Top Holden Engineer Tapped for GWM Local Tuning

GWM has announced it will begin adapting the suspension of its cars to Australian conditions, with a former Holden engineer to head the program.

From April 2025, Rob Trubiani will join GWM as Product Engineering Manager, tasked with “enhancing vehicle dynamics” of the carmaker’s local range and building the company’s engineering capability in Australia.

Mr Trubiani was Lead Vehicle Dynamics Engineer at Holden for almost 15 years, beginning his career with the VT Commodore, and was a key architect of General Motors’ highly-praised Zeta platform – which underpinned the VE and VF Commodore (and its derivatives), along with the Chevrolet Camaro.

Perhaps most famously, Mr Trubiani set the commercial vehicle record for the fastest lap at Germany’s legendary Nurburgring in 2013 – completing a lap of the Nordschleife circuit in 8:19.47 in a Holden VF Commodore SS-V Redline ute.

Mr Trubiani and his colleagues also worked on a variety of imported vehicles for the Australian market, including the Holden Spark city car, the Astra, the Colorado, and the ZB Commodore manufactured by Opel – owned at the time by GM.

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GWM is no doubt looking to replicate Kia’s success with local suspension tuning, headed by Graeme Gambold – a former rally driver, Toyota rally team engineer, and senior test driver for Nissan and Lexus.

For several years, Gambold has been helping to develop the driving dynamics of Kia models to suit Australia’s poor roads – contributing to the brand’s local success.

“We are delighted to have secured Rob as our new Product Engineering Manager,” said GWM’s marketing boss, Steve Maciver.

“With a wealth of local ride and handling experience, we’re confident that Rob can help deliver an even better in-vehicle experience for our customers.”