The Lang Lang Proving Ground that was previously owned by GM Holden may soon be in the hands of one of China’s largest vehicle manufacturers, with GWM telling media it is negotiating the purchase of the sprawling automotive testing facility on Victoria’s Bass Coast.
The company, which recently hired ex-Holden chassis engineering guru Rob Trubiani – who is intimate with the 877-hectare (2167-acre) venue’s layout – took up a permanent residency at the venue earlier this year to tune its cars for local conditions at the proving ground.
While that arrangement is somewhat up in the air because the property has been for sale since 2021, GWM itself has now confirmed it’s a potential buyer.
“Yes, we are considering to purchase the proving ground,” GWM’s chief technology officer (CTO) Nicole Wu told media including CarExpert in Melbourne.
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“Even if we do not, we can still use it, but if we [buy it] it will be an advantage to make use [of] and, yes, we are considering [buying Lang Lang] sincerely, but we need to consider the business [case].
“To be honest, we are negotiating about the price,” Ms Wu added.
“It’s not expensive compared to what we have in China and other countries – we just need to evaluate the business.
“Currently we can use this proving ground and we can test inside… and we also test vehicles outside on public roads and then we also have solutions in China.
“We also have [facilities] in the Middle East and Siberia [Russia], so we’ve got a lot of moving around.”
GWM took up residency earlier this year at the Lang Lang proving ground, which was opened by General Motors in 1957 and used to help develop countless Australian-made Holdens until GM ceased local manufacturing in September 2017, before retiring the Holden brand in 2020.
Current owner VinFast purchased Lang Lang in September 2020 for $34 million, however, the Vietnamese automaker’s exit from Australia the following year saw the proving ground put back on the market – with a buyer still to be found.
Given its already-strong ties with Lang Lang, GWM now appears to be the front-runner for the property as it seeks to differentiate its vehicles through local product development. The first vehicles with chassis tuning overseen by Mr Trubiani are set to roll off production facilities in China next month.
“Local optimisation is important. I think there are two reasons to use it [the proving ground],” said Ms Lu.
“First you have the rental of the proving ground, and second you have the talent who knows how to properly use the proving ground – and we have Rob Trubiani, and we are lucky to have him. I think he’s a legend.
“He’ll help us to know what Aussies requirements, and that will help us tuning our vehicles to make then even better, even broader for local people.”
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