Holden reveals new Cruze hatchback

Holden's first picture of the new hatchback Cruze, which was debuted as a concept at last year's Paris Motor Show. Photo / Supplied

The first images of the new hatchback Holden Cruze have been released, the car designed in Australia for sale both locally and around the world.

The car was designed at Holden's Port Melbourne studio and will be released later this year.

It will be sold in some other markets as the Chevrolet Cruze.

The car was first shown as a concept at the Paris Motor Show last year with the first production model put on display at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month.

Holden design director Tony Stolfo said Cruze hatch highlighted the breadth of skill in the Holden Design Studio.

"The Holden design team works on a range of global design projects from small hatchbacks like the new Cruze to large performance vehicles and also a number of exciting vehicles yet to be revealed," Stolfo said.

"The Cruze sedan is already a huge hit in Australia so it was rewarding to work on a global project that we would also be able to adapt specifically for Australia.

"In designing the new five-door hatch we wanted to retain the sporty Cruze proportions and bring the same Holden appearance to the hatch that we developed for the new locally-built Series II Cruze sedan.

"Holden is very proud of the global design work it does for other brands and countries around the GM world but it's especially gratifying to work on a new vehicle designed and built in Australia."

Holden's Series II Cruze sedan, now built at the Elizabeth assembly plant in Adelaide, will go on sale across Australia later this month.

The hatchback version will go on sale in the fourth quarter this year.

- AAP