GM launches Cruze in South Korea as Lacetti Premiere

The Chevy Cruze era has begun in South Korea, except the sedan will be badged as the Lacetti Premiere. General Motors partner Daewoo is producing the fuel efficient sedan for Korea, the first market to get one of GM's most important future vehicles. The Cruze is the first truly global vehicle that the General will produce, with a keen eye on fuel economy and scalability. The Lacetti Premiere will come equipped with the same 1.6L powerplant with 140 hp as the rest of the world, meaning fuel economy is reported to approach 40 mpg on the highway. Europe won't receive the Cruze until early 2009, with the U.S. getting the Bow Tie-branded sedan in 2010... at the earliest.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Cruze
[Source: Trading Markets]


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
SPF 3:07PM (10/30/2008)
It comes with TWO female robots? That is f**king wicked!!! I'll take one. Don't care about color, features, whatever you have in your lot would be fine, thank you.
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imirk 3:33PM (10/30/2008)
yeah, S. Korea gets everything cool way before us, cell phones, movies, cars, ... robot women
jgp 5:31PM (10/30/2008)
But are they fully-functional and anatomically correct?
Flashpoint 6:19PM (10/30/2008)
The one on the left has hot legs.
And if they aren't anatomicaly correct, a saw, an exacto knife, some silly putty, some latex and some lotion will change that.
dachshundtooateez 3:12PM (10/30/2008)
...what IS it with GM posing its latest offering with seemingly reassuring, puppy dog-eyed folks; be they designers, random models, starved looking Korean guys... People who would (it is implied) die of malnutrition if you did not buy this car.
Are they trying to pity us into buying this stuff by giving it a "human face"? Uggh.
Can't see the big deal about the Cruze anyway. Just seems like another "oh wow, in two or three years GM might come out with another car nearly as good as the competition... provided they don't screw it up". We've been in this situation before.
But luck to them.
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letstakeawalk 4:14PM (10/30/2008)
*Gasp* I hope the other automakers don't follow GM's horrible plan - who on Earth would ever consider putting *shock* fashion models in their ads? What next - families? Oh, the humanity!
/sarcasm off/
Amien 3:12PM (10/30/2008)
+1
That guy looks like such a tool.
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Amien 3:13PM (10/30/2008)
this was a reply to SPF.
Torrent 3:12PM (10/30/2008)
Am I allowed to say it looks better without the chevy grille?
I don't have anything against Chevy, but this one looks much better.
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dachshundtooateez 3:19PM (10/30/2008)
...I realized a bit back that anything looks worse with a split Chevy grille on it.
It automatically puts an aura of cheapness around whatever it's applied to, I think, through stereotype. Or maybe it's just a design that poorly complements other elements of modern cars. It's hard to tell.
Mark Ryan 3:19PM (10/30/2008)
Looks like a Hyundai.
Torrent 3:28PM (10/30/2008)
@ dachshundtooateez:
Ignorance 101
dachshundtooateez 3:39PM (10/30/2008)
...Ignorance?
At worst, just call it personal preference on my part, even though I acknowledged that it is in part due to a stereotype that my mind forces.
But it says something about their reputation and brand image if I can cover a car's grille and bowtie, find it to be a decent and acceptable looking thing, and then remove my hand and say "oh, wait..." And that's all my ignorance, and not something Chevrolet should attempt at all to address.
Judy Zik 4:06PM (10/30/2008)
I have to agree with Torrent. This front end looks nicer to my eyes than that new Chevy nose. I think the new Malibu is a great product but wouldn't buy it because of the nose.
Who cares what nose it has though. GM needs this in North America now. The Cobalt only looks good when you compare it to the Cavalier. It was a step up for GM but really isn't in the running. I really hope the rumours of them pushing this product back are not true.
Torrent 4:46PM (10/30/2008)
@ dachshundtooateez: Believe me. if the Cruze was wearing a Toyota or Honda Badge, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now. People would be all over it.
James 4:54PM (10/30/2008)
We've had this conversation before. And I photoshopped a monogrille Cruze back then as well :)
http://jamesbrownontheroad.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/cruze_photochop.jpg
As discussed:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/21/gm-releases-official-pics-of-2011-chevy-cruze/3#comments
tuna 3:22PM (10/30/2008)
Caption for headliner image in Quagmire's voice:
"Two chicks at once. Oh yeah."
Reply
dukeisduke 3:40PM (10/30/2008)
He's saying, "Yep. Had 'em."
adrenalnjunky 4:50PM (10/30/2008)
Giggity!
Level 3:24PM (10/30/2008)
so once again one of the cars that is destine to make GM profitable at least in this segment wont be coming to the US in till 2 years from now. Then you wonder why GM gets all the bad blood when GM treats the rest of the world better then the home market, same with Ford...
but on another note WOW just the mere change of the grill on this car it already makes it look 100 times better then tie bow tie design....a bit upscale if I made add....
Reply