No more Cruze-in.
Holden announced today that its Cruze compact saloon will be canned very soon, as it’ll be replaced this May with a new Astra saloon. Coming from a historical standpoint, the move to drop the ‘Cruze’ moniker in favour of ‘Astra’ makes a lot of sense, as the ‘Astra’ nameplate has long been associated with a compact Holden offering.
The Astra saloon is built off of the Astra hatch, which means it shares the same underpinnings. This will likely result in comfort-oriented ride and handling, with prices likely to sit below the sportier and slightly more premium hatch. The D2 architecture that underpins the new saloon is described as German-engineered, Korean-built, and Australian-tuned. The “Australian-tuned” claim stems from no less than 12-months of local testing, resulting in small revisions to suspension and steering setups to deliver the best ride as demanded by our market.
The Astra saloon will be powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-pot petrol, producing 110kW and 245Nm of torque (but only with the manual; auto-boxes see a 5Nm deficit). More than enough grunt to get through its necessary duties. Holden has not yet disclosed any details regarding pricing or specification, but we don’t expect it to vary far from the US-spec Chevrolet Cruze saloon on which our Astra is based.
The design of the Astra is influenced heavily by the Australian design team, with a unique face to differentiate it from its American sibling. The Astra saloon should the inclusion of tech like Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto, on a screen either 7- or 8-inches in size.
The Astra saloon is model 13 in Holden’s slated 24 new vehicles that it plans to introduce by 2020, while cars like the Equinox and Captiva still await their replacements.
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