Cruze Hatch Drives Holden Manufacturing Flexibility

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – Nov 7, 2011: Holden has grown the capacity and efficiency of its vehicle manufacturing operations in South Australia with the introduction of the new Cruze hatch.

The addition of the Cruze and new export program has added around 300 new Holden manufacturing job opportunities over the past 12 months and enabled Holden to improve its efficiency and flexibility.

With Cruze sedan and hatch now being made alongside short and long-wheel-base model Commodores, Holden has also increased the number of in-house components it produces specifically for the new hatch model.

Holden has created 13 new pieces of equipment for the plant to enable in-house manufacturing of specific components for Cruze hatch including rear fascia assemblies, rear tailgate trim, bodysides and roof.

Cruze hatch has also enabled Holden to increase its line rate to build 480 cars a day over two shifts, up from 430 a day, with Cruze models accounting for approximately 185 vehicles a day.

GM Holden Director of Vehicle Assembly Operations, Richard Phillips said the additional production capacity increase had been achieved through productivity gains and efficiency improvements.

“With co-investment support from the Federal and South Australian Governments, Holden has invested millions of dollars in our manufacturing facilities and processes to build the Cruze sedan and hatch here in Australia,” Mr Phillips said.

“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 hatch models.

“We have also added additional component manufacturing capacity, increasing the number of body panels we stamp and the plastics we mould, which further enhances the flexibility of Holden’s manufacturing operations.”

With the addition of the Cruze hatch production, Holden Vehicle Operations (HVO) 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 at HVO for the final phase of production, Holden builds the Cruze and Commodore vehicle bodies in its Bodyshop onsite.

Cruze sedan and hatch bodies are produced in the South Bodyshop which was designed by Holden manufacturing engineers. The South Bodyshop can build multiple body styles in a ‘fully functioning layered build line’ which enables it to build General Motors Global Architectures such as Cruze.

Holden has made modifications across its HVO facilities, which is achieving benchmark internal quality metrics for Cruze body production globally, to provide a smooth runway for the hatch.

These modifications include new tooling in the Bodyshop, different sealing paths in Paintshop and other efficiency improvements in the General Assembly process.

Building Cruze hatch in Australia has also enabled Holden to both increase its local suppliers and the number of components produced by its existing supplier base to further improve their viability and build a solid base for future manufacturing.

GM Holden Associate Director of Supplier Strategy, Jaydeep Solanki, said Holden’s introduction of Cruze manufacturing at Elizabeth had provided significant opportunities for the supplier community.

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

“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.

“These new business opportunities help ensure the long term viability of Australian suppliers through greater economies of scale.”

Geelong-based MHG Glass is among the new suppliers engaged specifically for the Cruze hatch to supply the new tailgate glass.

Other existing Holden suppliers to benefit from the Cruze manufacturing program include Futuris Automotive Interiors supplying Cruze seats and Hirotec Australia which stamps all the closures for the Cruze sedan and hatch including doors, bonnet and bootlid.

As part of its commitment to local manufacturing Holden is now looking at a second phase localisation program for the Cruze that may see additional components for the Cruze sedan and hatch sourced locally.