The small-medium Cruze has been a major success for Holden and is now snapping at the heels of the market leaders in what is a highly-competitive, and growing, segment of the Australian car market.
This success has been all the more impressive because, until now, Holden Cruze has only been available in sedan form in a market where the preference is towards hatchbacks. Now with a five-door hatch being added there’s a serious chance that, with the incremental sales that will follow, Cruze could well overtake its Commodore sibling as Australia’s biggest-selling car in the not-too-distant future.
Although its heritage is Korean – no longer something for which an apology is required – Cruze is now built entirely in Australia, at Holden’s Elizabeth plant in suburban Adelaide. Despite the increase in globalisation, Holden’s research indicates that the ‘Australian Made’ tag remains a significant selling advantage with around 75 per cent of potential buyers surveyed indicating that they were more likely to buy a locally-made product. Provided of course that it can match its imported competitors in terms of styling, features and price.
Based on our first look at the new Cruze hatch it certainly does that.
Holden’s input is considerably more than just an assembly operation using imported parts with local content close to 50 per cent and rising.
Unlike the Cruze sedan which was designed in South Korea, the hatch’s styling was the work of a Holden design team and will be used on all Cruze hatch models globally. The front of the two Cruze variants is identical, in line with the current trend for ‘family’ style grilles across a brand, but the local stylists have done an excellent job with the roofline and rear of the hatch to create a neat, compact and contemporary car that could easily sell on its looks alone.
There’s plenty of interior space with, despite the sloping roofline, with more than enough rear headroom for the majority of adult passengers. Boot capacity is a reasonable 413 litres which can be expanded to 1254 litres with the rear seatbacks folded. It needs to be noted that this is without a spare tyre of any description. A tyre sealant and air compressor kit is supplied with a full-size 16-inch spare wheel available as a no-cost option. Boot capacity then drops to 325 litres.
Model and engine choices for the Holden Cruze hatch are the same as for the ongoing sedan, namely Cruze CD, CDX, SRi and SRi-V; with three four-cylinder engines: 1.4-litre turbo petrol, 1.8-litre naturally aspirated petrol and 2.0-litre turbo diesel. The Cruze CD gets the choice of all three engines, CDX only the larger petrol and diesel, while the two sporty SRi variants come with the turbo petrol.
The 1.8-litre petrol is mated to a five-speed manual transmission with the turbo models each getting six-speeds, while all get six-speed automatic.
We were able to drive each of the turbocharged engines during the Holden Cruze hatch’s press launch in South Australia. The 1.4-litre turbo-petrol is one of the most impressive engines we’ve driven in recent times. It develops 103 kilowatts of power, and 200 Newton metres of torque, from 1850 rpm to 4900 rpm. It’s lively, responsive and fun to drive yet uses just 6.4 litres per hundred kilometres on the combined cycle.
The Cruze diesel is noisier than we’ve come to expect from the new breed of modern diesel engines, although from inside the car it’s less noticeable. It produces 120 kW of power and 360 Nm of torque with 90 per cent of the torque available between 1750 rpm and 3500 rpm meaning that most drivers will have the benefit of maximum pulling power for most of their driving time.
With the diesel priced at $2750 above the 1.4-litre petrol but with only marginally lower fuel consumption the turbo petrol would be our choice, unless you need the extra torque from the diesel. Indeed, with the entry level 1.8-litre model just $1250 cheaper than the 1.4, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Holden’s forecast of 55 per cent (1.8-litre) and 35 per cent (1.4-litre) reversed.
On the road, the little Holden hatch has precise steering, good turn in, plenty of road grip and the ability to change direction mid-corner.
In our most recent road test of the Cruze sedan we commented on its impressive level of refinement and noise suppression, indeed that the sound and feel of the Cruze was like that of a small Commodore.
Because of their larger interior area and tall, open load area, it’s always more difficult to reduce the NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) in a hatchback or station wagon. However, through the application of a number if adhesive damping patches to specific body panels in the rear of the Cruze hatch, Holden’s engineers are claiming levels that are equal to, if not better than, the Cruze sedan.
Equipment levels are high with all variants getting six airbags, stability control, ABS brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist, Bluetooth (phone only) with voice recognition and steering wheel mounted audio controls and USB input.
The mid-specced CDX models also get 17-inch alloy wheels (the CD has 16-inch steel), front fog lamps, leather trimmed seats and rear park assist. In line with its sportier image the SRi adds a sports body kit, body coloured door handles, leather wrapped steering wheel and sports seats, while the flagship SRi-V tops the list with push button start-stop, heated front seats, premium audio, seven-inch colour LCD touch screen, DVD player, satellite navigation, and additional voice activation.
Given the spectacular impact of the Cruze sedan over the past two years added to the arrival of the new hatch it could well be that the little Holden is the model that will finally break Commodore’s eight-year stranglehold as Australia’s top-selling car. Toyota Corolla and HiLux, as well as Mazda3, have each grabbed the top spot briefly in recent years, however the combination of Cruze’s quality, features and price, plus that all-important ‘Made in Australia’ tag, could well take it to the top – and stay there for some time.
The complete Holden Cruze range, with prices (excluding dealer and government charges) is:
CD 1.8-litre petrol sedan or hatch: $21,240 (manual), $23,240 (automatic)
CD 1.4-litre iTi petrol sedan or hatch: $22,490 (manual), $24,240 (automatic)
CD 2.0-litre diesel sedan or hatch: $25,240 (manual), $27,240 (automatic)
CDX 1.8-litre petrol sedan or hatch: $24,740 (manual), $26,740 (automatic)
CDX 2.0-litre diesel sedan or hatch: $28,740 (manual), $30,740 (automatic)
SRi 1.4-litre iTi petrol sedan or hatch: $24,990 (manual), $26,990 (automatic)
SRi-V 1.4-litre iTi petrol sedan or hatch: $28,490 (manual), $30,490 (automatic) |
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