The Vietnamese former owner of the iconic ex-Holden proving ground has copped an eight-figure loss in offloading it to a defence contractor after years on the market.
The former Holden proving ground south-east of Melbourne has dropped about half of its market value in six years, with its $20.35 million sale to a defence contractor.
The home of most Holdens ever built was sold by General Motors to Vietnamese car maker VinFast in 2020 for $36.3 million, as part of the closure of the lion-badged brand.
After years back on the market, as VinFast looked to shut its Australian operations, the Lang Lang proving ground – opened in 1958 – has now been purchased by DefendTex, a defence contractor that develops autonomous buggies and drones, as named earlier this month.
Victorian Government documents obtained by Drive have now revealed the sale price: $20.35 million.
It is close to half of what VinFast paid for the site six years ago before inflation, or less than half after it is considered, as the 2020 sale price is equivalent to $46.5 million today.
The significant drop in market value – excluding any losses incurred in running costs – has followed VinFast's struggle to sell the facility since it disbanded its Australian engineering operations in 2021, nine months after acquiring Lang Lang.
A number of undisclosed parties have reportedly expressed interest in the 877-hectare property in recent years, but deals to move the site on – including one reported by Drive in 2024 – have fallen through.
VinFast has leased the use of Lang Lang to other firms looking to use its 44km network of sealed and unsealed roads – including a high-speed circuit simulating a rural road, gravel tracks, and an off-road area – for vehicle development and media events.
Among them are JAC, BYD and, most prominently, GWM, which took up permanent residency in 2025 as the home of a program to tune the suspension and steering of its vehicles for Australian roads.
It has been led by former top Holden engineer Rob Trubiani, who oversaw the driving character of the final 20 years of locally-built Commodores.
The car giant revealed to media in October last year it was considering a purchase of the facility, but it appears that it either did not submit a bid, or was not willing to offer more than $20.35 million.
"As a result of the sale of the Lang Lang Proving Ground, GWM were advised that they would no longer be able to use the facility post mid May," GWM Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) chief operating officer John Kett said in a media statement earlier this month.
"While the sale of Lang Lang has delivered a minor 'speedbump' in our local development plans, we are already well advanced in making alternative plans for a dedicated facility in Melbourne that will become GWM's home for dealer training and product testing and development."
The sale of the iconic test track to DefendTex – its identity revealed by Drive earlier this month – is expected to significantly scale back the presence of automotive companies at Lang Lang.
It leaves car manufacturers looking for a closed test facility for developing new models to focus on the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) near Anglesea, 125km south-west of Melbourne.
It is owned by Lindsay Fox's trucking giant Linfox – which has been linked to a purchase of Lang Lang in recent years – but is used frequently by Toyota.
Ford retains ownership and use of its proving ground at You Yangs, 70km west of the Melbourne CBD, where it led the development of the Ranger and Everest for global markets, alongside work on other overseas models.
VinFast has kept its signage outside Lang Lang since its purchase in 2020, and its cars have been seen around its grounds by visitors to the facility.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
