Filed under: Economy, Sedans/Saloons, Plants/Manufacturing, Paris Motor Show, Chevrolet, GM
More shots of Chevy Cruze from Lordstown
Click above for more new live shots of the 2011 Chevy Cruze
Yesterday's announcement by General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner that his company would invest $500 million in the U.S. to build the 2011 Chevy Cruze was perhaps most welcomed by the workers at GM's assembly plant in Lordstown, OH where the car will be built. That plant is getting a $350 million shot in the arm to gear up for the Cruze, which appeared on stage with Wagoner for the announcement. The car on hand was only a foam model, but it looks ready to drive away in (just don't lean on the doors), and these new images give us a few more views of the Cruze not afforded by the official images of a red car released by GM yesterday. Cruze news will probably be hard to come by until October when the car makes its official world debut at the Paris Motor Show, so until then we're left wondering how well it will match up against the likes of the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, next-gen Focus and the rest of the compact sedan segment.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Cruze
[Source: GM, Photos by Bill Pugliano/Getty and David A. DeNoma]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
MRX19 11:10AM (8/22/2008)
Very nice. Only thing iffy would be the "C" pillars - too much Sebring like. If they can squeeze 35+ MPG out of this they will have a winner.
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zamafir 11:12AM (8/22/2008)
@ 35mpg i'll ignore GM's seemingly incomprehensible inability to design descent looking headlights and tail clusters that look beyond the scope of a 7th grade designer.
Brian 11:48AM (8/22/2008)
Yeah..ok. It's gonna be higher than 35.
Chase 12:51PM (8/22/2008)
@ zamafir: If a seventh grader could do better, I'd love to see what you could do.
I illustrate as a hobby, and I've designed some decent looking cars after years of practice. I like pretty much all of the design. Regardless of whether you do, this car's design is a lot more complex than you think.
zamafir 1:44AM (8/23/2008)
Sure it's complex, it's also ugly. The malibu has a nice front end. cars like the mazda 3, rabbit, et-al have a decent front end. this one's ugly. it'd be nice if GM went ahead and continued the concerted attempt to design cars attractively along with this car. my comment has nothing to do with the inherent complexity of car design - though it seams darn near every other budget model has no issue making a cohesive front end that doesn't look like ass for some reason.
Kumail891 11:17AM (8/22/2008)
if i were to buy a chevy, i would rather get the cobalt than this. the front just looks like a bucktooth tiger and i really don't like the taillights.
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C.W. 1:14PM (8/22/2008)
i agree this car is not very attractive at all... but unfortunately the cobalt is even worse... it's a step in the right direction, but it just doesnt resonate.
Adam Marcello 11:18AM (8/22/2008)
Wheres the official interior shots.
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Kevin W. 11:20AM (8/22/2008)
This car is just a mock up, there is only 1/2 of an interior, in some of the pics you can see that there is no interior from the middle of the seatback up.
Torrent 1:34PM (8/22/2008)
I guarantee they'll be leaked right before the Paris Motor Show.
MikeofLA 11:20AM (8/22/2008)
gimme some official interior shots. I know what the outside looks like already.
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mike 11:22AM (8/22/2008)
Very nice indeed but I want to pick up on something else. This is a small car, much like Saturn Astra, which has been a slow seller.
I simply could not realize why would a small car be a slow seller during record gas prices. So I dug a little, and here’s what I found.
#1, Look most cars in USA are sold with Automatic Transmissions----------Are you ready for this? That option on Astra costs $1,300. That is more than automatic tranny on ANY Chevy vehicle, including Corvette. In fact $1,300 is only a few dollars show of what BMW charges for its Automatic in 3 series. As soon as anyone finds that they have to pay that much for tranny people FLY away from Saturn. Before anyone in here attacks me, just look at the numbers, 90% of all vehicles in USA have Automatic.
Ohh wait, it gets better, Astra does not come with Stability Control, it is a 450+ option as well.
It is imperative for Cruze to be
#1 Priced Below Civic and yet be better equipped
#2 Automatic should not be more $700
#3 Offer stability control at $200
Learning from Astra will do GM a lot of good.
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Epyx 11:55AM (8/22/2008)
The indiviual option prices dont are not relavent without considering the final cost. You have to compare vehicles with the final price on the sticker.
Saturn Astra 5 door XR with Auto = 19,370
VW Rabbit 5 door with Auto and 17 inch wheels (Astra has them already, VW comes with plastic covers) = 19,642
Honda Civic LX-S (auto, and 16" Alloy wheels, 17" available without sunroof). = 18,755
Seems like the Astra is competive in price. I dont think it really matters that the indiviual options are expensive when comparing the as equiped price.
zamafir 11:55AM (8/22/2008)
better yet just get with the program and make it standard.
nataku83 11:57AM (8/22/2008)
It might also have to do with the Astra's mediocre fuel economy (worse than a Cobalt, despite a smaller engine) and price tag. Hell, for a little bit more (by the time you add a/c and auto transmission), you're up in Chevy Malibu territory, and getting almost as good gas mileage too!
mike 12:05PM (8/22/2008)
@Apyx Well not everyone will compare feature for feature between cars they buy. Yes Astra may have stuff that Civic does not offer. But Civic has been a best selling car for decades, people trust Honda. That's why GM needs to price cars not competively but below the competition. Also stability is standard on Civic, not so on Astra.
Overall the cars when equiped may comeone costing the same, but GM does not do it corectly, you can not charge people $1,300. And once again, a Saturn can not cost as much as a Honda, it needs to be below to atract people.
Dude 12:06PM (8/22/2008)
Dude! Seriously? You're still whining about the cost of numbing your driving experience on an Astra.
The Astra is imported from Europe. Therefore, everything on the car is priced in euros. Meaning things like an Automatic will cost more when shipped to America and purchased in dollars. Thus one reason that BMW, MINI, and VW have $1000-$1300 pricing on their Automatics. Heck, even Mazda charges $900.
Epyx 12:09PM (8/22/2008)
Fuel economy is also better than its next closest competitor the VW Rabbit.
Rabbit 5 door Auto S = 21/29
Astra 5 Door XR Auto = 24/30
Civic LX Auto = 25/36
Epyx 12:15PM (8/22/2008)
Mike,
The Civic is not the target of the Astra, the Rabbit/Golf is. If you compare the Astra to the Rabbit is very similar in price, performance, MPG and so on. They are very close rivals in Europe.
The Cruze should be more of a competitor for the Civic, I dont think the Astra was ever intended to outsell the Civic or challenge it for the crown. The Astra is supposed to be a low volume car to compete with VW.
Everyone talks about low sales numbers with the Astra but I have yet to see any numbers as a % of inventory. So what if only 1000 are sold for a month if that is all that were built for the market. I am not sure if the Astra is selling to expectations or not. Maybe why there has been 0 advertising for the car. If GM intended on only imprting X amount and are selling as expected of that low X amount it is meeting expectations. I dont know if this is true..just as guess.
mike 12:20PM (8/22/2008)
@ Dude
What difference does it make, Euros or Dollars, GM has to sell this car here. They need to pacage it in a way that will make it atractive. That is not the case as we speak.
"cost of numbing your driving experience on an Astra."---Again, MOST people drive Automatic.
And one more thing, do you really think that people come into a dealership and say, "ohhhh so this thing is from Europe, ohh yeah sure i'll pay more."
Look my point in here is simple, GM needs to understand how to sell cars and make money at it. Right now for example many GM cars are priced below competition, because of the discounts (employee deals) but average person who goes to the website will not know that, the MSRP is still the same. You will get some money off if you go to a dealership, but dealers have a way of ripping people off, what GM should do is cut the price of MSRP, so people know OK this car costs this much. For example with astra you can get about $1,500 off, i called the dealer to find out. So what GM should do is offer Automatic for $500 offer stability at discount.......without any rebates.
Same should be the case for Cruze, First option it correctly, pacage it correctly and sell it correctly.