New Holden hatch ready to Cruze into Paris

This rather stylish looking hatchback is a Holden Cruze. It will have its first public reveal in a few weeks on the Chevrolet stand at the Paris Motor Show. The car has been designed and built by Holden’s Port Melbourne design studio.

The Cruze will be made in Australia and is set to roll off local production lines towards the end of next year. It’s no Astra, but it’s still a pretty handy looking piece of kit. Thankfully, the Holden version won’t share that unfortunate Chevrolet nose.

New Hatchback is next chapter in Cruze success story

• Cruze hatchback show car to be unveiled at Paris Motor Show
• Hatchback showcar designed and built by Holden in Australia
• New model to build on Cruze’s global appeal

Holden’s design talents will be showcased to the world next month when a five-door Cruze hatchback showcar is unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

Chevrolet Europe has released the first images of the highly anticipated global model which was designed and built by Holden’s Port Melbourne design studio.

The showcar with its sweeping coupe roofline and short overhangs is a precursor to a production model, also designed by Holden that will be built in several countries, including Australia where it will start product in late 2011.

Holden Chief Designer Richard Ferlazzo said the project had been a significant undertaking for the studio which had spent more than 12 months working with GM designers from around the world developing the hatch variant.

“Our brief was to create an alternative body style to the traditional sedan that retained the same dynamic proportions that has made Cruze such a success around the world,” Mr Ferlazzo said.

“We are very proud of the result which will be tailored further for the Australian market and given an appearance consistent with the rest of the Holden portfolio next year.”

The Holden Design Studio is an important part of General Motors global design network, as one of only three facilities in the world with the capability to design and build prototype concept vehicles for exhibitions and international auto shows.