For decades the Lion has been a symbol of the nation's motoring industry and Holden the only big vehicle maker whose brand name has origins in Australia.

Sadly though from next year, Holden is disappearing.

US parent company General Motors announced yesterday it was killing off the brand as part of a move which will see it abandon the country as it concentrates on left-hand drive markets around the world.

Its only remaining presence will be through niche special vehicles.

The decision follows production of Australian-made Holdens ending in 2017 when the last cars rolled off the production plant at Elizabeth in northern Adelaide.

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Coincidentally Holden's origins lie in the South Australian capital, with the saddlery business of James Alexander Holden providing the foundation for an enterprise which later spread to vehicle body building and a takeover by GM.

There had been talk the Holden name would vanish and be replaced with Chevrolet following the cessation of production.

Instead what has been announced is more stunning, given the long involvement of GM in Australia which dates to the 1920s.

GM president Mark Reuss, a Holden boss once, declared "at the highest levels of our company we have the deepest respect for Holden's heritage and contribution to our company and to the countries of Australia and New Zealand".

Yet in 2018 Mr Reuss said "we see Holden as a fundamental part of the company".

The exit will result in jobs disappearing and reinvigorate debates about the federal government's ending of subsidies that saw car manufacturing in Australia die.

At a gut level though it is just a massive hit to our industrial heritage.

The name behind the first Australian car, racer Peter Brock's greatest success and Indigenous-worded models such as Torana, Camira and Maloo is going.

While Holden may have only been a cog in GM's world, in Australia it was the engine block on which a car culture was built.