Holden Cruze: Small Car, Big Ambition

By Jay Williams - 27/February/2009

Melbourne, Australia – One of the first cars to be revealed at this years Melbourne Motor Show was the new Holden Cruze.

The imported model will go on sale later in the year, then in 2010 Holden will begin building the car right here in Australia, alongside the Holden Commodore, where it may be restyled to suit local tastes.

Holden displayed an impressive 25 cars on show this year, with the Holden Cruze the drawcard model.

GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Reuss says "This show is about more than cars; it's about responding to change and
offering realistic, high value solutions for Australian car buyers."

"We understand these tough market conditions call for an innovative approach to diversifying our product range," says Reuss.

Mark Reuss continued, "The small car market is the largest growing segment in the Australian market and this is our response to that change.

"Cruze will play a significant role in Holden’s future and presents us with a new generation car, a new design and a new way of thinking," says Mr Reuss.

However don't expect to see the Cruze on the streets for a few months. It will be available later this year.

The official comment is 'second half of the year'.

The Holden Cruze will have two engine variants to choose from, a 1.8-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine or an optional 2.0-litre turbo charged diesel.

There's also a choice of a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic with Active Select, which sounds pretty good for a small car.

Holden hopes to set a new benchmark in the small car segment with its latest model by offering six airbags, electronic stability control, power windows, cruise control and other things in what is a strong standard features list.

Some of the Holden Cruze's safety features, standard across the range, include: 

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
Traction Control (TC)
Anti-lock Brakes (ABS)
Brake Assist (BA)
Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
Six airbags including driver, front passenger, front side and curtain airbags
 Seatbelt retractor and lap pretensioners with seatbelt load limiters 
Sixty-five percent of the structure is high-strength steel

Some of the other features of the Holden Cruze that will be standard across the range include automatic headlamps, a 6-speaker audio system with MP3 compatible in dash CD, air conditioning, steering wheel audio controls and a trip computer.

The new design will take time to digest, but has a sporty appeal and an almost coupe-like image. 

At first glance the Holden Cruze sedan's 'four-door coupe' looks like a mid-size sedan.

With a wide track, a long-ish wheelbase and its wheels located at the outer edges of its body, the Cruze definitely has the presence of a mid-size sedan.

Holden reckons that exceptional fit and finish and one of the most advanced interiors will help cement Holden's future in the small car segment. We might have to reserve judgement on the "expectional fit and finish" until we test the car, but from the looks of things the interior looks very cool.

'Exceptional' comfort is another claim, but with contoured sport seats and a dual cockpit design which houses an integrated centre panel with graphic information display and CD with MP3 'plug and play' functionality it could turn out to be true.

The Cruze will allegedly sit five adults in comfort, with generous rear passenger leg, head and shoulder room.

Two models will be offered in the Holden Cruze range, the entry-level CD and the better equipped CDX model that gets 17-inch alloy wheels.

Including the Cruze, Holden will be showcasing a selection of it's small car range, from the upgraded 3-door Barina, fuel efficient Astra CDTi Wagon, the sporty Astra SRi Turbo 3-door, the stylish Astra CD hatch andthe stunning Astra TwinTop.

As usual, Holden has wheeled out the Volt electric car, which we've at dozens of other motor shows, but it also showed off the 'International'special edition Commodore and Sportwagon variants and pretty much every car in its range, from Captiva to Epica.

Related Links:
- Holden 4-cylinder Small Car (2010)
- Holden Ethanol E85 Commodore (2010)
- Holden Sportwagon SS V (Road Test)
- Holden AFM V8 + EcoLine (2009)
- Holden Captiva Diesel (Road Test)
- Holden Astra Diesel (Road Test)
- Holden Commodore Diesel (2009)
- Holden Calais V Sportwagon (Road Test)
- Holden Sportwagon (Road Test)
- Holden Commodore Hybrid (2010)
- Holden Coupe 60 Concept (2008)
- Holden VE Ute: SS vs SV6 (Road Test)
- Holden VE Ute (First Drive)
- Holden Coupe 60 Concept (2008)
- Holden Commodore Diesel (2009)