Thinking of the global appeal a Holden must have, variants or derivations of the car like the new hatchback should also be sellable to the global market.

The head of the Australian division of GM Mark Reuss revealed that a hatchback following the drawing lines of the Cruze will be in production by the third quarter of 2010. The hatchback will be designed and assembled in Australia and will definitely different from the sedan Cruze from which it will be derived.

The platform for the hatchback is expected to be on the greener side with better fuel mileage and lower emissions for the new Holden vehicles. Speculations are also being made that the vehicles will be capable on running with alternative fuels like the LPG, diesel, and the E85.

The Holden Cruze hatchback will be positioned in the upper scale of the market. The new car will get distinctive treatment like sportier steering, suspension tuning, and styling from the Commodore. It might also have the new 2010 1.4L turbo charged engine of the Opel Astra. The Cruze sedan has a 1.8L naturally aspirated power plant.

The details of the export deals the new hatchback will address was not revealed but the car manufacturing is eyeing to fill in the space created by the axed General Motors Pontiac G8 worth about $1 billion.