Spyshots: 2010 Next-Gen Chevy Cobalt

[Paolino]

It's official, the new compact will be called "Cruze", a name recently used an a subcompact crossover designed by Holden and built by Suzuki. The Chevrolet model will debut in Paris in early October, shortly after the near-identical Daewoo Lacetti is unveiled in Korea. European sales will begin in spring 2009, followed by other markets as production expands.

No no... tell me you're joking?! The Cruze will be the name for the NA market? That's terrible?!

And what's with all the name changing again? I thought we were finally getting away from that? They just introduced the Cobalt a few years ago, and now that the SS got praise and the XFE is the most fuel-efficient small car, I say keep the same name.

[ToniCipriani]

I'd take Lacetti over Cruze. Just for the love of god don't call it Optra.

[PurdueGuy]

+1 for "shoulda kept the Cobalt name"

[turbo200]

i rather like the simplicity and non-rough pronounciations like the strong K sound in Cobalt. i first thought it was laughable, but after a short time it seemed a lot more liveable than cobalt. i was never a big fan of that name to begin with. cruze is non-distinct, cobalt is juvenile, cruze connotes relaxation, cruze is not overtly masculine or feminine. i agree that it's a waste of positive equity. cobalt may not have had the biggest fanbase of the small cars, but it was sure well known after all the marketing dollars spent thrown at it.

[PurdueGuy]

How is the name "Cobalt" juvenile? Particularly, how is it more so than a word purposely misspelled to try to be cool? Frankly, that kind of thing is what strikes me as juvenile...

[Camino LS6]

How is the name "Cobalt" juvenile? Particularly, how is it more so than a word purposely misspelled to try to be cool? Frankly, that kind of thing is what strikes me as juvenile...

\

Agreed.

Should stay Cobalt.

[cire]

I always thought "Cobalt" was sort of a bland and sterile name for a car. I would prefer to see Chevy resurrect either the "Monza" or "Corvair" names for the new car (they just sound sportier and more exciting to me), but I do agree with those of you that think that retaining the "Cobalt" moniker is probably the best solution due to the name recognition factor. I also agree with those of you who dislike the "Cruze" moniker; it really does sound juvenile and ridiculous.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Corvair is a damaged name and would never come back, thank Ralph Nader for that. I'd love to have it called Monza more than anything else.

[Robert Hall]

Corvair is a damaged name and would never come back, thank Ralph Nader for that. I'd love to have it called Monza more than anything else.

Monza was a good name, but it was associated with sporty models, not sure how well that would fly on a generic.

[turbo200]

How is the name "Cobalt" juvenile? Particularly, how is it more so than a word purposely misspelled to try to be cool? Frankly, that kind of thing is what strikes me as juvenile...

once you acknowledge a proper noun can be misspelled....it would look really dumb if it was callled the Cruise, as in Cruise Control, but since it's spelled uniquely it's a name. cobalt sounds and looks juvenile to me, like an out of touch marketer recieved a directive for 'trick' and came up with cobalt. 'customizable' 'teenage' might be marketing terms that led to cobalt; 'accessible' and 'traditional' 'universal' might have been directives for cruze. plus you have the juxtaposition of two reallly strong pronunciations, the rough C and the long A.....whereas other names have more flow, like the 3, Civic, Malibu, Camry, etc

i'm not arguing against keeping the Cobalt name but the nature of the cobalt name itself. i think for the sake of identity and consistency keeping the cobalt name would be the right decision rather than starting all over again with a new brand.

Edited July 9, 2008 by turbo200

[Intrepidation]

Cobalt (pronounced /ˈkoʊbɒlt/) is a hard, lustrous, silver-grey metal, a chemical element with symbol Co. It is found in various ores, and is used in the preparation of magnetic, wear-resistant, and high-strength alloys. Its compounds are used in the production of inks, paints, and varnishes.

Please explain how that's "juvenile ", or are we just pulling BS reasons out of our asses today?

Edited July 9, 2008 by Dodgefan

[griff7774]

If this vehicle is being bulit on "GM's new global compact vehicle architecture" and If it is that much different from the previous architecture then why not a new name. We are talking about the Cobalt name right? A name with that (snap)much history. Plus If the Cruze name does not result in sales GM can do what Ford did (Taurus/Five Hundred). Edited July 9, 2008 by griff7774

[PurdueGuy]

Plus If the Cruze name does not result in sales GM can do what Ford did (Taurus/Five Hundred).

Nooooooo! Renaming a car after just a MCE is silly.

[griff7774]

Nooooooo! Renaming a car after just a MCE is silly.

It may be silly, but name any auto manufacturer that has not did anything we deem Silly

[Robert Hall]

Two things in favor of the name--it does start w/ 'C' like Chevrolet and like the two world wide leaders in the segment (Civic and Corolla), not that having a 'C' name in the C-segment is a necessity, just coincidence, I assume.

[mustang84]

Christ almighty, one step forward, two steps backward...

"Cruze" is about as bad as it gets. Totally lame attempt to market to the Gen Y crowd. "What do you drive?" "I drive a Cruze."

There is nothing wrong with Cobalt, and once again GM kills off a name that is gaining recognition.

Who is making the decisions at GM??

[Satty]

Cobalt always reminded me of a big box of Crayola crayons, like they were going through it like this:

Cornflower!

--no

Burnt Sienna!

--Toyota did it already

Cerulean!

--WTF?

Periwinkle?

--You're an idiot

Cobalt?

--Fine, just put the f@#king crayons away!

[Robert Hall]

For some reason, hearing the name Cobalt always reminds me of the old-school programming language COBOL, or Sun Microsystems' line of Cobalt servers...

[ocnblu]

"Cruze" seems Spanish to me. It also conjures up images of tiny Daewoos, but I guess since only a GM nerd would know that, it doesn't make a difference. "Cruze" means nothing to me, just as "Cobalt" meant nothing to me pertaining to a car. I always thought of cobalt as a color or a mineral... but since it's been the name of a car, it has taken on new significance for me and the buying public. But it seems GM is running as fast as they can from significance, so I guess it doesn't matter. Why should I give a crap anyway?

[Croc]

"Cruze" sucks. "Cruz" would be much better!

[bowtie_dude]

So is the Cruze 2010 or 2011? Is it a 2nd-half 09 or early '10 debut? Because an '09 sale date would make me very happy.

[Camino LS6]

Christ almighty, one step forward, two steps backward...

"Cruze" is about as bad as it gets. Totally lame attempt to market to the Gen Y crowd. "What do you drive?" "I drive a Cruze."

There is nothing wrong with Cobalt, and once again GM kills off a name that is gaining recognition.

Who is making the decisions at GM??

It would seem that the not-so-bright crowd is at the helm.

[dwightlooi]

GM is making a habit of choosing rather lame names...

Cobalt was... well... a bland, uninteresting metal.

Cruze is... jeez... immediately brings to mind an aging pretty boy actor smittened by the Scientology Scam and... well... "Curse"!!!

Other rather lame choices include "Lucrene" which is a the brand name for Safeway's Milk line and "Lacrosse" which is a niche Sport most people don't know head or tails about.