Six decades of Australian car engineering history just changed hands again. The former Holden test track at Lang Lang, 90km southeast of Melbourne, has been sold to its third owner in five years, and the buyer is not a car company.
Documents published as part of the sale, seen by motoring outlet Drive, indicate the 877-hectare site has been purchased by Redhawke Capital Investments, a holding company linked to Australian military contractor DefendTex. The Melbourne-based defence group produces unmanned drones and miniaturised remote-controlled buggies, and its website confirms it has previously tested at Lang Lang.
For Carseekers readers tracking how new cars are tuned for Australian roads, this matters. The sale forces GWM, which only moved into Lang Lang last year, to scramble for a new engineering base before mid-May.
What Lang Lang means in Australian car history
Lang Lang was built by General Motors in 1957 and became the test home for every locally-developed Holden until the brand's closure. Commodores, Falcons-killing concept work, and the entire chassis-tuning DNA of Australian-market cars passed through these gates.
The facility is enormous: 877 hectares of land, 44km of sealed and unsealed roads including a high-speed circuit for suspension and steering development, gravel tracks, off-road courses and a skidpan. Around 18km of perimeter fencing covers future models from prying eyes, and considerable bushland with native flora and fauna sits inside the boundary.
GM sold Lang Lang to Vietnamese car maker VinFast in 2020 for a reported $36.3 million as part of the Holden brand's wind-down. VinFast put it back on the market in 2021 after announcing it would shutter its local vehicle development operations less than 12 months in.
How the third sale came together
The property has struggled to sell since 2021. VinFast leased time at the facility to brands such as BYD and JAC for development work and media launches, but no buyer surfaced for the full site at an acceptable price.
Victorian Government documents now show a purchase contract has been lodged between VinFast and Redhawke Capital Investments. Redhawke owns a stake in DefendTex, is run by the founder of DefendTex, and is located at the same address. In other words, this is effectively a defence-industry purchase dressed in a holding-company wrapper.
DefendTex's previous testing at Lang Lang gives the buy a logical fit. Drone and remote-vehicle development needs the same kind of off-road varied-terrain test environment that car makers value, just with very different end products in mind.
What this means for GWM and Rob Trubiani
GWM took up residency at Lang Lang in 2025 and hired former Holden engineer Rob Trubiani, the man who oversaw the driving character of the final 20 years of Commodores, to tune its vehicles for Australian roads. The sale ends that arrangement abruptly.
"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 chief operating officer John Kett said in a statement. He described the sale as a "minor speedbump" in local development plans.
Kett added that GWM is "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." Trubiani's Australian Tune 1 (AT-1) localisation program will continue at the new site.
For buyers, the loss of Trubiani's existing Lang Lang testing capacity in the short term is the more meaningful issue. GWM's current crop of vehicles, including upcoming models like the Tank 500 hybrid and GWM Cannon Alpha variants, will need to complete final ride-and-handling tuning at temporary venues until the new Melbourne facility is up and running.
Where do car makers go now?
The other major automotive development facility in Victoria not owned by a car manufacturer is the Australian Automotive Research Centre near Anglesea, 125km southwest of Melbourne. While Toyota uses it frequently for local development work, the AARC is owned by Lindsay Fox's trucking giant Linfox.
Ford owns and operates a private proving ground at You Yangs, 70km west of Melbourne's CBD, where it has developed the Ranger ute and Everest SUV among other models for global markets. That facility is closed to other manufacturers.
For Chinese brands following GWM's playbook, the cupboard just got bare. Renting time at AARC is one option, but extended access for full development programs is harder to negotiate, and overseas testing in less Australian-relevant conditions becomes the fall-back.
Why Australian-tuned cars matter to buyers
The whole point of brands like GWM and BYD setting up local testing was to address a real consumer complaint: cars tuned for European or Chinese roads often feel busy, unsettled, or under-damped on Australia's rough country highways and city patches. Local tuning matters more in this market than in most.
A Toyota HiLux, a Ford Ranger or a Mazda BT-50 sold here drives differently to the same nameplate sold in Thailand or Japan, because the local tuning teams spend years finding the right damper rates, steering weight and tyre choice for our conditions. That work has historically happened at Lang Lang, AARC, or You Yangs.
If a Chinese brand is selling you a car as 'tuned for Australia', the dealer should be able to tell you where that tuning was actually done. After mid-May 2026, 'at Lang Lang' is no longer a credible answer for any brand other than VinFast or DefendTex.
What Carseekers thinks
The loss of Lang Lang as an open commercial test facility is bad for Aussie buyers but not catastrophic. GWM has stated commitment to building a new site, and AARC remains available on a rental basis for one-off programs. The brands worth watching are the smaller new entrants, where local tuning was always more marketing claim than budget reality. For those, expect noticeably less Australian polish on the suspension and steering of new arrivals over the next 18 months.
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The finer details
Your questions answered.
Who bought Holden's Lang Lang test track?
Lang Lang has been sold to Redhawke Capital Investments, a holding company linked to Australian defence contractor DefendTex. Documents associated with the sale connect Redhawke to the founder and registered address of DefendTex, which makes drones and unmanned vehicles.
What happens to GWM's Australian engineering work?
GWM has been told it must vacate Lang Lang by mid-May. The brand says it is well advanced in setting up a new dedicated facility in Melbourne for dealer training, product testing and development, with Rob Trubiani continuing the Australian Tune 1 localisation program at the new site.
Is Lang Lang still available for car testing?
Beyond mid-May 2026, no. The new owner is a defence contractor focused on its own drone and remote-vehicle programs. Other car makers will need to look at the Australian Automotive Research Centre near Anglesea or arrange access at private manufacturer-owned proving grounds.
Why does Australian-tuned suspension matter on a new car?
Australia's road surfaces, country highways and tyre choices differ enough from European or Chinese conditions that locally-tuned cars typically ride and handle better here. Brands that invest in local testing, including major Japanese and Korean manufacturers, often deliver noticeably more refined ride quality on Aussie roads.
What did Lang Lang include?
The 877-hectare site contains 44km of sealed and unsealed roads, a high-speed circuit, gravel tracks, off-road courses, a skidpan, and 18km of perimeter fencing. It was the test home for every locally-developed Holden from 1957 until the brand's closure.
Will the Lang Lang sale affect new car prices?
Not directly, but it could affect new-car ride and handling quality from Chinese brands that relied on Lang Lang for local tuning. If brands cannot find an equivalent local test facility quickly, expect some next-generation models to launch with less Australian polish on damping, steering and tyre choice than their predecessors.
