Not to miss out on the limelight beamed on Ford Australia today, production of the Holden Cruze in Australia stops today as well, at Holden’s Elizabeth plant in Adelaide. This brings an end to local production of the model since it began in 2011.
While the Commodore will go on for about one more year, local production of the Cruze has now ceased, bringing down up to 270 jobs over the next couple of months.
It’s understood some of the workers will be transferred to other areas of the GM-based business, including manufacturing of Commodore-based models that are sold in the US, along with some of the components that go with them.
Holden announced in February that local production of the global small car would stop in October in Australia, leading to jobs losses of around 320. The company said all staff would be offered counselling services and career coaching and training assistance.
Sales of the Cruze have slowly declined over the past three years. During September this year Holden sold 1404 examples compared with 1516 during the same month in 2015. This figure is also down on 1643 sales achieved in 2014, and 1851 achieved in 2013.
While Aussie customers may lose one small car with a lion badge on the front, an all-new model will arrive later this year. Holden will introduce the new European Astra in December, confirming three models grades spanning from the R, RS, and RS-V. It’s expected to make a decent dent on the small car market in Australia, fighting with the likes of the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3.
