21 July, 2010
Holden’s managing director, Mike Devereux, has announced that he expects to resume the second production shift at the brand’s Adelaide plant in the coming months, including production of an Australian-built Holden Cruze.
“Given that the Cruze is the number five-selling car already in Australia – we sold over 2,500 units just last month – we’re going to be building tens and tens of thousands of these cars so yeah we’ll need a second shift.”
Following comments earlier this month from Holden boss Mike Devereux that local manufacture of the Cruze would necessitate increased production capacity from its Elizabeth plant. Kicking in from November 15, the second shift will see duty not only on the Cruze line, but also for the upcoming VE Series II Commodore. Holden confirmed in April that it would slow production of the current-generation VE Commodore ahead of the Series II launch later this year.
“Our team was relieved to hear the news. The last 18 months have been very tough for our industry, but bringing back a second shift and returning employees to full time work is an important step in rebuilding our manufacturing business,” 
Holden Manufacturing Operations Executive Director, Martyn Cray said.
“There is already a huge amount of work going on at the plant including equipment installation and the building of pilot vehicles for our new locally built Cruze. We are also gearing up for the new Series II Commodore which will be launched in the coming months.”