Will Viva Cruze down under?
No-one at Fishermans Bend will confirm it, but the car called Cruze for the rest of the world is definitely headed for Holden showrooms.
The only real question is the name - Viva or Cruze?
There will be changes, most likely in the suspension and detailing, but Holden insiders admit that the Cruze is a clear pointer to the upcoming Viva.
They are also hopeful it will hold the price line at $18,490 but deliver much better quality and safety as GM Holden has more influence on the compact cars it takes from GM Daewoo in Korea.
But don’t expect anyone at GM Holden to go on the record with anything worthwhile on the Cruze-Viva.
“We haven’t confirmed this is a program in Australia yet,” Kate Londsale of GM Holden says.
She will not be drawn on the potential name for the car, or a switch to Cruze following its earlier use on a small SUV in Australia.
“This would be a question for our marketing team. We cannot make any announcements about a car we haven’t confirmed,” she says.
“It would be taken into consideration that we’ve had the nameplate here before.”
The Cruze has just been revealed as a Chevrolet in official pictures, with a public unveiling at the Paris Motor Show in the first week of October.
It will be on sale in Europe in the first quarter of 2009, which points towards a Holden effort in the back end of next year once global development creates a spin-off car for the Asia-Pacific region.
The Cruze is a major development for General Motors as it will be the company’s first truly global new-car project. The “home room” for the program is in Europe, but there will be local tailoring for regional tastes and price points.
GM Holden is keen to get the Cruze because it is the first of the second-generation vehicles it will take from Daewoo in Korea. The first generation, including the underdone Barina which has just had a substantial safety tweak, was already complete before Holden forged its major development ties to Daewoo.
The new cars coming, including the Cruze and an all-new Barina, Epica and Captiva, will have much greater Holden input in everything from styling and safety to quality and performance.
Chevrolet describes its Cruze as “an entirely global car which will go on sale across all continents”.
The basic design ties it to the new Vauxhall Insignia, with an angular four-door body. Inside, Chevrolet trumpets a “twin-cockpit design” which it says was taken from the brand’s earlier muscle cars.
“Our goal with the design of the Cruze was to be bold, not evolutionary. We wanted to take a big step forward, making a strong design statement for Chevrolet products around the world,” chief designer Taewan Kim says.
Tags: about-carsguide, car-finance, cars, ebay, home, mobile, motoring-news, on-going-costs, photos, place-an-ad, privacy, real-estate, search, sell-your-car, sponsored-links, submit-your-feedback-here, used-cars, value-your-car, videos