Australia GM Unit To Build Small Car

The Australian arm of General Motors said on Monday it would build the first fuel-efficient small car in decades after securing government funding and as GM moves onto taxpayer-backed life-support in the United States.

As sales of large-engine family cars traditionally favored by Australians slide amid tough financial conditions and global warming fears, GM’s Holden said it would build a small four-cylinder car in South Australia state from 2010.
“This redefines our future and acknowledges we can take several paths at once. We are breathing extra life into our new vehicles manufacturing operations,” Holden chairman and managing director Mark Reuss said.

Sales of new motor vehicles in Australia slid 5.2 percent in November, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said earlier on Monday, the fifth straight month of falls. Sales were down a steep 17.8 percent from November last year.

Holden has not built a small car since the 1980’s, but Reuss said consumers now wanted smaller, fuel efficient vehicles as the center-left government moves to introduce a carbon trading regime to slash local carbon emissions.

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