GWM wants to buy iconic Holden Lang Lang Proving Ground from Vinfast

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Chinese car manufacturer GWM could soon own one of Australia’s most storied automotive test tracks.

GWM has confirmed it is in live talks with Vietnam’s Vinfast, the current owner of the Lang Lang Proving Ground in Victoria.

Lang Lang used to serve as the sprawling home of Holden’s vehicle development program, and was the birthplace of generations of Commodores among other name plates. 

Global chief technology officer of GWM, Nicole Wu, confirmed to Chasing Cars and other media that discussions are active.

“We are negotiating about the price,” Wu said. “It is not expensive compared to what we have in China and other countries (but) we just need to evaluate the business (case).”

Lang Lang has been a constant in Australian automotive history since 1957 when General Motors built the complex to replicate local Aussie road conditions away from prying eyes.

Over six decades, nearly every Holden – from the FC to the final VF — was honed there to varying success, with late model VE and VF versions regarded for world-class ride and handling.

Lang Lang offers 44 kilometres of test loops including tarred and gravel road simulations, as well as a 4.7-kilometre high-speed bowl that was comprehensively resurfaced only seven years ago.

GM offloaded the nine square kilometre site to Vinfast in 2020 for a reported mid-$30 million price, three years after shuttering local Commodore production.

The Vietnamese newcomer used the facility only briefly before putting Lang Lang back onto the market in 2021 and then again in 2024. 

Linfox, the logistics company of billionaire Lindsay Fox and owner of the Australian Automotive Research Centre in Anglesea, Victoria, has previously been linked to a bid for the site.

GWM isn’t approaching Lang Lang from nought. The conglomerate has already leased sections of the facility for testing and media activities, joining fellow manufacturers including Mitsubishi who have done the same.

The current-generation GWM Haval H6 is presently having its suspension and steering retuned at Lang Lang for the 2026 model year.

“We are considering purchasing (Lang Lang Proving Ground). Even if we don’t buy it, we can (still) use it — but if we buy it, it will be an advantage,” said GWM CTO Wu.

The property received a major $7.2 million resurfacing of its banked bowl in 2018 and roughly $16 million in broader road/facility upgrades before Holden departed.

Adding weight to the plan is GWM’s recent recruitment of ex-Holden dynamics guru Rob Trubiani as project engineering manager. Trubiani, who shaped the on-road character of late-model Commodores, is retuning existing GWM models and feeding into future programs.

Wu, in Melbourne this week for a media tour, said GWM will keep using Lang Lang for local tuning regardless of whether the mooted sale goes through.