Holden Retirees Club News
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Our 1st June 2023 Lunch
On a chilly morning, 102 members braved the cold to attend our 170th Luncheon. This was an excellent number for the June Lunch, traditionally our lowest attendance month, and almost back to pre-Covid levels. Good to see some faces there who had been missing for a little while!
Our President, Bill Hooper was enjoying some vacation time in the warm North, so our Secretary, Peter Roberts, opened the meeting at 12:30 PM by welcoming members and our guest speaker.
Peter went on to introduce our new members who have joined since our last lunch:
Geoff Woodward, HEC, Fishermens Bend
Gary White, Powertrain, Fishermens Bend
Sonya Reid, Engineering, Fishermens Bend
Tony Porritt, Engineering, Fishermens Bend
Alois Car, Engineering, Fishermens Bend
The new members were given a warm welcome to the Club.
Unfortunately, we have been advised of the following deaths since our last meeting:
Noel Ryan, HEC, Fishermens Bend
David Holmes, Plant & Equipment, Pagewood and Elizabeth
Bruce Scott, NASCO, Dandenong
Mervyn Schorman, Traffic Dandenong & Fishermens Bend
Members stood silent for one minute in their memory.
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Lunch was then served which consisted of two delicious courses for $27.
MAINS (Alternating):
Slow cooked Lamb Shank, served with mashed potato, seasonal vegetables, pan gravy
Chicken Parma served with chips and salad
DESSERT( Alternating):
Baked Cheesecake, or
Sticky Date Pudding
Tea and Coffee
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After lunch, Peter introduced our speaker, Kevin Yardley, retired Holden, GM Asia Pacific & Vinfast Executive.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Engineering from Swinburne University and working for 2 years at Brivis Heating and Cooling, Kevin joined the Holden Engine Company (HEC) in April 1995. There he served in a number of roles: Design Release Engineer, responsible for Daewoo Family II Engines (1995), Managing Engineer - Transmissions (1997), and Managing Engineer - V6 and V8 Engines (1999).
He moved to Holden Product Planning in 2002 as Vehicle Program Manager for Holden VZ and WL model RWD Passenger Vehicles, before returning to HEC as Holden Calibration Manager - Engines and Transmissions, in 2005.
In December 2008, Kevin was assigned to GM China as BDOHC Engine Program Manager (responsible for more than 1 Million Engines per year) before moving in 2011 to Projects Manager, a position he held until May 2014.
He was then reassigned to GM India PT as Engineering Director. Here he was responsible for a team of over 700 Engineers delivering Math based solutions for all GMs global future products (Design, analysis, CAE) and integration solutions for Indian local products. (Spark, Cruise, Tavera, Trailblazer). He also chaired the CSRB (Compliance Strategy Review Board) in India to ensure appropriate Governance of local products from a Homologation perspective. Finally, he was part of the Strategy team to exit GM Products from India.
Kevin returned to Holden Australia in July 2017, as Regional Sector Leader for GM International Diesel Applications, responsible for Korean / Thailand / Australian / SEA Diesel Engine applications including compliance and safety of GM products in the Region.
In December 2019, Kevin joined Vietnam-based Vinfast as head of their Australian operations, where he recruited a highly talented team of Engineers and established Vinfast Australia. As part of this role, he purchased the GM Holden Proving Ground for Vinfast to enable full vehicle development, and led the team to develop 2 EV vehicles (including Combustion Engine variants) for production in Vietnam. In Oct 2020 he relocated to Vietnam as Deputy CEO Product Development, replacing Jim Deluca to lead the Company’s R&D of multiple Vehicles for Global Markets including US and Europe. He returned to Australia in June 2021, where he has now retired.
Kevin gave us a very interesting and entertaining description of his experiences working in Asian car companies and compared them not so favourably to Holden in a number of ways. But if you wanted to hear about them, you needed to be there! The very nature of the subject material meant that no recording could be made.
At the end of Kevin's presentation and lively question time, he was thanked enthusiastically by acclamation and the usual bottle of wine.
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Peter moved on to general business.
Firstly, a reminder of the Holden ex-employees Day at Trafalgar Motor Museum on Sunday 18 June, starting at 10:00 AM. Entry cost is $10 per head, which includes a free barbeque lunch.
The lucky door prize draw was next.
We had the usual 3 Westfield cards provided by the club ($30, $20, $10) and additionally, 2 double passes to the Trafalgar Holden Museum provided by the museum. The Trafalgar passes can be used at the Ex-Employees day as well.
All the prizes were happily received by the lucky members.
Peter thanked all for attending and closed the lunch at 3:00 PM.
The next lunch will be Thursday, 7th September 2023.
We look forward to seeing you there!
The Gold Coast Retirees Lunch was held at Club Southport on 1 June 2023.
Pictured L _ R Rod Alford, Jan Alford, Grant Hewitson, Christine Hewitson, Carol Hickey, Jill Ashmore, Sue Bryant, Pat Dryden, Maureen Roberts, Graeme Roberts, Ted Bryant, John Ashmore, Garry Dryden, Basil Hickey, Bevan Rawson, Garry Newsome.
Out of screen, Graeme Coverdale, Terry Kirk, Pauline Phillips
Thanks to Ted Bryant for the information. Ted is available on 0428 123 206 if anyone from that area needs a ride to the Lunch. All welcome!
Members who are users of Social Media might like to know that there are some pages of interest to both current and retired Holden employees. The first is the “GM Holden Alumni Group” on Facebook, which at the time of writing, has 1,647 members. This is a Private Group, so you must apply on the site to join, but only other members can see who is in the group and what they post. It is a lively group, started and moderated by HRC member, Thalia Abramzon.
The second is the “Holden Engineering Alumni” Group, which also a Private Group on Facebook, but you must have been a member of Engineering at some time to join. It currently has 465 members and is moderated by Sharmy Francis and Rod Pettit. Quote: “The aim of the Group is to share photos, news, stories & thoughts between past & current Holden Engineering team members. Any group member can invite others to join. All members MUST BE or HAVE BEEN Holden Engineering Team members. Please ensure that people you invite to join meet this simple criteria. Posts must be positive, professional & appropriate. No GM Confidential information.”
Lastly, for users of LinkedIn there is a “GM Holden Alumni” page with 362 members in the network at present, again administered by Thalia Abramzon. The direct link to the Group is: www.linkedin.com/groups/12295307.
All these groups are recommended to interested members who want to keep in touch with current and past mates.