The 2018 Holden Acadia is undergoing its final testing ahead of launching in Australia later this year, involving Holden employees driving 16 vehicles and providing feedback.

HOLDEN AUSTRALIA has made 16 Acadia SUVs available to its employees as part of its Captured Test Fleet Program ahead of this big SUV’s launch in Australia later this year. Holden anticipates more than 30% of its new vehicle sales will be from SUVs going forward. There are another 15 Acadias being tested in the US.

Holden’s Regional Quality Manager, Steve Corcoran, said the CTF program was designed for Acadia to withstand all that Aussie life could throw at it.

“The CTF program includes people from various backgrounds with various car usage characteristics, all working together to make sure Acadia performs to the highest standards on the road and in broader quality areas,” said Corcoran.

“Speaking from personal experience, my kids took it upon themselves to test out how easy it was to clean the interior after dropping ice cream on it – a situation we go through regularly in summer. “In that instance, I found the seats were easy to clean despite being a more premium material so there was no issue to report back.

“The aim of the program is to find real-world problems before our customers do so that they and their families have absolute peace of mind that their Acadia is built and tuned to perform in every way.”

“With Acadia undergoing more local testing and its launch on the horizon, Holden is better equipped than ever to satisfy Australia’s demand for SUVs with our range of high-tech, world-class products,” said Holden’s Director of Sales, Peter Keley.

“The real-world test program we’re running on Acadia ensures it not only drives well on Australian roads, it also fine tunes technology features such as Traffic Sign Recognition, Auto Emergency Braking and Lane Departure Warning to work with our unique road markings and signs.

“SUVs are becoming more and more popular and, where once upon a time most of Holden’s sales would have been passenger cars, we now expect SUVs to take over with Equinox and Acadia leading the way.”