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Written on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 9:48pm by Alan Bedenko | One Comment

Chevy Cruze

The Paris Auto Show is underway, and the Chevy Cruze is among GM’s most significant new vehicles. The reason why? For too many years, GM relied on truck and SUV sales at the expense of small, fuel-efficient cars. $4.00/gallon gas spooked enough people that GM had to introduce an appealing, fun small car that can hold real people and their stuff, but also transport them efficiently. Think Honda Civic, VW Golf, Ford Focus, and Opel/Saturn Astra.

It seems to me that they really took the Civic idea to heart, because certain aspects of the exterior design are reminiscent of Honda’s powerhouse compact. Pop a peppy clean diesel engine in there, as GM will in Europe, and you have a 40 – 50+ MPG pumpkiller.

Remember that this vehicle will be replacing the ancient Chevy Cobalt, and you’ll agree that it’s a huge improvement and a very heartening step forward for Chevy.

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One Comment

  1. Patrick says:
    September 15, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    Thank god they decided to axe the Cobalt so quickly (compared to the Cavalier). What a crappy, ugly car that was.

    The Cruze could still use some tweaking, but it’s a step in the right direction. Alongside the right moves Saturn has been making, there could be some hope for GM after all.