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By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY
21 November 2011
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)
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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