Paris Preview: 2010 Chevrolet Cruze live reveal
by Sam Abuelsamid on Sep 15th 2008 at 3:18PM 
Here in Detroit this afternoon, Chevrolet general manager Ed Peper and design VP Ed Welburn took the wraps off the new Chevrolet Cruze that will debut at the Paris Auto Show next month. As many people suspected, the Cruze is larger than the current Cobalt and actually fits into the lineup between the Cobalt and the Malibu. The Cruze goes on sale in Europe in March of 2009 and will debut with a trio of engines. For Europe, the Cruze gets a choice of 1.6L and 1.8L gas engines or an all new 2.0L 150hp turbodiesel. Besides the styling, Peper talked about the long wheelbase and how the rear, in particular, has a short overhang. Peper said the Cruze will get close to 40 mpg on the highway at launch. The Cruze will go into production for North America at the Lordstown, OH assembly plant in April 2010, and that's when it is expected to get the new direct injected 1.4L turbo that will push highway fuel economy to 45 mpg. More in a bit.
[Source: General Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike!!ekiM 4:45PM (9/15/2008)
Does this bear a strong resemblance to the Volt?
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ebow 4:56PM (9/15/2008)
Kinda sorta not really:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/2011-chevy-volt-1/1023830/
Sasparilla 6:03PM (9/15/2008)
It looks like they had an extra hood with an inch and a half of grill stuck on the front and set it on top of the existing hood/grill - they should have left that off. The looks are a bit of a downer.
The Volt uses this fame as a base, so they're cut from the same cloth.
The direct injection engine will be great, but I think the existing Cobalt is a better looking car (which isn't saying alot).
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John Metcalf 9:26PM (9/15/2008)
Chevy was on a roll with the attractive Malibu. What happened?
Guess I'll hold final judgement till I see it in person.
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Nick 1:57PM (9/23/2008)
Is it just me, or does the back side window resemble a mazda?
45MPG...big deal, what's wrong with these damn automakers, Ford has a Fiesta diesel getting 65mpg, and wont bring it to its home country, GM is making this thing. Geez, the XFi Metro used to average 53mpg, and that was without variable valve/cam lift and Direct injection. You wanna make money, make a car(Yes, spend some damn $ on some tooling, itll pay off in about 6 months if done correctly) that weighs about 1650-1700 lbs(Think Chevy/Geo Metro), make it a bare-bones car(vinyl seats, radio optional, manual windows, locks, etc...the XFi metro didn't even have a passenger side rearview mirror) put a TINY diesel in it, 3 cylinders, maybe 0.9-1.1Litres in displacement, tune it for fuel economy, NOT horsepower...you could end up with a car making about 50 hp/90lb ft torque, and more important, AVERAGING around 80mpg....bunch of retards, they could make a car that would embarrass anything coming out of japan, and this sucker would sell, just throw a price tag of around $16K, and they'd sell 3/4 million over here easy...
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Frank 10:30AM (9/25/2008)
You can thank those asinine European pedestrian crash rules for that disgusting hood on the Cruze. Euro rules requires a vehicle be tested as to how much damage it will inflict on a pedestrian if hit. Um.. really? Can't we just keep the people on the sidewalk? If you look at euro vehicles, they are all moving torwards this awful, snub nosed look. It sucks.
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ray 7:10PM (10/02/2008)
I agree with you Nick. How come these auto makers won't pull there heads out. Do the oil companies still hold all the sway on the big three auto makers. Cripes there still loosing money hand over fist and still can't see the forest for the trees. Some people have had it with the oil economy and want a car that will stick it to them with out paying 40k for the Volt. I would do the Volt but for those not able to afford the Volt it would be nice if they had a cost effective choice.
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K Jones 8:46AM (12/18/2008)
Why did they change it from the concept? The concept was so much better looking. This looks like a bigger Cobalt. Here's a clue Chevy, stick with the concepts and I garuntee your sales will increase. Look at the success of the Malibu. Why make changes on a great design? Just stupid if you ask me.
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