Holden Kingswood - Exports

Exports

Early Holdens were manufactured in New Zealand at the General Motors New Zealand plant in Petone until 1967, and Kingswoods were later assembled from complete knock down (CKD) kits at the new car plant at Trentham Upper Hutt further up the Hutt Valley from Wellington. Other Holden models like Monaro were imported completely built up (CBU) from Australia. From the 1960s Australian-made models were exported to Southeast Asia, and also to the Caribbean—the Kingswood was assembled in Trinidad and Tobago.

Some of these HQ-series models—assembled in Australia—were sold in New Zealand as the "Chevrolet 350" from 1971 to 1974. They differed little from the locally assembled 308-cubic-inch (5.0 L) V8 Statesman apart from a new grille with the Chevrolet logo, badges and hub caps, and effectively replaced the Canadian-sourced Chevrolet Impalas last sold in 1969.

Until the late 1960s, the Kingswood and Premier were sold in South Africa as Holdens, before the demise of Canadian-sourced Chevrolet Impala and Chevelle, which led to the introduction of the Chevrolet Kommando and Chevrolet Constantia, which were based on the HG, and later HQ Kingswoods using either Holden's 202-cubic-inch (3.3 L) six, 308-cubic-inch (5.0 L) V8 or Chevrolet 250-cubic-inch (4.1 L) six. The Constantia name was in reference to the grand wine estate in the Cape "Groot Constantia", with its world famous gabled Cape-Dutch homestead featuring as the model's emblem, while Kommando referred to the commando squads employed by the Boer forces during the Anglo-Boer War, or South African War.

In 1971, following the introduction of the all-new HQ model and the dropping of the Holden brand in South Africa, the Holden utility became known as the Chevrolet El Camino. Between 1974 and 1978, the one-tonne utility sold as the Chevrolet El Torro. Also in 1971, the Holden Monaro was made available locally as the Chevrolet SS. In South Africa during 1976, updated models were introduced, again as a Kommando with the 250-cubic-inch (4.1 L) straight-six, Constantia with the 250 and 308-cubic-inch (5.0 L) V8, and the Caprice Classic, also with the 308. In 1979 the Holden-sourced models were replaced by Chevrolet-badged versions of the Opel Rekord, Commodore (similar to Holden's own VB Commodore) and Senator. It would not be until 2001 that a Holden-sourced Chevrolet, the Lumina, was sold in South Africa.