Holden and the Australian government will spend hundreds of millions of Australian dollars upgrade the automaker’s Adelaide plant to build a small car powered by a 4-cylinder engine. The Australian federal government will provide AU$149 million while the Adelaide state government will top up another AU$30 million, and this amount will be matched by Holden for a total of AU$358 million.
The car will be build from Q3 2010 onwards and will be powered by direct injection petrol and diesel engine engines, with planned support for E85, LPG and CNG in the future. This model could be a badge engineered version of the new Chevrolet Cruze. The Chevrolet Cruze’s predecessor (Chevrolet Optra) is currently sold in Australia as the Holden Viva sedan.
The delay in production could be due to Holden waiting for the next generation engine family for the Cruze to be released, since their press released mentioned direct injection across the board.