Mechanically there’s very little difference between the new Barina sedan and the five-door hatch … both are powered by the same 1.6-litre 16-valve four cylinder engine that produces 85kW of power and the sedan comes with the same transmission too. A five-speed manual box is standard with a six-speed auto as an option,

Safety features in the Holden Barina sedan include a full suite of airbags including curtain airbags, dual front seatbelt pretensioners, electronic stability control and collapsible pedal release and that all adds up to a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

Obviously the biggest changes are in the bodywork at the rear of the vehicle. The boot has a capacity of 502 litres and Holden has worked hard to give the area around the boot what Holden describes as “… a more upscale and sleek appearance …”

The price for the new Barina sedan is slightly more than what you will pay for the hatch.  The recommended retail price (not including on-road costs) is $16,490 for the five-speed manual and
$18,490 for the six-speed manual.

It will be interesting to see how well the Barina sells in what is one of the most competitive segments in Australia.

The lights turn green … you depress the accelerator … and for a moment nothing happens. Then … WHAM … you’re head snaps back as you’re hurled through the speed limit and into the arms of the first copper with a speed gun!

Fortunately there was no copper around with a speed gun on that occasion … or on a number of other occasions when the same thing happened during our test drive of the Holden Series II Cruze SRi-V … and it was just there to remind us that we were driving one hot little turbo-charged machine … even if it was only powered by a 1.4-litre petrol engine.

Did we enjoy the week we spent in the Series II Cruze Sri-V? Yes we did … but don’t get the wrong idea … we’re not about to say that the car is perfect because it’s not. There are some things that bugged us about this car but overall we think it’s pretty good!

The finish
One the things we rarely comment on in our reviews is the finish of the vehicle under review because press vehicles get a bit of a hammering and we have picked up vehicles in the past that have had bits hanging off them and once or twice we’ve seen body panels that don’t fit all that well … and that’s on overseas built cars.

Let’s face it Australian-made cars haven’t always had the best reputation for finish so I really should say something about the finish of the Series II Cruze … the Cruze that’s assembled in Australia. The finish on the car we drove was as good as you will see anywhere!

The panels fitted, there were no bits hanging off and even in the boot well … a place where poor workmanship is often most apparent the finish was good … all the joins were sealed … and we couldn’t fault it.

Even when we took it over about 20km of average Australian dirt road at a reasonable road speed there were no rattles and no dust got in anywhere. At the end of the trip on the dirt you could wipe your finger over the black dashboard and not see a trace of dust.

The engine
When we booked the car with the Holden press fleet in Brisbane I did wonder what it would be like to drive a car with an engine capacity of just 1.4-litres. Was it going to be a dog … and a very slow dog at that?

The Holden Series II Cruze Sri-V is fitted with a 1.4-litre, four-cylinder, 16 valve DOHC iTi turbo petrol engine. A six-speed manual transmission is standard on this vehicle but the vehicle we drove was fitted with the optional six-speed auto box with Active Select and I can tell you that ‘slow’ and ‘dog’ do not describe the performance you get from that combination.

Instead words such as ‘hot’, ‘sparkling’ and ‘nippy’ spring to mind when I think back on the week we spent in the vehicle.

Cruise control is standard on the auto and it worked well too. There was a little bit of lag when changing down for hills but I was prepared to live with that just to have something to help me keep the car under the speed limit. On the open road it wants to get a move on but I’m in no hurry to add to the Government’s income stream by speeding.

The one niggle that we had about engine/auto box combination was that Holden says that fuel consumption for the auto box with the 1.4-litre engine is 6.9L/100km. That was a figure we couldn’t get close to. The driving style of myself and the other tester here at AussieMotoring.com often seems to produce better fuel consumption figures than what manufacturers suggest but we really couldn’t get close to it with the Series II Cruze we tested.

We also noticed that by the time we returned the vehicle it had developed a slip between second and third gears and that was on a vehicle that had just under 8,000km on the clock.

Ride and handling
The Series II Cruze SRi and Sri-V both come Watts link performance suspension … and we loved it. We pointed our test vehicle into some of our favourite corners and curves at speeds that would normally induce at least some body roll in other vehicles but the test vehicle sat flat and on the dirt it was no different

Small cars on winding corrugated dirt and travelling at 80km/h or more usually don’t make for a good combination. The light weight combined with the poor road surface usually means that the car bounces around all over the place and on curves the rear of the car wants to overtake the front of the car … but not in our test vehicle.

There was never a hint that the rear of the car wanted to break out on curves and even over corrugation the car held its line. That 20 km of dirt road really sealed the deal for us as far as the quality of the car was concerned.

Apart from Watts link suspension there’s a full suite of control and handling programmes fitted as standard throughout the Cruze range.

Interior
I liked the layout of the dashboard and driver’s controls. They were all within easy reach and clearly labeled.

The onboard computer gives you more information than you could ever want and I expect that most drivers will rarely look at the most of the data that is available. The dials were easy to read and neither of us had any problems with glare or reflections in the dial coverings.

The air conditioning worked well and certainly kept the cabin cool in the early stages of another hot Queensland summer. The audio system was good too and it was handy to have the audio controls on the steering wheel.

The front seats were very comfortable and there’s plenty of back support if you need it. In the vehicle we tested the upholstery was black leather and the seats were heated but that’s not something we bothered testing … five minutes parked in the sun and the seats were more than hot enough for our liking.

Legroom for driver and front seat passenger is good too but if you’re tall don’t expect to be able to carry anyone but a dwarf in the back seat … there is just no legroom.

This is a car that would work well for you if you’re kids were still quite small … or had left home … but if they’re starting to grow and need some legroom then the Cruze is probably not the best choice for you or your family.

The Series II Cruze Sri-V comes with a touch-screen satellite navigation system as standard … and we thought that this was probably biggest mark against the Series II Cruze. Sat nav systems are not cheap and when you buy a new car with a system factory fitted you would expect to get the most up-to-date maps that included the most up-to-date data.

Sadly that’s not what came in the Cruze we were testing. The maps were four or five years out of date and were showing rail crossings that had been moved years ago, service stations that burnt down or closed years ago and other information that was just plain wrong or very out of date.

Access to the front and rear seats was quite good but access to the boot as limited. The Series II Cruze was a wonderfully big boot for the size of the car but because of the body shape you really do have to stretch in to get anything out of the back of the boot.

The shape of the rear passenger doors was painful for me too. I don’t know how many times I opened the door only to whack myself in the chest with the top corner of the door because I stood too close to it. By the end of the week I had begun to stand back from the door and so had the other tester.

Safety
Fortunately we can’t attest to the effectiveness of the safety equipment in the new Holden Series II Cruze because we didn’t have an accident but it’s nice to know that you’re protected by front and side-impact airbags as well as side curtain airbags.

The Series II Cruze is also fitted with auto headlights and, while that might be a safety feature that some drivers need, we found the system in the Cruze to be downright annoying for us and probably for some drivers around us too.

On a slightly overcast day the lights would come on every time we drove under a bridge and you can imagine how annoying that can get when there are a number of bridges in quick succession. (I just hope that burly truck driver didn’t think I was insulting him by flashing my lights at him.)

Of course you can turn that feature off … each time you drive the car … but the default setting is to have the auto headlight feature on.

The bottom line
The Holden Series II Cruze Sri-V is not a perfect car by any means but we loved it and we had fun in it … and somehow managed to pass every speed trap at a sedate speed.

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This heavy duty off-road SUV is currently making its global debut at the Dubai Motor Show as the Chevrolet Trailblazer. While final details of what we’ll see in the local vehicle are yet to be decided Holden says that what you see here in the Chevy Trailblazer is very close to what you’ll see when it arrives here as the Colorado 7.

The Colorado 7 was designed in Brazil and it will feature body-on-frame construction, accommodation for seven people and a new 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine. Fuel consumption figures have not yet been released by Holden but the promise is that this new engine will have the fuel-efficiency expected by today’s “modern family”.

Particular attention was paid to the design to ensure that it has … what Holden describes as … “excellent” approach and departure angles to ensure that the Colorado 7 really can do more in the rough than just talk the talk. Holden also promises that their new SUV will come with the towing ability of a working vehicle.

On the inside the Trailblazer/Colorado 7 will come with all the creature comforts that you would expect including digital climate control and from the photos that Holden have supplied you will see that the flagship model will certainly feature everything a family could want … and the lighting is interesting too.

I don’t know about you but while this may be a totally new design I can’t help feeling that I’ve seen this vehicle somewhere before. While it does not remind me of a Toyota I think that it does bear some resemblance to something from Korea … perhaps that’s just an indication that we’ve reached the design limits for big SUVs.

Regardless of what it looks like it is good to see that we finally have Holden back in the big SUV market. It’s almost 10 years since we had a Jackeroo on the showroom floor and if this is as good as the Jackeroo was then we just might see some interesting movement in the serious 4×4 SUV market.

It’s just a shame that we have to wait till 2013 to see the Colorado 7 here in Australia.

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Of course there are cheaper alternatives to the Holden Barina but there’s a strong attraction in the brand name … people still consider that if a car is carrying the Holden badge then it must be an Australian car and that’s an important consideration when they’re deciding what to buy.

This version of the Barina comes from Korea but who will look beyond the Holden badge?

So what will a buyer get in their “Australian” Barina?

Safety
Well for a start people who buy the 2011 Barina are going to get a small car that has achieved a 5-star ANCAP safety rating and that puts it ahead of many of its competitors.

Among the safety features included in the new Holden Barina are driver, front passenger, front side and curtain airbags, dual front seatbelt pretensioners, front seatbelt reminders, Electronic Stability Control, a collapsible pedal release system and head restraints for all seats.

Exterior
Concealed rear door handles give the impression that the new Barina Hatch is a three-door car and Holden say that is supported by the couple-like body profile.

The designers have pushed the wheels even closer to the four corners of the vehicle to add to its stability and give it a sportier appearance.

Interior
Holden claims that their new Barina Hatch has one of the largest interiors in its segment and the motorcycle-inspired instrument panel that appeared in the Barina Spark has been carried over to the hatch.

An analogue tacho is set within an asymmetrical LCD readout alongside a digital speedo.

Storage pockets have been included on either side of the centre stack and upper instrument panel and the glove box has two levels and two concealed storage areas with USB and auxiliary outlets.

The rear seat has the usual 60/40 split fold option so that it’s easy to increase the luggage area. With the seats up there is 290 litres of space but with the rear seat fully folded flat that increases to 653 litres.

Black cloth trim is standard on the Barina Hatch regardless of which colour a buyer chooses for the exterior.

The engine and transmission
The new Barina Hatch is powered by a 1.6-litre double overhead cam 4-cylinder engine that produces 85kW of power. The standard transmission is a 5-speed manual box and there’s a 6-speed auto with Active Select available as an option.

Retail Prices
I’ve already mentioned that the 5-speed manual version will be available at a driveaway price of $16,990 and that’s just $1,000 over the retail price. You can add another $2,000 to the manual’s retail price for the automatic box.

The new Barina Hatch will go on sale in Australia from November.

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These days Holden still produces utes but the ones that really sell for the company are those that appeal to people who may never put anything in the back of their ute but want to show other road users that they need to drive a lean mean machine.

In fact sports utes have become so popular that you will see lots of advertising for those SV6 and SS utes but almost nothing for the real workhorse in the Holden ute fleet … the Series II Omega Ute. And that’s a shame because the Holden Series II Omega Ute has a lot of good things going for it … as we found out recently when we spent a week road testing one.

The Series II Omega Ute that we tested was about as vanilla as you can get. It was the basic model with absolutely no extras at all and yet it had just about everything that a ute owner could want in power, comfort and safety.

Safety and comfort
The Omega has a 5-star ANCAP safety rating so you know that it comes with all the safety gear to protect you and the passenger in case of an accident. It also comes with the touch-screen Holden-iQ sound system (but without the virtual CD stacker) and air conditioning with dual-zone climate control, cruise control and a full side and bottom liner for the rear.

While the wheels are only 16” steel rims the average hoon can still get confused by the dual exhausts and begin to think that the Omega is actually an SV or an SS ute in disguise. It becomes even more confusing for them if you choose the black colour for your ute.

Space  and comfort inside the Omega Ute was surprising … there was more than enough legroom for a tall driver and the seats provided plenty of support. While I had no problem in the passenger seat others did find that the seating position might have been a bit low and the other half of the team could never find the sweet spot for the seat … it was either too close to the dash or too far away.

Despite the fact that this is a ute there are plenty of storage area behind the seats and there’s even a little storage area that seems to burrow back towards the load-carrying area. We managed to get three very full bags of groceries stowed away behind the seats.

The engine and transmission
The Holden Omega ute comes equipped with the standard 3.0L SIDI Direct Injection V6 engine coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission. Usually that’s a great combination and most of the time it worked well in the test vehicle but there were times when there was a lot of roar from the responsive engine and not much go from the transmission as it wanted to think about just which gear it should be in.

If you read the other Commodore reviews here at AussieMotoring.com you will see that we’re not big fans of the cruise control fitted to the Commodores and the one in the Omega Ute didn’t do anything to improve our view.

While this one certainly changed down at appropriate times when we were heading up a hill I actually found that I could get better fuel consumption figures with the cruise control switched off.

Holden claim a very reasonable 9.6L/100km on a combined cycle and we got very close to that figure just driving around town and improved on it when we were traveling on what passes for a highway in this part of the country.

Handling
While I may not be a big fan of the way Holden’s cruise control works I certainly am a big fan of the way the Holden Commodore handles and even though the rear is obviously lighter I loved the way the Omega Ute handled. On wet or dry roads it was a pleasure to drive.

In the distant past Holden Utes were always built on the same chassis as their sedan counterparts but these days the Holden Ute is longer than the sedan. The exact figures are 4899mm for the sedan and 5060mm for the ute and that’s something you don’t notice till you park it in your average supermarket’s car park.

Unfortunately time constraints prevented me from taking the test ute off the tar and maybe the back might bounce around a bit on the corrugations you find on a typical dirt road but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just as predictable on dirt as it is on tar.

What I missed
As I said before, the Omega Ute we tested was the absolute basic model and it came with no fancy extras and that worked for me … almost all of the time. The one thing I missed in the Omega Ute was a sat/nav system. The fact that I didn’t have one didn’t bother me till I was lost in Brisbane with a passenger who can’t read a street directory and no real idea of how close I was to where I wanted to go.

I suppose we managed to cope in the past when there were no sat/nav systems but I’ve been living in the modern era for too long. If I was buying an Omega Ute I’d pay the extra and get the Holden satellite navigation system … if only it was an option.

What I really didn’t like
Well I’ve already mentioned the cruise control but there was something else that I liked even less than the cruise control … the huge blind spot located just over the driver’s right shoulder.

It really is huge and even fiddling with the rear view mirror on the driver’s door didn’t get rid of it entirely. That blind spot made changing lanes more of a chore than it should have been … I had to look over my shoulder, lean forward to get a better view from the mirror and only then make the change.

Conclusion
I guess that the ultimate question for any reviewer is … would I buy one? And if I needed a solid ute that gave me some carrying capacity and comfort at a reasonable price then the Holden Series II Omega Ute would definitely be what I would choose.

But of course I’m not in the market for a ute of any kind so perhaps a better measure of how I found the Omega Ute is tell you that I was a bit sad to give it back at the end of the test while the other half of the team wasn’t so sad at returning it.

She thought that it was good to drive but wasn’t so keen on being a passenger.

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This Holden Malibu is here for testing and and calibrating by Holden’s Powertrain Engineering team not just for Australia but for General Motor’s markets outside of the US. General Motors plan on selling the Malibu in almost 100 countries around the world and to have it here for testing and calibration before it’s released into those markets shows how important the engineering team at Holden really are.

The Holden Malibu will hit the streets in late 2012 powered by a range of four-cylinder engines

This vehicle is being tested at Holden’s Lang Lang Proving Ground and out on public roads around Australia so you could catch a glimpse of it but we will have to wait till late next year to see the Australian version of the Malibu on the showroom floor.

Not only do you need a van that will carry the load you need to shift every day but you also need one that isn’t going to cost you more than you can afford … is cheap to run and cheap to maintain.

So today we’re going to compare the three cheapest small vans that are currently available here in Australia … the Holden Combo, the Volkswagen Caddy and the Renault Kangoo.

Holden Combo
The Holden Combo is 4,322mm long and 1,892mm wide. It has a cargo area of 2,390 litres with a maximum floor to ceiling height of 913mm and a tray length of 1.78m. The cargo area also includes a rubber cargo mat. The Combo and will carry a maximum payload of 735kg.

Access to the cargo area is via a sliding kerb side door that opens to 62cm and twin vertical rear doors that will open out to 180 degrees. There are six anchorage points in the cargo area

The Combo is powered by a 1.4-litre petrol engine that will run on E10, 91octane ULP or 95 octane PULP. The engine delivers 66kW of power at 5,600rpm and 125Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. The engine is coupled to a five-speed manual gearbox and that combination has a fuel consumption of 6.34L/100km on a combined cycle.

A complimentary inspection is due at 3,000km or three months and the first service is due at 15,000km or 12 months.

Standard features in the cabin include driver and passenger front and side airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners with force limiters, air conditioning, single disc audio system and clothe trim on the seats.

The Holden Combo also comes with an anti-lock braking system and electronic brakeforce distribution. It has a towing capacity of 1,000kg braked and 500kg unbraked.

Holden doesn’t display the recommended retail price on their website but from a quick look at dealer prices it seems that you can expect to pay somewhere between $21,000 and $22,000 for a Holden Combo.

The warranty period is three years or 100,000km … whichever comes first.

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Volkswagen Caddy Van
The Volkswagen Caddy is 4,406mm long and 1,794mm wide. It has a cargo area of 3.2 cubic metres with a maximum floor to ceiling height of 1,244mm and a tray length of 1.78m. A rubber mat for the cargo area is an optional extra. The maximum payload is 780kg for the manual.

Access to the cargo area is via a sliding kerb side door that opens to around 70cm and your choice of a rear tailgate or vertical doors. There are six anchorage points in the cargo area.

You get the choice of a petrol or diesel four-cylinder engine in the Volkswagen Caddy. The petrol version has a direct injection 1.2-litre engine that produces 63kW of power at 4,800rpm and 160Nm of torque at 1,500 rpm. That engine is coupled to a five-speed box and you can expect to get around 6.9L/100km on a combined cycle.

The diesel version has a common rail direct injection 1.6-litre engine that produces 75kW of power at 4,400rpm and 250Nm of torque at 1,500rpm. That’s coupled to a fie-speed box and you can expect to see fuel consumption figures of around 5.7L/100km on a combined cycle.

Volkswagen don’t say a lot about service intervals so you’ll need to check with a dealer for that information.

Standard features in the cab include air conditioning, driver and passenger airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners, height adjustable front seats with under-seat storage, over-head storage and clothe trim on the seats.

The Volkswagen Caddy also comes with Electronic Stability Program, ABS, MSR, EDI and Hill Holder.

The warranty period is three years and unlimited kilometers (12 years for corrosion) plus you get road side assistance for the warranty period

The recommended retail price for the Volkswagen Caddy is $21,990 for the petrol version and $26,650 for the diesel and of course you have to add dealer and government charges to those figures to get the on-road cost.

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Renault Kangoo
The Renault Kangoo is 4,213mm long and 1,829 wide. It has a cargo area of 3.0 cubic metres with a maximum floor to ceiling height of 1,251mm and a tray length of 1,476mm with a sill height ranging from 588mm to 609mm.

Access to the cargo area is via kerb side sliding door and rear doors that open out to 180 degrees and the cargo area comes with a liner as standard along with floor and side anchorage points. The maximum payload for the petrol model is 650kg and 800kg for the diesel model.

You get a choice of petrol or diesel engines in the Renault Kangoo. The 1.6-litre petrol engine produces 78kW of power at 5,750rpm and 148Nm of torque at 3,750rpm. A four-speed automatic transmission is standard with the petrol engine and with that combination you can expect to get around 8.3L/100km on a combined cycle.

The 1.5-litre diesel engine produces 63kW of power at 3,750rpm and 200Nm of torque at 1,900rpm. A five speed manual transmission is standard with the diesel engine and with that combination you can expect to get around 5.2L/100lm on a combined cycle.

Renault claim that the diesel Kangoo provides the best fuel consumption and emission figures in the class.

Renault don’t say a lot about service intervals so you’ll need to check with a dealer for that information.

Standard features in the cab include height adjustable steering wheel, air conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity, a single CD audio system, overhead parcel shelf and electric folding door mirrors.

Safety features include ABS with EBD, front driver airbag, side impact bars in the doors and load-limiters and pre-tensioners for the seat belts.

The warranty period is 3 years or 150,000km and you get 24 hour road side assistance as well.

Unusually the recommended retail price for both the petrol and diesel version of the Renault Kangoo is the same at $24,490. Government and dealer deliver charges have to be added to that.

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So which would you buy? The diesel Kangoo certainly looks good value for money if your looking at running costs and it’s certainly carries the biggest payload but in many cases it’s going to come down to something far more personal than price or payload.

If you’re going to spend a lot of time in the driver’s seat the choice of small van for your small business is going to come down to which seat you feel the most comfortable in and which offers your aching back the most support.

It had a basic one-piece body, a bench seat, three on the column (automatic if you were wealthy), rubber mats on the floor and if you wanted to keep cool or demist the windscreen you opened the quarter vents and drove a little faster. If you wanted a fan you worked out how to mount one on the dashboard yourself and no one even considered offering accessories. Utes were for working … not looking pretty.

The motor was a straight six that anyone with half a clue could work on and if you broke down there was always someone not too far away who could do a quick temporary repair and get you on the road again.

It was tough and reliable and every farmer and lots of tradies had one.

These days of course things have changed. The basic ute as a workhorse is almost an endangered species and Holden sell so few basic utes that finding an official photo of one is like hitting the jackpot. You can always find plenty of photos of the four utes in Holden’s sports range but when it comes to the Omega ute it’s almost as if Holden wants to hide it away.

But the basic Holden ute is still out there so let’s see just how basic it really is.

The engine
As you would expect, the Holden Omega ute is powered by the same 3.0-litre SIDI V6 as you find in the sedan range. The engine, with its double overhead Cam and four valves per cylinder, twin knock control sensors with individual cylinder adaptive control and on-board diagnostics, is nothing like the engines found in early utes but it’s still as dependable as ever.

Maximum power of 190kW arrives at 6,700rpm and maximum torque of 290Nm cuts in at 2,900rpm. Holden couples the V6 engine to a standard six-speed automatic gearbox with the gear selector mounted on the floor and not on the column as in days gone by. That combination will return fuel economy figures of 9.6L/100km on the combined cycle.

There’s also an LPG option for the Holden Omega ute that produces slightly less power but more torque and is coupled to a four-speed automatic transmission.

Safety
Early Holden utes had drum brakes all round … a system that tended to lead to some hair-raising moments if you had just run through some water. Seat belts … well later models had them but the ute I drove on the farm in the mid 1960s certainly didn’t.

The Holden Omega on the other hand comes with a full suite of safety features. Ventilated discs all round, electronic stability control, six airbags, traction control, anti-lock braking system, electronic brake distribution and everything else that’s needed to give it a 5-star ANCAP safety rating.

Other features
Other standard equipment levels include power mirrors, power windows, 4-way power adjustment for the driver’s seat, cruise control, multi-function steering wheel, dual-zone air conditioning, multi-function dashboard display, automatic headlamp mode, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, Touch-screen Holden-iQ System (with full-colour sat-nav system as an option) and one-touch access to the storage area behind the seats.

You also get a full-sized spare with Holden’s tyre sealant and air compressor kit as an option and in the back there’s six tie-down hooks and a full-sized high-density polyethylene tubliner as standard.

For a basic ute that’s quite a list of standard features but of course there’s also quite a range of options too. You can have just about anything from leather highlights through to soft or hard tonneau covers for the tub, rear park assist, lambswool seat inserts, pollen filters, roo bars, towing packages and much more.

So the basic Aussie ute has come a long way in the last 45 years – and while it’s still tough it now comes with a range of safety features and creature comforts that early ute owners probably never even dreamed of having.

What we’re seeing in the Holden Malibu is basically General Motors mid-sized world car – a four-door, five-seat, front wheel drive vehicle that General Motors plans on selling in around 100 different countries.

What we do know is that the exterior design has been inspired by the Camaro and Corvette muscle cars and inside you’ll find soft-touch and textured surfaces and what GM describe as a “dual cockpit” arrangement for the driver and front-seat passenger.

There will be ice-blue lighting for the dashboard and even a hidden storage area tucked away behind the radio interface.

Here in Australia the Malibu will be powered by a range of four-cylinder engines and we’ve been promised “a high level of safety and a range of features and technologies” but we’ll have to wait till we get closer to the launch date to find out exactly what Australia will see in the Malibu.

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At the moment all GM is saying is that it’s a show truck … built for the Bagnkok International Auto Show that opened last week … and a new Colorado will be released later this year

Why unveil what could be the next Colorado in Thailand? Well it might have something to do with the fact that Thailand is the world’s largest market for vehicles like this and right now General Motors isn’t in that market with the current Colorado.

So what are we seeing in what GM describes as “a Colorado Show Truck”?

For a start the chassis it’s sitting on is designed to be an all-wheel-drive and the engine that’s currently under the bonnet is a 2.8-litre turbo diesel.

On the outside we can see that the body features an extended cab with doors that open wide to give plenty of access to the cabin. On the inside the dashboard on this show truck includes three-dimensional gauges, the seats are leather and there’s dual-zone climate control too.

On the centre stack there’s a 7-inch LCD screen that gives drivers access to the Internet or a satellite navigation system.

Of course some of the fancy bits are certain to disappear when the new Colorado goes into production and the base model will be far more Spartan than what we see here but that doesn’t mean that the new Colorado isn’t going to challenge the big three in Australia’s ute market.

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Now you may see something different in these photo but I’m definitely seeing overtones of the Holden Astra in the new Holden Cruze Hatch even though it was designed by Holden’s Port Melbourne design studio.

While we’ll have to wait a little while longer to see the Cruze Hatch here in Australia it’s currently in production as a Chevrolet that was introduced to the world at the Geneva Motor Show.

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At that time I was a bit of a smart-arse and wondered whether there was really anything that was really different between the first VE Commodores and the Series II if all Holden PR people could talk about was the infotainment system. You can read what I had to say here.

Way back in April of last year we road tested the Series I Holden Berlina Sportwagon and found that it was a good dependable vehicle. It was a Holden … it was reliable … you could get it fixed just about anywhere in Australia and that was about it. It was a nice drive but there was nothing to get too excited about

What we didn’t say was that both my partner and I found that the steering was a bit heavy and when you got behind the wheel you knew you were driving a big car.

Well now we’ve had a week in the Series II SV6 Sportwagon and I’ve got retract what I said when the Series II VE Commodores were first released. Sure there’s an infotainment centre in the car that’s interesting but we hadn’t driven a block in the new SV6 Sportwagon before we knew that the difference between the Series I and the Series II VE Commodore was like chalk and cheese.

The Series I was solid … dependable … and bit heavy while the Series II was just as solid … just as dependable … and it was light and responsive and just plain fun to drive. Oh … and it also had that infotainment centre that Holden made such a fuss about when they released the Series II.

The vehicle as tested
The vehicle we tested was the Series II VE Commodore SV6 Sportwagon that Holden is currently offering from $41,990 drive away. For that price you a 3.6-litre 210kW SIDI Direct Injection motor coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission (with Active Select) and a limited slip diff.

That set up returned a combined cycle fuel consumption of 9.9L/100km.

Standard equipment includes that much heralded touch-screen infotainment centre, sports suspension, a full suite of handling and braking programmes, six airbags, 18 inch alloy wheels, fog lamps, cruise control, rear park assist, dual-zone climate control, remote locking, 60/40 split rear seats that fold flat and more.

The vehicle we tested was optioned up with a full-size spare (standard according to the Holden website is a tyre sealant kit), satellite navigation and a reversing camera.

Where we tested
We covered over 1600km in the SV6 Sportwagon and that ranged from heavy city traffic around Brisbane, highway running on the Bruce Highway that varied from smooth four-lane cruising to rough goat track where we had to weave around potholes, and secondary road cruising (that was sometimes better than the highway … and sometimes worse) when we did the tourist thing and visited the Town of 1770 and Agnes Waters on the Discovery Coast here in Queensland.

We used the vehicle as if it were our own … we did the shopping … we did the usual running about that we do for my partner’s business … and we did the after-hours social things that we do … dining out and just generally having a good time.

The engine and transmission
It was responsive and the gear changes in the six-speed box were smooth and barely noticeable unless you really stamped on the accelerator. Then you dropped three gears and wondered how many orbits you would do before came back to earth again..

I used the Active Select option once or twice just to see how well it worked and it was fine but it’s not something that you’ll use all the time … or even occasionally for that matter. It’s just easier to slip the gear selector into D and let the automatic gear box do its thing.

Fuel consumption was certainly within the figures supplied by Holden and it seemed to take a lot of kilometres before the 71-litre fuel tank began to run short on fuel.

Ride and handling
This was where we really noticed the difference between the Series I and the Series II Commodore. At slow speed the steering in the Series II Sportwagon was so much lighter than what it had been in the Series I that we tested.

Toni thought that there were times when the wagon got a little twitchy when she really had to weave through the potholes but I didn’t notice that when I was driving. For me the steering was always very predictable and well-behaved … even at high speed.

Ride was just as good as what we had found in the Series I but the sports suspension in the SV6 kept the wagon sitting flat on tight bends and through all that pothole weaving that I mentioned earlier. Why weave through those potholes? Well up here in Queensland they tend to be deep and they can destroy your suspension and shred a tyre in the blink of an eye.

Interior
If you read the Series I road test you will have noticed that one of the things that really bugged me was all the bells and whistles that Holden have for various events. Unfortunately they still have them all … and a few more if you have the satellite navigation option fitted.

Apart from that little annoyance the interior of the Series II SV6 Sportwagon is pretty good. There’s plenty of legroom front and back and the front seats provide plenty of support for the driver and passenger. We both have bad backs and a long trip in an uncomfortable seat can really hurt but we had no trouble with the seats in the Series II wagon.

The rear seats have the usual 60/40 split fold set up and laying them down flat is a very simple matter. Getting the rear seats set up again took very little time and you don’t have to be Hercules to get pull them back into position.

Even with the seats up in the normal position there’s plenty of room in the back of the vehicle and you could easily fit the week’s shopping plus a pram and some extra gear in the space available. There’s also plenty of storage hooks and handy little storage nets to hold small items and there’s a cargo blind as well for those times when you don’t want prying eyes to see what you’re carrying.

One unusual feature of the Series II Sportwagon is the placement of the vehicle’s battery. It’s not tucked away in the engine bay as you would expect … instead it’s in a compartment on the left-hand side of the luggage space.

The optional full-size spare sits under the floor of the luggage area along with the jack and associated bits and pieces. Personally this is an option that I would always choose to have. Maybe I’m a Luddite but I’d rather have a spare tyre than a can of sealant any day.

Driver’s controls
The dashboard is well set out and all the instruments are easy to read and understand. On the photos of the dashboard you will notice that there’s a reflection that shows up right across the front of the gauges. You’re unlikely to notice that when you’re driving the vehicle and I certainly didn’t see it until I was checking the photos I had taken.

The dual-zone air conditioning is easy to operate … as are all the controls on the dash, steering wheel and centre stack. The light switch is out of sight behind the steering wheel for most drivers but it always defaults to automatic mode so it’s unlikely that you will ever need to turn the lights on manually.

I didn’t like the idea that the lights stayed on at night for some time after you’ve switched off the ignition so I always turned the lights off manually but I had no trouble finding the switch.

Setting up the stereo and the radio wasn’t difficult and Holden left a great choice of music in the system. There was everything from classical to rock and it certainly showed just how good the sound system was.

The satellite navigation system was interesting and I have to admit that it’s the first time I’ve ever used one. It’s an option in the SV6 Sportwagon and it’s an option I would probably have fitted if I were buying a new Holden.

It wasn’t a hundred per cent accurate and when it showed speed limits they weren’t always the right one for the part of the road we were driving on. For example the highway to the north of the truck inspection station on the Bruce Highway just out of Caboolture is posted for 110km/h but the satnav system was sure that it was only 100km/h. The warning that kept flashing on the main dashboard and telling me that I was exceeding the speed limit got annoying after a while.

Directions weren’t always entirely accurate either and it took some convincing to get the system to believe that we really did know better than it did. On our first experiment to get the system to guide us from our place out onto the highway and to a small town on a back road on the way to Agnes Waters the system kept trying to send us on a route to the highway that was a long way off the real route.

Apart from that glitch the satnav worked quite well and you can set it to sound an alarm when you’re nearing certain locations such as railway crossings … schools … red-light cameras and even public toilets. Now don’t laugh … that’s a particularly useful feature if you’re a baby boomer on a long country trip or the parents of young kids who can only ever last from one toilet to the next.

The SV6 Sportwagon that we tested also had a reversing camera that displays on the centre stack when reverse gear is selected. We loved it! It gave a great view of what was behind us and it made getting out of shopping centre car parking spaces a breeze.

Personally we think that every vehicle on the road should have a reversing camera fitted and the display should always be somewhere on the dash and definitely not in the reversing mirror where the image is often lost in the glare.

Comfort
The seats were really comfortable and after several hours on the road our backs weren’t complaining at all. Noise levels in the cabin were very low. Of course you’re going to hear some noise when you hit a pothole but the general road noise didn’t intrude into the cabin at all.

We managed to do our travelling on some of the hottest and most humid days Queensland had experienced this summer and yet we never felt any discomfort till we got out of the wagon. The air conditioning was just outstanding and every time we got out of the car we couldn’t wait to get back in.

So you want to be noticed?
Then the SV6 Sportwagon … and more particularly the Red Hot version is the vehicle you should be driving. It has an obvious presence on the road and when people look at it they just know that it take off like a rocket.

It’s also a vehicle that stands out in the crowd and you certainly won’t lose it in a parking area.

Overall
What can I say … we loved it! By comparison the SeriesI was a bit ho hum while the Series II was exciting and definitely fun to drive. We liked it so much that we really didn’t want to give it back and when that comes from a couple of confirmed SUV lovers that’s really saying something.

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The Holden Series II Cruze also introduces two new sports models to the range so there are now four models to choose from. There’s also a new generation 2.0-litre turbo diesel option in the range and when this engine is combined with the six-speed manual transmission the combined fuel cycle is 5.6L/100km.

There’s also an all-new 1.4-litre iTi (intelligent Turbo induction) petrol engine option with variable valve timing for those who still aren’t sure about a car powered by a diesel engine. The new 1.4-litre iTI engine returns a combined cycle of 6.4L/100km on manual models and all models that particular engine have electronic power steering and Watts link performance suspension too.

For those who want a little more power than a 1.4-litre engine might return the Series II Cruze still comes with the same 1.8-litre engine that was available in the previous model as the standard engine. This engine delivers a combined cycle of 6L/100km.

The top of the range
The Cruze Sri-V is the luxury vehicle in the range and comes with a standard equipment level that includes passive entry and start technology, satellite navigation with full colour widescreen display and a premium multimedia audio/DVD system with 10GB hard drive enabling owners to store around 2000 songs. The system also has the ability to pause live radio for up to 20 minutes.

Safety
With six airbags and a full suite of stability, braking and traction control programmes a five-star ANCAP rating was inevitable.

Cruze also benefits from a robust body structure which comprises 65 per cent high-strength steel and a technically advanced chassis systems which deliver enhanced accident avoidance capabilities. Energy-absorbing load paths protect the passenger safety cell and offer optimum protection in the event of a collision.

Series II Holden Cruze CD standard feature highlights:

• Engine options of 1.8L ECOTEC engine, 1.4 iTi DOHC turbo petrol or 2.0L DOHC turbo diesel.
• New 16-inch wheel trims
• Six-speaker multimedia audio system with radio, in-dash CD, USB flash drive/iPod/MP3 compatibility
• Steering wheel remote audio and cruise controls
• Graphic information display
• Six airbags – front driver and passenger, front side impact, side curtain
• Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
• Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
• Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
• Traction Control
• Brake Assist
• Collapsible pedal assembly system
• Air conditioning
• Power windows all round
• Automatic headlamps
• Body-coloured door handles
• Watts link performance suspension (paired to 1.4 iTi model only)

Series II Holden Cruze CDX additional feature highlights:

• Engine options of 1.8L ECOTEC or 2.0L DOHC turbo diesel
• New 17-inch alloy wheels
• Fog lamps
• Leather-appointed seat trim
• Leather-wrap steering wheel and shifter
• Heated front seats
• Rear park assist
• Chrome exterior highlights

Series II Holden Cruze SRi additional feature highlights over CD:

• 1.4L iTi DOHC turbo petrol engine
• Front and rear sports fascia and rocker covers
• Rear lip spoiler
• Sporty five-spoke sports 17-inch alloy wheels
• Chrome door handles
• Sonic blue cloth trim (standard on Voodoo and Karma exterior colours only)
• Watts link performance suspension
• Front fog lamps
• Leather-wrap steering wheel and shifter

Series II Holden Cruze SRi-V additional feature highlights over the SRi:

• Leather appointed seats
• Heated front seats
• Passive entry and start with Sensor Key technology
• Integrated satellite navigation
• Integrated 7-inch colour LCD screen
• Premium audio system with 10GB hard drive, CD/MP3 rip and store capability, DVD player and pause live radio functionality
• Rear park assist

Pricing
CD 1.8L Petrol – $20,990

CD 1.4iTi – $22,240

CD Diesel – $24,990

CDX 1.8L Petrol – $24,490

CDX Diesel – $28,490

SRi 1.4iTi – $24,490

SRi V 1.4iTi – $27,990

Automatic transmission adds $2,000 to each model and prestige paint adds another $500

The new Series II Cruze will go on sale in late March.

Exterior
On the outside the Holden Captiva 5 has a new grill and fog lamps while the Captiva 7 gets a slightly different hood, elongated headlamps and redesigned tail lamps.

The Captiva 5 rides on 17 inch alloys while the Captiva 7 rides on 19 inch alloys for the LX, 18 inchg alloys for the CX and 17 inch alloys for the SX.

The engine
Both the Captiva 5 and the Captiva 7 come with a choice of petrol or diesel engines. The Captiva 5 comes with either a four-cylinder petrol or diesel engine while the Captiva 7 adds the 3.0 litre SIDI V6 engine. Each is matched with a six-speed trtansmission.

The front of the new Series II Captiva 7 - compare it with the Series II Captiva 5 in the photo at the top of the article.

The diesel is a new 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine that features high-pressure common rail and integrated turbo-charging technologies that deliver 135kW of peak power and a gutsy 400Nm of peak torque.

Fuel consumption for the diesel is a reasonable 8.5L/100km combined cycle.

The 2.4 litre four-cylinder DOHC petrol engine comes with variable valve timing (VVT) technology that produces 123 kW of peak power and 230 Nm of peak torque. It produces 19 per cent more power than the previous four-cylinder engine in the earlier Captiva.

Fuel consumption for the four-cylinder petrol engine is 9.1L/100km combined cycle which makes you wonder what the consumption figure will be around town where most people will drive the Captiva.

Fuel consumption for the V6 is 11.3L/100km.

Series II Captiva 5

Interior
All Series II Captiva 7 models include MP3 compatible CD players with auxiliary input, Bluetooth® for hands-free calling or music streaming, plus air conditioning, leather wrap steering wheel and cruise control.

The CX model adds climate control, Sportec bolsters, driver information display and Rear Park Assist, while the range-topping LX adds leather appointed seat trim, Satellite Navigation, Rear View Camera, USB port and a 7-inch multifunction touch-screen.

Series II Captiva 7

Flush-fold second and third row split seating gives the Captiva 7 the ability to change from a people carrier into a cargo carrier. There are plenty of storage spaces including centre console and second row armrest compartments, front and rear cup holders, and front and rear door pockets.

The inclusion of the electric park brake in both the Captiva 5 and Captiva 7 also creates more space by removing the bulky handbrake lever.

Satellite navigation in the Series II Captiva 7 LX

The Captiva 5 cabin is also equipped with stylish features including a six-disc MP3 compatible CD player, semi-automatic climate control system, leather wrap steering wheel, front and rear park assist, cruise control, trip computer and driver information display as standard.

Reversing camera in the Series II Captiva LX

Safety
Side impact airbags are now standard on the new Series II Captiva 5 and Captiva 7.

Series II Captiva also sees the introduction of Hill Start Assist (HSA) technology across the Captiva range. It holds the vehicle on gradients of 3 per cent or steeper for 1.5 seconds after the brake pedal has been released, to assist in a smoother and safer drive away from standstill.

Captiva models are also fitted with a descent control system which maintains a slow speed for navigating steep downhill gradients.

Series II Captiva 7

Front and rear park assist comes standard on Captiva 5 while Captiva 7 CX features rear park assist and Captiva 7 LX combines rear park assist with a standard rear-view camera.
Re-tuned chassis dynamics and improvements to steering feel contribute to a more refined ride quality and sharper handling feel. A hydraulic control feature automatically adjusts the suspension to maintain a level ride height on the Captiva 5 Diesel and all Captiva 7 models.

Series II Captiva 5

Pricing
The prices shown here do not include dealer delivery charges or government charges but they do include a sizeable cut on the prices on most variants compared to the previous model.

Series II Captiva 7

• SX 2WD 4-cyl A/T $32,490
• SX 2WD Diesel A/T $35,490
• CX AWD Petrol A/T $38,490
• CX AWD Diesel A/T $39,490
• LX AWD Petrol A/T $42,490
• LX AWD Diesel A/T $43,490

Series II Captiva 7

Series II Captiva 5

• 2WD 4-cyl M/T $27,990
• 2WD 4-cyl A/T $29,990
• AWD Diesel A/T $33,990

The Series II Captiva 5 and Series II Captiva 7 hit the showrooms in mid-March.

Holden Executive Director, Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, John Elsworth said Commodore continued its reign as Australia’s most popular car, selling 3787 units for the month – its highest October sales figure since 2008.

“October was the first full month of VE Series II sales and the new technology and styling changes have been embraced by buyers from Omega to Caprice V,” Mr Elsworth said.

He said while Commodore accounted for just over half (51 per cent) of the large car market, Holden was also seeing steady growth in its small car sales.

Barina continues to be a popular and affordable choice for small car buyers. With 1071 sales this month Barina had its best October result since 2006, boosted by the all-new Barina Spark which sold around 300 units since launching at the Australian International Motor Show.

“Holden’s small cars are proving a real strength for the brand with Cruze again among the top 10 highest-selling vehicles for the month with 2135 sales in October.”

Mr Elsworth said Holden’s small car portfolio would also continue to expand over the next 12 months, to include an all-new Barina and the localised Cruze and Cruze hatchback.

Year-to-date Holden sales are up 15.3 per cent giving it a market share of of 12.9 per cent for the year.

Hey if you’ve got a new vehicle to play with then you may as well give it a good workout on the way back to the office … and that’s what we did.

Sadly our first impressions were not what you might call … ‘good’. Sure the Catpiva 5 cruised quite comfortably on the motorways that take you out of Brisbane towards Ipswich but it was a bit slow off the mark and the engine was a bit noisy too.

Ok so I thought that we had somehow picked up a diesel and it wasn’t until we stopped the other side of Ipswich for a pit stop and I opened the petrol cap that I discovered that we really did have the 2.4-litre petrol engine under the bonnet.

It was about that time too that I discovered just how uncomfortable the driver’s seat really was. On the first part of the trip I’d sat in the passenger seat and played with all the knobs and buttons and my partner had driven but after the pit stop it was my turn to drive.

Instead of sitting comfortably as I had been in the passenger seat I found that I seemed to be sitting on two bars that ran down either side of the seat squab and their sole purpose seemed to be to dig into my backside and remind me that I’m not built like a racing ferret anymore.

No ... my backside does not extend across the outer edges of the seat. The part that made it so uncomfortable was about halfway down the raised edges on the side of the squab.

Well at least the Captiva 5 cruised well and it continued to do so out through Fernvale and up to Somerset Dam. It really impressed me with the handling and I could point it into tight curves at a good speed and feel confident that we’d come out on the other side still pointing in the right direction.

But then there aren’t many hills on the main roads between Brisbane and Somerset Dam … the hills start on the other side of the dam and that’s when we discovered that the Captiva 5 with the five-speed auto gearbox really doesn’t like steep hills.

The auto box in the Captiva is fitted with what Holden calls “Active Select” … it’s the usual set up that you find in automatics these days where you can change gears manually by slipping the gear selector across into a separate gate that then allows you to change up or down simply by nudging the gear selector forward or back.

I’ve driven a lot of cars with that sort of gear selector and I don’t remember actually ever using it on the open road … but it got quite a workout in the Captiva. If I wanted to maintain a decent level of momentum up the hills coming out of Somerset Dam I had to use the gear selector to change down into a lower gear on almost every hill otherwise we might have hit the bottom of the hill at a fair pace but we’d be down to less than 60kph by the time we hit the top.

Once we did get back to the office we decided that we really needed to let the local Holden dealer look at the vehicle … the engine noise, the sluggish starts and lack of power on the hills could have all been signs of something majorly wrong so off to the dealer the Captiva and I went.

After a quick test-drive, a listen to the engine as I helt it at 2000rpm and a look at the engine oil it seemed that everything was all good. The foreman politely suggested that with only 6.7k on the clock I should expect some noise as the engine loosened up and ran itself in.

The sluggishness from a standing start … well the Captiva has an electronic throttle and if we had come straight from a vehicle with a throttle cable then we would think the Captiva was sluggish. In fact we had come from such a vehicle and by the next day we weren’t finding the Captiva as sluggish as we thought.

It’s certainly no rocket but now that we know how to drive a vehicle that doesn’t have the instant response you get with a throttle cable it’s not so bad. And as for the lack of power … well it does weigh 1.83 tonnes and it only has a 2.4-litre motor so maybe we were expecting too much … after all it’s not a sports car.

And that’s where we’ll leave you for now. We’ve got the Captiva 5 for a week and I have to admit that it is growing on us … and the driver’s seat is getting softer (or I’m getting thinner) … so maybe our full road test won’t be quite so negative about what really is a solid vehicle that we may just have taken some distance outside its comfort zone.

Today Holden released even more information about equipment and pricing levels for the Barina Spark and it’s obvious that Holden wants to claim a big chunk of the light-car segement.

Barina Spark CD
The Barina Spark will be available in two versions that will share the same 1.2-litre petrol engine coupled to a five-speed manual transmission. The entry level Barina Spark CD will come with features that include:

• 14-inch alloy wheels
• sports body kit
• front fog lamps
• rear spoiler
• heated power adjustable mirrors
• air conditioning
• power steering
• power front windows
• four-way adjustable driver and front passenger seat
• four-speaker AM?FM audio system with CD player, iPod/iPhone and MP3 player input
• steering wheel-mounted autio controls
• remote keyless entry and remote central locking
• security immobiliser
• plenty of storage throughout the vehicle
• Cloth upholstered seats

Barina Spark CDX
The Spark CDX will include all of the above plus:

• 15-inch alloy wheels
• larger rear body-coloured spoiler
• rear powered windows
• Sportec upholstery and trim

Safety
Both the Barina Spark CD and the Barina Spark CDX come with dual front, front side impact and full-length curtain airbags as well as electronic stability control that incorporates an anti-locking braking system, brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution and traction control.

Luggage space
Both models in the Barina Spark range are fitted with 60/40 split-fold rear seats that increase the 170-litre luggage space to 580-litres when the rear seat is completely folded down.

Price
The recommended retail price for the Barina Spark CD is $12,490 and $13,990 for the Spark CDX. These prices do not include statutory and dealer charges.

Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mike Devereux, said there was overwhelming interest in the progress of the Cruze localization program at the Elizabeth plant ahead of the launch next year.

“It’s great to welcome the Government and media into the new South Bodyshop for the first time. It’s the beginning of a new era for Holden, adding a new global small car to our local portfolio,” he said.

“With Cruze and Commodore we have the flexibility to meet the changing demands of the market and to offer our customers a family of great locally made small and large cars.”

Mr Devereux was joined this morning by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, and Deputy Premier of South Australia, the Hon Kevin Foley, to officially open the South Bodyshop.

He commended the Holden employees who also designed and built the new facility and signed the first Cruze vehicle body produced by the team.

“The team at Elizabeth designed the production process themselves using the experience that many of them had from working on other great Holden programs like Monaro,” Mr Devereux said.

“This gave employees much greater input to the program and it’s fantastic to see it all come together.”

Within the South Bodyshop 22 new robots and 48 refurbished robots have been installed in the fully-functioning layered build line. This GM global manufacturing process provides a runway for Holden to adapt future advanced technologies on future vehicles.

Mr Devereux also thanked the Federal and South Australian Governments and the trade unions for their support during the challenges of the past 18 months.

“Our thanks to the Federal Government for their support through the Green Car Innovation Fund and the South Australian Government for their commitment to the auto industry. With their support Holden has been able to secure a new global vehicle program to drive its manufacturing future,” Mr Devereux said.

The roof, body sides, closures, fascias and majority of interior plastics will be manufactured onsite. Cruze bodies will be produced in the South Bodyshop and then join Commodore on the line in General Assembly.

The all-new Barina Spark … a 1.2-litre five-door hatch … will make its first appearance at the Australian International Motorshow in Sydney this week.

The Barina Spark CD and CDX come equipped with sports body kit, alloy wheels, fog lamps and a rear spoiler as standard equipment. Both versions are powered by a 1.2-litre double overhead cam four-cylinder engine linked to a five-speed manual transmission that uses just 5.6L/100km

Safety features include Electronic Stability Control (ESC), incorporating anti-lock braking, brake assist, electronic brakeforce distribution and traction control. Occupants are protected by a total of six airbags – dual front, front side impact and full-length curtain airbags.

The Barina Spark instrument cluster is definitely different

On the outside hidden rear-door handles tend to trick the eye into thinking that you’re looking at a three-door hatch while on the inside the instrument cluster is said to be inspired by what you might find on a motor cycle. This type of instrument cluster has been carried over to the Aveo.

Holden will announce pricing and full specs for the Barina Spark at the Sydney Motor Show.

However we could soon see the end of the Barina name and even though the name may be retained, the current Barina as we know it, is sure to go because GM have just announced that their new global small car will be the all-new Chevrolet Aveo.

The research, development and design that went into the Aveo was done by Daewoo so it’s not surprising that the Aveo will initially be built in Korea and released. The Korean market will also be the first to get the Aveo even though the Aveo concept car was first displayed back in January at the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

So what will we get in the Holden Aveo/Barina? Well the new Aveo is longer and wider than the Barina and inside you’ll see what GM describe as a “motorcycle-inspired instrument binnacle which features an analogue tachometer combined with a digital speedometer and warning lights”.

Up-market blue backlighting on the centre console is a feature of the new Aveo as is a wrap-around fascia that envelopes the whole front cabin.

The new Aveo will come with a range of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines that incorporate technologies such as variable valve timing, double continuous variable cam phasing and common rail fuel injection for the diesels.

GM/Holden are yet to announce when the Aveo will be available in Australia.