Cruze Paying Dividends for GM Holden, Oz Suppliers

The launch of GM Holden’s locally built Cruze hatchback this week raises daily production at its South Australia plant by 50 units to 480 over two shifts, including about 185 Cruze builds.

The General Motors subsidiary says addition of the Cruze and a new export program has added about 300 new manufacturing jobs over the past 12 months, improving its efficiency and flexibility.

Sales of modified Cruze hatchback launched in Australia.

With the Cruze sedan and hatchback being built alongside short- and long-wheelbase Commodore models, GM Holden also is producing more specific in-house components for the new hatchback. They include rear-fascia assemblies, rear-tailgate trim, body sides and roof.

Richard Phillips, GM Holden-director of vehicle assembly operations, says the production-capacity increase is the result of productivity gains and efficiency improvements.

With financial support from the federal and South Australian governments, the auto maker has spent millions of dollars on manufacturing facilities and processes to build the Cruze sedan and hatchback in Australia.

“Over the past 10 months we’ve also continued to refine our manufacturing processes, and this has seen us become more competitive and allow us to further increase production to accommodate the new hatchback models,” Phillips says in a statement.

Holden Vehicle Operations now builds 51 models on two architectures, including six body styles and nine variants in left- and right-hand drive.

Before moving into the paint shop and general-assembly facility for the final phase of production, GM Holden builds the Cruze and Commodore vehicle bodies in its on-site body shop.

Cruze sedan and hatchback bodies are produced in the south body shop, which was designed by GM Holden manufacturing engineers. The shop can build multiple body styles in a fully functioning layered build line that allows it to produce GM global architectures such as the Cruze.

Modifications across the auto maker’s HVO facilities include new tooling in the body shop, different sealing paths in the paint shop and other efficiency improvements in the general assembly process.

Building the Cruze hatchback in Australia has seen GM Holden increase both its local suppliers and the number of components produced by its existing supplier base.

Jaydeep Solanki, GM Holden-associate director of supplier strategy, says Cruze manufacturing has provided significant opportunities for suppliers.

“The Cruze manufacturing program has created more than 200 jobs in the Australian supplier community,” he says. “And we are now buying an additional A$100 million ($103.3 million) worth of components from Australian suppliers every year, so this has been a very big boost for the automotive component industry.”

“We have not only contracted some new suppliers but importantly, the Cruze program has enabled us to increase the number of components we source from existing Commodore suppliers.”

Solanki says these new business opportunities help ensure the long-term viability of Australian suppliers through greater economies of scale.

MHG Glass is among the new suppliers engaged specifically to supply tailgate glass for for the Cruze hatchback. Existing suppliers benefiting from the Cruze program include seat supplier Futuris Automotive Interiors, and Hirotec Australia, which stamps all the closures including doors, hood and trunk lid.

GM Holden is looking at a second-phase localization program that may see additional Cruze components sourced locally.