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GM unveils Chevrolet Cruze WTCC racer

For the past few years General Motors has been competing in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) with a car based on the Daewoo-built Chevrolet Lacetti. Top Gear fans will of course recognize the Lacetti as the current Reasonably Priced Car for Stars to demonstrate their track abilities. As the road-going version of the Lacetti grows long in the tooth, the General will be supplanting the budget people mover with the new Chevrolet Cruze. And that means in 2009, GM will replace the Lacetti with a new, Cruze-based WTCC challenger. The WTCC Cruze is already being tested in preparation for its debut in Brazil next spring. Cars running in the WTCC are based on compact and midsized cars with 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines. Touring car racing has been popular in other parts of the world, but has never caught on in the U.S. in spite of being more closely related to stock cars than the ones that run around in circles under the banner of NASCAR.
posted : 10/15/2008 @9:30:03 PM
Paris 2008: Chevrolet Cruze meets an eager Europe

The Chevrolet Cruze is three kinds of car: small, American and important. And with the state of General Motors, it isn't even the individual words that mean the most: it's whether The General can combine them into a reliable, fuel efficient and cost effective package. True, we don't get to drive these things while they're parked under the lights, but to have a seat in the Cruze is to imagine a GM that begs the question, "Where was all this before the meltdown?" The studio imagery we've seen so far translates nicely into real life, and the center console looks and feels substantial – in fact, it looks like it could be foreign – even if the silver mesh treatment in the show car was a bit much. The car has a compact yet full-bodied stance, and will probably look even better on the road in a color other than scarlet, and not under klieg lights. Spring of '09 will welcome this first Cruze variant to Europe, after which other regions will get it, as well as a probable hatchback and wagon. It will be powered by a 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder that charts up to 140 hp and is said to return 40 mpg. Have a look at the high-res gallery of live shots below to get a better idea of what to expect when the Cruze goes on sale here in a couple years.
posted : 10/5/2008 @6:16:59 PM
Paris 2008: Chevy Cruze unveiled on eve of show, interior revealed

We've gotten a pretty good look at the 2010 Chevy Cruze already, but the model that had been making rounds in the U.S. was nothing more than a styling buck with no guts inside. Today, just a few hours ahead of the Paris Motor Show, General Motors has revealed the rest of the Cruze, including its interior, and we like what we see. The exterior looks crisp and shows off Chevy's latest design language, especially with the Malibu-esque face and sharp headlights. Everyone agrees that it's a step-up styling-wise from its Cobalt forebear. It's the interior that really shines, though. What appears to be a tweed-like fabric covers sweeping colored panels from the dash to the doors. Two large gauges, two smaller ones and a digital readout places the most important information front-and-center while a cluster of buttons sits just below a centrally-located LCD screen. Meanwhile, the center stack appears to be a fresh design, though any judgment on its ergonomics will have to wait. We won't be getting the Cruze in the States until April 2010 as a 2011 model. When that finally happens, the Cruze will be powered by a 140-horsepower 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, which will somehow manage to achieve above 40 mpg on the highway. If you want it now, perhaps you should stop buying so many Cobalts. In Europe, sales will begin in March of 2009 with a range of gas and diesel powerplants.
posted : 10/5/2008 @3:12:17 PM
Chevy Cruze could be priced higher than rivals

Remember when we told you that GM plans to make more money off of its small cars by upping its prices? Well, as far as the Cruze is concerned, not only do they plan to charging substantially more than the outgoing Cobalt, they might demand more cash than a comparably equipped Corolla, Civic, or Focus. According to GM, that's because it needs to make more per car than Honda or Toyota. With the average Civic rolling away for $19,184, GM doesn't have a lot of room to play before hitting the $20,000 ceiling. And if GM was to get an average price of $19,500 for the Cruze, that would be a $3,000 premium over the current (average) price for the Cobalt. That still gives no indication of how much money GM would actually be making on the car, though. Design honcho Ed Welburn feels the car's styling and interior will justify the extra dosh, and said he believes "we have some very unique content and materials that are in the vehicle." Conviction is a good start, and if they can back it up the verdict might go their way. For that, we have to wait for the jury of consumers to decide.
posted : 9/24/2008 @10:16:28 PM
2011 Chevy Cruze

They're here! The first official pics of the 2011 Chevy Cruze have been released by General Motors, and we're not ashamed to say it – we like it. Of course, we're comparing it to the current small car in GM's lineup, the Cobalt, so the bar is pretty low. That said, GM's new small car takes the split-grille motif made famous by the Malibu and makes it more interesting with sharp creases rather than rounded corners. The front end features headlights that extend up and "point" to the A-pillars, and a strong character line running the length of the vehicle sits below a concave bend that sweeps up to meet the windows. GM claims that fit and finish of the Cruze will be world class for a small car, and that its interior will use "grained surfaces, soft-touch materials and low gloss trim panels" to improve its perceived quality. Unfortunately, no shots of the interior were provided, but you can catch a glimpse in this rear 3/4 shot. The Cruze will be a global car, and as such it's going on sale in Europe first. It will makes its global debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, where European customers will be the first to check it out in person before it goes on sale in March 2009 overseas. It will be available at launch with a 112-hp 1.6L engine, a 140-hp 1.8L and a 150-hp 2.0L turbodiesel. The North American version will likely get GM's upcoming direct injected 1.4L four-cylinder. The Cruze will also offer a five-speed manual and GM's first application of a six-speed automatic in a small car. The kicker? The 2011 Chevy Cruze will be built at GM's plant in Lordstown, OH where the current Cobalt and Pontiac G5 are built. Though it'll be built right in our own backyard, the Cruze reportedly won't be available in the U.S. for at least a year or two.
posted : 9/2/2008 @1:44:11 PM

GM's Plan: Small cars making a big profit

GM currently owns about 13% of the small car market. With demand for small vehicles increasing with the price of black gold, GM is out to increase that market share. Nevertheless, even if it doesn't increase its share, it plans to make more money off of each small car sold. How? By raising the price, naturally.

The plan is simple: make better small cars, charge more for them. The upcoming Cruze could run you a few thousand more than the outgoing Cobalt, for instance. The test is to see whether cars like the Cruze will be worth the premium. GM Global Design Chief Ed Welburn said, "In North America, we never did a good small car." The General plans to bury that piece of its history... but it's going to charge you, the consumer, for the funeral.

The idea that GM can lasso the small car market while charging a premium, at the same time as slashes its marketing budget by $1.5 billion, takes some effort to swallow. One analyst said that demand for small cars will outstrip supply, so GM could get away with it. However, until we see proof of small GM cars that take bats to the established competition, we'll have to give this plan a "Hmmm."

posted : 8/7/2008 @4:40:17 PM

Chevy Cruze to be built in Lordstown

Workers at GM's Lordstown, OH plant just got another shot of good news from the General: the next-gen compact car from Chevrolet will be built there. The Chevy Cruze will replace the Cobalt, which recently had a third shift added to its production, and will make its initial debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. Europeans will get the first shot at the new car with sales beginning in April of 2009. The U.S. won't get the car until the following year, as the Lordstown plant begins phasing out the Cobalt and ramping up production of the Cruze in June of 2010. Both cars will be built simultaneously for a short time, according to UAW Local 1714 President Dave Green, who represents the workers at the Lordstown assembly plant.

A look at recent spy shots has our interest piqued over the new small sedan. Styling looks to be worlds better than the just decent Cobalt and the promised forty miles per gallon sounds like just what the doctor ordered in the face of ever-increasing gas prices.

posted : 7/10/2008 @1:15:56 PM
All-new Chevrolet Cruze coming to Paris, sales begin Spring 2009

Chevrolet has big... well... smallish plans for Paris, where the automaker will unveil an "all-new" compact vehicle dubbed the Cruze. Born from Chevy's global design and engineering team, the Cruze will sport many of the exterior elements we've seen on recent concepts, so expect lots of angular lines, a high belt-line and a squat greenhouse. The Cruze will supposedly be able to handle a parcel of five passengers, along with whatever junk they can fit in the trunk, and will measure in at 4.6 meters (181 inches) -- think of it as the next Cobalt.
posted : 7/10/2008 @12:34:22 PM
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