed on the site, too. 

With the end of Holden’s Australian manufacturing operations in 2017, the facility was used to test various other vehicles from the GM family before being vacated in Q3, 2020, after its sale to VinFast.

Losing access to Lang Lang means vehicle brands looking to tune their vehicles for local conditions will have to go elsewhere, with the main option being the Australian Automotive Research Centre near Anglesea. Ford retains ownership of their You Yangs Proving Ground, but are unlikely to offer access to rival brands.