Filed under: Economy, Sedans/Saloons, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet
GM announces $350 million for Lordstown plant to bulid Chevy Cruze
Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Cruze
The 2011 Chevy Cruze is a big deal. It's not Tom Cruise big, but when was the last time GM offered a truly competitive small car? The Cobalt has been around since 2005, and the Cavalier dates back to 1982. So it's been at least 26 years of Chevy offering a back of the pack small car. The Cruze is a bit different, having been developed not by GM's designers and engineers in North America, but by its European and Asia Pacific teams. It will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and go on sale in Europe and Asia next year. About a year after that the Cruze will go on sale in the U.S., and that version will be built at GM's plant in Lordstown, OH. GM CEO Rick Wagoner was at the plant today to announce a $500 million investment in its U.S. operations to build the Cruze here, with more than $350 million earmarked for the Lordstown plant where the current Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 are built.
The Lordstown plant will likely build the new Cruze side-by-side with the Cobalt and G5 for a while until the latter two are phased out. It rides on GM's new compact Delta platform, which itself will eventually underpin a number of new products including the highly anticipated Volt, the next-gen Astra and an upcoming MPV to replace the Euro-only Zafira that's likely coming to the U.S., as well.
UPDATE: Two live shots of the Cruze from today's announcement from GM's Lordstown plant have been added to the gallery.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Cruze
[Source: GM]
PRESS RELEASE
GM Announces $500 Million Investment For New Small Car
New Chevrolet Cruze to be built in Lordstown, Ohio
Lordstown, OHIO – General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner today announced that the company will invest more than $500 million in the U.S. to build the Chevrolet Cruze, an all-new global compact car. The vehicle will be built at its Lordstown, Ohio plant. The Chevy Cruze will be officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in a few short weeks. In a surprise move, the investment announcement was accompanied by a glimpse of the Cruze life-size show property.
The investment in Lordstown is one of several that have been announced at U.S. plants in the past five years, adding up to over $2 billion total investment in Ohio and more than $20 billion in the United States. "One of the key reasons for the success of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 is the Lordstown workforce and the strong partnerships with the UAW and local and state officials," Wagoner said. "Based on the quality of work and these strong partnerships, we are pleased to announce our plans to invest another $500 million in the Chevy Cruze product program in the U.S., including more than $350 million in Lordstown."
Ed Peper, GMNA vice president of Chevrolet, spoke to GM's strong position in delivering fuel-efficient vehicles that consumers want to buy. "The Cruze will build on the already successful Chevrolet Cobalt, Cobalt XFE and Cobalt SS, all of which are nearly sold out in dealer showrooms," Peper said. "Our dealers are asking for many more Cobalts than we can build."
Chevrolet Cobalt sales are up 16 percent, year-to-date through July 2008, with an impressive 33 miles-per-gallonhighway. The new Cobalt XFE model jumps to 37 miles-per-gallon and is selling almost as soon as it's unloaded from the delivery trucks to dealerships.
The Chevrolet Cruze epitomizes the global nature of the automobile industry and General Motors' commitment to deliver fuel efficient, high-quality products. Cruze is the result of a development process harnessing GM's global design and engineering expertise. It is the first of a new family of compact Chevrolets that will continue the attention to quality, fuel efficiency, and strong value promise of the highly successful Malibu and all other vehicles under the Chevrolet brand.
"The Chevrolet Cruze was designed and engineered by our global teams in Europe and Asia Pacific and will be manufactured in those regions in addition to the assembly plant here in Lordstown, Ohio," Wagoner said. "Our goal for the Chevrolet Cruze is to lead in fuel economy in this very competitive car segment."
The new Cruze will be launched in Europe and Asia Pacific next year. It's scheduled to make its European debut at the Paris Motor Show in October.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
nataku83 4:05PM (8/21/2008)
Either that car is really really tiny, or that's a big license plate!
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Beastage 5:52AM (8/22/2008)
ROFL LMAO! That is indeed a bad case of photoshop.
Jason 4:06PM (8/21/2008)
holy crap, what's with the ginormous Ohio license plate? that would mean the car is what, 3' wide?
Seriously, would it have been THAT hard to just photoshop out the euro plate first, then put in a true-to-scale US plate? VS scaling a US plate up so that it covers the euro plate?
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Torrent 4:48PM (8/21/2008)
There's a word for terribly resized images-tacky.
There's a term for how to fix it- aspect ratio.
To whoever hates this car: Come to reality that GM is rising up and is making cars that can actually compete with the foreign competition.
Blaine 5:06PM (8/21/2008)
Torrent, this still can't touch the Mazda 3 in terms of finish for the price. The 3 just exudes a certain level of luxury that this car completely lacks. I think it's the headlights that make most of the difference, and something about the curves.
Torrent 5:25PM (8/21/2008)
You would know because you've driven the 2011 Cruze, right? If you have, please elaborate. If not, stop judging a car that hasn't come out yet.
Jrejre 5:52PM (8/21/2008)
I think that was the joke. . .
wagonphile 5:55PM (8/21/2008)
Torrent, I don't think I'd be throwing stones. It sounds like YOU'RE the one judging a car before it has even come out. I'd say it's more a stretch to predict that the successor to the Cavalier/Cobalt will be class-competitive than to guess it won't quite measure up to the Mazda3.
Free thinking doesn't equate to GM hatred-- some of us just won't blindly swallow every dish on the Bowtie menu. The Cruze doesn't appear to be a bad car, but it's far from a definite world-beater.
ultima 6:41PM (8/21/2008)
i have seen the interior shots of the cruze, and i can say that this car is a winner. Of course i wouldn't be able to tell about fit and finish but i heard that it was designed in Korea so it should be better than most cars detroit rolls out...
Kevin 4:07PM (8/21/2008)
Wow thats actually pretty nice
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paul 4:08PM (8/21/2008)
umm does the back remind you of euro-spec civic?
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Franz 4:28PM (8/21/2008)
It does:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/honda-civic-type-r-sedan-jdm/197582/
why not the LS2LS7? 5:37PM (8/21/2008)
good catch.
david bryanehr 6:14PM (8/21/2008)
Woah, too much credit comparing this to a Honda. I was thinking the taillights look like the headlights on a Sebring; front fenders remind me of the new Focus~ two terribly ugly cars.
The grille works nicely and overall it looks better than the Focus and Sebring. Good luck GM, but its not a Civic.
Todd 4:12PM (8/21/2008)
Correction - it would be the 2014 model year Chevy "Cruze" available in the U.S.
1 - what's with the spelling error in the name ( C-r-u-i-s-e ) don't kids in school struggle enough as it is?
2 - Will GM still be a solvent, viable company by 2013-14?
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VP 4:38PM (8/21/2008)
Who told you we wouldn't get the car until 2013??
Autoblog please can you actually make the remember me function for IE actually remember me for once? It's irritating to enter the email and pwd every time.
dgduris 9:47PM (8/21/2008)
Todd, these are the same guys who - in their owner's manuals - refer to those dials with needles on the dash as "gages" while the rest of the Englis speaking world refers to the as "gauges."
Maybe "Cruz" targets this car at a specific segment of the entry market?...kind of like the bobble-head ads for the Jeep Liberty when it came out.
Craig 4:16PM (8/21/2008)
The car is going to suffer the same fate as the previous edition of the Malibu and the Ford Taurus! People do not like the idea of cutting off the truck deck-lid. Look at what is happening to the Sebring. The front looks awesome, but the rear os horrible. It gives the impression that there is no trunk; Americans don't like that. If you are going to sell a hatchback, make it a hatchback. I hope GM is listening, and they should fire whoever green lighted this stillborn!
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jg 5:11PM (8/21/2008)
Americans don't all like the same things.
Josiah 4:17PM (8/21/2008)
So we get this in 2010 as a MY 2011 or what?
This announcement would have killed Cobalt sales if gas was cheaper.
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