GM invests $9 million in Lang Lang test centre

Amidst all the doom and gloom on the local automotive industry front comes the good news that Holden is receiving $8.7 million to continue emissions testing at the Lang Lang Proving Ground south east of Melbourne.

The funding will enable Holden engineers to test vehicles under the latest Euro6 and US emissions standards. It will also create 11 new jobs, which will take Holden's engineering and design workforce to 300, 106 of which will work at the Lang Lang facility.

The investment, funded by Holden's Detroit-based parent company General Motors, is welcome news for Holden’s engineering team, which has already concluded work on the planned upgrades to the 2017 Holden Commodore range, which will be the final models to be built in Australia.

It’s believed the team will conduct 7000 tests per year spread across 100 models from GM’s 10 global brands, which will provide a boost to GM’s already stretched emissions testing teams in the US and Europe.

The Lang Lang facility has the capability to calibrate and test diesel, LPG and hybrid models though it’s understood the Holden engineers will primarily test petrol engines.

Holden has previously confirmed that the Lang Lang proving ground, which opened in 1957, will continue to be used to tune its future imported vehicles to suit Australian conditions.