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The cutesy little all-wheel drive was overpriced and dynamically challenged, and never turned its Barina-on-stilts girly appeal into anything more than a footnote in the Holden history books.
But a very different Cruze is about to write a whole new chapter in the history of the red lion brand and this one must succeed.
The new Cruze is the compact contender that Holden will put into production in Adelaide next year alongside the Commodore and it has already kicked a couple of important goals.
It earned a five-start safety rating this week in independent ANCAP testing and also scored its first major motorsport success.
When it hits showrooms on June 1, as the replacement for the Viva born from the ashes of the Daewoo Kalos, it is also expected to come with a starting price significantly below $25,000 and fuel economy better than 8L/100km with both petrol and diesel engines.
Further into the future the four-door Korean Cruze, which has been rushed into import action to establish the beachhead ahead of the local production plan, will be joined by a five-door hatchback. It could also become a major export earner for Holden, in the same way that Ford Australia will begin building the Focus alongside the Falcon and Territory in 2011 and feeding it to Asia in addition to its local showrooms.
"Cruze is an incredibly important car for us - it will put an outstanding Holden vehicle smack bang into the heart of the fast growing small-car segment," says GM Holden spokesman, Scott Whiffin.
"It's a car that comes with a swag of features as standard, not as options, as standard; it's got more airbags than seats and a five star ANCAP rating, fit and finish are world class and its economy figures are great. It's the sort of car that the dealers will love - they'll run out of fingers before they run out of features when they're stepping customers through what they will get for their money."
So Holden is talking big and has big targets for the Cruze, which will take over from the unloved and unlovely Viva as its challenger to the best selling Toyota Corolla, Mitsubishi Lancer, Ford Focus and all the rest of the small cars clustered around the crucial $19,990 price point.
It has already scored an important win with the five-star safety rating, as many of its rivals only get four. It's the first time one of Holden's Korean contenders has made the five-star grade, as the Captiva, Barina and Viva only get four - and the Barina only won its re-score and upgrade after a significant safety investment.
Holden says the Cruze scored 35.04 from a possible 37 in the ANCAP testing, which included the optional side-impact 'pole test' which must be funded by a manufacturer. The five-star score means the Cruze will come with front-side-head airbags and ESP stability control - a requirement for any five-star hopeful since the start of 2009 - on the basic car.
We know that today’s motorists want many things from a small car and that includes no compromise on safety. Incredibly high benchmarks were set as the Cruze was being developed and the results show," says Mark Reuss, chairman of GM Holden.
"This is a world-class car with a safety rating to match. We welcome ANCAP’s response to Cruze’s strong safety features."
The Cruze is built from the mechanical package called 'Delta II' by General Motors. It began life in Europe, where the platform is also used by Vauxhall and Opel, with some cheaper tweaks for Korean production.
By the time the Cruze goes fully Holden next year it will have been significantly revised, in everything from suspension and cabin quality to the likely introduction of an E85 ethanol engine to match the Fishermans Bend plan for a greener generation of new models.
The global ties of the Cruze are reflected in its motorsport success, which was achieved by cars wearing Chevrolet badges. They won two races in the World Touring Car Championship against factory-backed opposition from BMW and Seat.
The Chevy Cruze contenders were driven by Britain's Rob Huff and Italian ex-F1 driver Nicola Larini, who scored a win each at Marrakech in Morocco. The victories came just two meetings into the motorsport career of the Cruze, which is prepared by the RML team in the UK.
But there are no plans to race the Cruze in Australia, as that is one job which will be left to the Commodore.
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