Holden Colorado, Cruze and Barina Unveiled at 2011 AIMS

Chevrolet might have global ambitions but the Land Down Under is the stumping ground of utes not pickups, so Holden has bragging right here. However, referring to the following cars as being simply rebadged Chevys is unfair, as Holden has played a big part in developing them in the the first place.

The public will get to see the Holden Cruze 5-door in pre-production trim starting today at the 2011 Australian International Motor Show (AIMS). In addition, the hatchback will be joined by the new Barina, a Chevrolet Sonic at heart, and the Colorado 4x4 concept pickup truck, which we’ve already seen with Chevrolet's badging.

“The Colorado show car is the biggest and brightest star on the Holden stage this year,” said Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux. “The next generation Colorado will be an important player in light commercial/pickup 4x4 segment which is up 11 per cent this year.”

Holden has big plans for the Colorado four-door pickup, hoping the model will sell well in Australia. The Chevy Colorado Rally Concept we recently saw was powered by a 2.8-liter turbo diesel engine coupled to an all-wheel drive system. The new pickup will be introduced into the Australian market in production form next year.

Holden is also updating its Commodore series with the presentation of an E85-capable V6 engine option, and has launched the HSV versions of the most powerful sedan, ute and station wagons.

“We’ll be adding to the Ecoline model range, extending E85 flex-fuel capability to the popular 3.6 litre SIDI V6 engine and launching a new dedicated LPG Commodore range to take advantage of the CO2 benefits of the locally-abundant fuel,” said Devereux.