A new design from the GM global team, the car looks to be about the size of the current Holden Astra, but details are being played close to the chest by Holden at this stage. Which comes as no surprise from a marketing point of view, but given the length of time that it takes to design and test a car, and then construct the new equipment needed to build it, it seems highly likely that the car is pretty close to reality inside the security areas at Holden's design centre.

A teaser sketch from Holden is being used to illustrate its exciting new car plan. We feel it’s highly unlikely that the car will look like this. The roof is far too low, the wheels are ridiculously large and have unbelievably skinny tyres and we can see no signs of outside mirrors or door handles. Still, there's nothing like a good concept sketch to whet the public appetite and the sketch certainly grabbed the attention of the TV crews covering Holden's announcement.

GM Holden is being smart in choosing to work on a number of different options for engines. It’s certain we will see petrol models, possibly some of them running on E85 (85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol). Turbo-diesel engines seem certain as well, though the current price of diesel fuel must be causing concerns among members of the planning committee at this stage.

Turbo-petrol engines are also a possibility as these can be used in small capacity units for greater fuel economy without too much of a performance penalty. However, you have to pay significantly extra to buy the turbocharged versions of any engine and Australia's fuel prices are pretty low by the standards of many countries.

Engines that run wholly or partly on LPG are also under consideration. A left-field entrant in the engine stakes is the possibility that engines able to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) may also be offered. Australia has vast reserves of natural gas, but it could be rather expensive to build engines to run on that fuel when only a limited number would be built.

Stop-start engines, which turn off if the car is stationary for more than a few seconds, will also be part of the initial planning process, and petrol-electric and/or diesel-electric hybrids are also in the range being examined.

It’s likely that front-wheel drive will be used in most variants of the new Holden, although the company has also signalled it may build an all-wheel-drive version. The latter presumably for use in an SUV body rather than a 4WD one, but all-wheel-drive may also be under consideration for a high-performance passenger car.

In a major project like this one Holden should have quite a lot of input into the global GM design. Meaning it can tune the car to suit Australian drivers’ tastes and needs.

Excitingly, the four-cylinder Holden will be built in both right- and left-hand drive format, thus opening the field for extensive exports. Given the size of the car and the probable availability of it with engines that suit just about any market means we could see huge numbers being built for export worldwide.

Additional employment, perhaps of as many as 1200 people, will be another major benefit of the new Holden small car program. This could be further increased if the car is made for global export.

Holden's decision to returning to local four-cylinder car manufacturing brings it into line with the other two Australian car makers. Toyota has made four-cylinder cars for many years and Ford is soon to start work on local versions of its mid-size Focus.

The new Holden will go on sale in Australia in about 18 months, perhaps even a little sooner. Funding is being provided by both the Australian federal government and the South Australian state government. Funding is coming from the federal government’s New Car Plan that is pushing strongly for lower fuel consumption and therefore reduced exhaust emissions.