Walkinshaw Automotive Group
Walkinshaw Group is an Australian company involved in the design, engineering, development, and marketing of performance vehicles, based in Melbourne, Australia.
Walkinshaw Group was established in 1987 in Clayton, Victoria.[1] It was born from Tom Walkinshaw Racing, owned and operated by Scottish racing driver and entrepreneur Tom Walkinshaw, opening operations in Australia. In 1987 Holden Special Vehicles entered the market in a joint-venture with Holden.
The first car developed by HSV was the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV in 1988[2] – which went on to win the 1990 Bathurst 1000, and is responsible for some of the most well-renowned performance vehicles in Australian motoring history.
After Tom Walkinshaw passed away in 2010, his eldest son Ryan Walkinshaw[3] took over as the Walkinshaw Group CEO and owner, with Tom's wife Martine Walkinshaw, and youngest son Sean Walkinshaw also involved in the operations today.
In 2021, with General Motors discontinuing Holden, which subsequently meant the end of new Holden Special Vehicles available to the market, the Walkinshaw Group transformed their operations to encompass five key areas,[4] Walkinshaw Automotive Group, its automotive manufacturing arm, which also offers manufacturing and engineering options outside of the automotive industry, Walkinshaw Performance, its high-performance department, New Age Caravans, the second largest caravan business in Australia, Walkinshaw Sports, a key golf and sporting goods distribution company that works with some of the biggest brands in the industry, along with the racing team, Walkinshaw Andretti United who compete in the Supercars Championship.[5]
Walkinshaw Andretti United is a partnership between Walkinshaw Racing, Andretti Autosport, and United Autosports, owned by Zak Brown.
The company now works directly with a number of OEM's such as General Motors, Toyota,[6] RAM, and Volkswagen Australia.[7]
It employs over 1200 people across the business.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Group, Walkinshaw. "Walkinshaw Group / Companies / HSV". Walkinshaw Group.
- ^ "1988 HSV VL SS Group A Walkinshaw review". Drive. January 25, 2017.
- ^ "Burning questions: Ryan Walkinshaw | Supercars". supercars.com.
- ^ Budds, Thomas Arnold, Ed; Arnold, Thomas (October 8, 2023). "Walkinshaw Group : Hardwired Automotive Passion". APAC Outlook Magazine.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ United, Walkinshaw Andretti. "Walkinshaw Andretti United / Walkinshaw Andretti United". Walkinshaw Andretti United.
- ^ Ottley, Stephen (August 24, 2022). "Walkinshaw to build RHD Toyota Tundra".
- ^ Group, Walkinshaw. "Walkinshaw Group / The Amarok W580: Volkswagen Partners with Walkinshaw to Build the Ultimate GT-Spec Ute". Walkinshaw Group.