Fuel-Efficient Chevy Cruze, Coming to U.S. This Year, Is Selling Well Worldwide
By Scott Doggett July 26, 2010
General Motors, which will introduce the fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cruze to the U.S. in the fourth quarter, sold 140,000 of the economy cars worldwide during the first six months of the year and has boosted unit sales by 18 percent a month, the automaker said today.
GM also said the Eco version of the Cruze, which will get a claimed 40 miles per gallon on the highway, will be able to go from 0-60 miles per hour in about 9 seconds with an automatic transmission.
Some 270,000 units of the Cruze, which is available in more than 60 countries, have sold since its spring 2009 introduction in Europe, GM said in a statement. Daewoo and Holden have sold an additional 70,000 units of their own versions of the Cruze in South Korea and Australia.
Additionally, the Cruze Eco, which has a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine, will have a 0-60 mph time of about 9 seconds with a six-speed automatic transmission, and about 10 seconds in manual, GM said in a separate statement. The stick version of the Cruze Eco will get 40 miles per gallon on the highway, according to GM, which hasn't released city fuel-economy figures.
Along with the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in electric vehicle, the Cruze is part of GM's efforts to boost sales and meet progressively more stringent U.S. fuel economy standards by building and selling more fuel-efficient cars.
"The Cruze Eco delivers hybrid-like efficiency without the price tag," Jim Campbell, Chevy's U.S. vice president for marketing, said in a statement. "Along with the Volt electric vehicle with extended range, it demonstrates how Chevrolet is working to bring new products to market that range from gas-friendly to gas-free."
While the EPA hasn't put a fuel-economy rating on the Volt, which will also debut later this year, the EREV will be able to go about 40 miles in electric-only mode before a fuel-powered combustion engine kicks in as an on-board generator to give the car another 300 miles of range.
GM is pricing the base-version Cruze LS at $16,995, the Eco at $18,895 and the top of the line LTZ at $22,695. The company hasn't yet priced the Volt.
Danny King, Contributor
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Cruze sold worldwide before selling in North America? Is North America the last stop on GM's list of new model introductions?
Is North America GM's least important market?
Most efficient engine offered in UK is a diesel. Chevrolet should offer their most efficient engine in North America.
For small cars, probably (certainly for the Cruze that's the case) GM , like other U.S. automakers, makes small cars for overseas markets but long ago ceded the small car market in the U.S. to the Asian car companies. It will take a while for the company to be able to retool and retrain its engineers to plan U.S.-spec models alongside those intended for the rest of the world.
I think that many cars don't translate very well when being brought from Europe to the US, but this car is a huge exception. It has a great look (http://www.2011-chevy-cruze.com), is fuel effecient (slated for nearly 40 MPG) and has a sporty interior at an affordable price.
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