Cobalt name changing to Cruze

[steve333]

I think I'm going to projectile vomit.

Cruze!? I was waiting for GM to come out with a replacement for my Cobalt and now they think I'm going to buy a Chevy Cruze!? Who in Gods name came out with that idiotic, moronic, witless name? I didnt think they should change the name at all but I would have had no problem if they changed it to Nova, Chevelle, Monza, even Optra.

To make matters worse they are waiting until 2010 in their weakest market to sell the replacement while not improving the current Cobalt at all! What do they think the resale value will be on current Cobalts? What about all the Cobalt fansites that exist now?

Cruze? Oh man, I think I am going to have to jump ship this time. Its just not worth an ulcer trying to prop up a company as clueless as GM. The next Focus may be my next purchase or the Mazda 3.

GM, you deserve whatever fate befalls you. I am nauseated right now.

[CMG]

LOL!!!!!!!!

Lotsa guys named Tom are gonna be scooping them up! Tom's Cruze!

[thegriffon]

Ehh, the Cobalt gets all-new powertrains this year—a Dual-VVT 2.2 L and the 2.0 DI Turbo. That's almost as much as the Corolla got.

[regfootball]

everyone knows what a corolla and civic are. no one is gonna have an effing clue what a CRUZE is.

[FAPTurbo]

I don't know why, but for some reason the name sounds like something from a Korean, or Chinese manufacturer. It's weird, and I don't like it,

[hyperv6]

CRUZE THE USA IN YOUR BRAND NEW CHEVROLET!

Cruze on down to your local dealer and get your new Chevy.

Heck it is better than Ram, Probe, Dodge, Impact, Fairlady, G# or HHR

Edited July 10, 2008 by hyperv6

[Oracle of Delphi]

Pssst, Chevrolet will also launch a station wagon version of the Cruze, for those of you that have been pinning for a wagon, like oldsmoboi has been doing of late.

Edited July 10, 2008 by Pontiac Custom-S

[CARBIZ]

This flip-flopping of names is idiotic, IMO. You'd be surprised at how many people (although I will admit many of them are 'older') who come into the show room and wonder aloud what replaced the Cavalier.

Celebrity - Lumina - Impala

Malibu - Corsica - Malibu

Vega - Chevette - J2000 - Cavalier - Cobalt - Cruze: all in the span of the Corolla.

Is GM retarded, or is there an entire department of middle-management marketing hacks who are trying to justify their bloated salaries?

[avant1963]

From 2002.

[mustang84]

I already ranted on this, but I'm going to do it again because this topic is more visible. Whoever is making decisions at GM needs to be knocked in the head!

The name "Cruze" is lame, obvious attempt to appeal to Gen Y that it's going to become an inside joke.

Carbiz's post is excellent; how do you build brand recognition when you keep changing the name every 6-10 years. Look at all the sales Buick, Pontiac, and Olds lost when they ditched the old names that sold well.

Get with it, GM!

Edited July 10, 2008 by mustang84

[z28luvr01]

Added a poll.

Oh, and words cannot express the disgust I have for them a) getting rid of the Cobalt name when it actually had some cred, and b) replacing it with something as utterly lame as "Cruze".

[CSpec]

I think Cruze is the name it's going to have across the globe, so there are more considerations you have to make when you make a jump like that.

[Guest aatbloke]

I think Cruze is the name it's going to have across the globe, so there are more considerations you have to make when you make a jump like that.

Precisely.

[2QuickZ's]

This flip-flopping of names is idiotic, IMO. You'd be surprised at how many people (although I will admit many of them are 'older') who come into the show room and wonder aloud what replaced the Cavalier.

Celebrity - Lumina - Impala

Malibu - Corsica - Malibu

Vega - Chevette - J2000 - Cavalier - Cobalt - Cruze: all in the span of the Corolla.

Is GM retarded, or is there an entire department of middle-management marketing hacks who are trying to justify their bloated salaries?

QFT

I HATE it. Cruze? WTF???? I wonder what the next gen Malibu will be called? GM obviously places no value on name recognition and building a name up. I am starting to agree that it may be time to clean house with the management team and start over. Decisions like this make me think the people in charge have no F'ing clue. Is it really that difficult to put a different badge on a car built in it's own plant in the U.S. or is it really that important to have a global name just in case an American moves to Europe? Idiots!

[DBeaSSt]

This flip-flopping of names is idiotic, IMO. You'd be surprised at how many people (although I will admit many of them are 'older') who come into the show room and wonder aloud what replaced the Cavalier.

Celebrity - Lumina - Impala

Malibu - Corsica - Malibu

Vega - Chevette - J2000 - Cavalier - Cobalt - Cruze: all in the span of the Corolla.

Is GM retarded, or is there an entire department of middle-management marketing hacks who are trying to justify their bloated salaries?

Absolutely agreed! Find a good name and stick with it!

[loki]

the name... not so much. if the car is a winner, it should fly off the lots.

[longtooth]

QFT

I HATE it. Cruze? WTF???? I wonder what the next gen Malibu will be called? GM obviously places no value on name recognition and building a name up. I am starting to agree that it may be time to clean house with the management team and start over. Decisions like this make me think the people in charge have no F'ing clue. Is it really that difficult to put a different badge on a car built in it's own plant in the U.S. or is it really that important to have a global name just in case an American moves to Europe? Idiots!

Cruze? Indeed. If they'd gone that way 5 years ago. I'd let it go if the next generation is a clear departure from Cobalt. I remember those commercials for Cobalt circa 2004. Just 4 short years ago. Even though I am not a 20 or 30-something, the images of a fun and playful Cobalt caught my attention.

You also mentioned Celebrity. The hardware plant where I worked in the 70's, 80's and 90's was dedicated to manufacturing items such as seat adjusters, door handles, functional and decorative moldings, stamped and roll-formed structural members and a slew of other parts for vehicles across GM's lineup at the time. Celebrity was our 'superstar' during it's lifespan. The manpower (person-power, as there were women working there also) devoted to this effort was considerable at the time. On the date of my hire, there were approximately 4000 souls working on 3 shifts in this city under one roof. I can still recall the sights, sounds and the smell of the place. I was very impressed for a skinny/scared 19 year old just having jumped-ship from college seeking a job for which to sustain a family. That first day was the beginning of a wild ride of sorts.

Looking back on it all I see now, as then, that these jobs, these people performing the work were the embodiment of vitality. What was generated there was broadcast very far and wide. Something that 20 Wal*Marts, a like number of Best Buys, Circuit Citys and the like can not match today. The wealth generated benefited more than just 4000 income earning autoworkers. The whole was definitely greater than the sum of all of us.

Now, the site where so many worked and throve, the site where commerce once flourished is an enormous concrete pad bleached white by the sun. A dead elephant in an elephant's graveyard of former manufacturing locations littering America. Perhaps one day it'll become an office park or a mall or some-such enterprise. But this hallowed ground will not again see the glory which was Fisher Body Trenton (NJ) ever again. I realize that there is a faction that does not fully appreciate nor understand the working members represented by the UAW. They rail at ghosts. That UAW no longer exists. That America no longer exists. As I see it, the freshman class working in auto plants today will be scared 20-somethings with no idea of what was there once. No lifetime of security secured in exchange for applying one's self. Yes, there was and is a JOBs Bank. Personally I was fortunate to have caught the wave at the right time, always surfing well-ahead of 'The Bank'. As one who labored 'at risk' for layoff depending upon the whims of the market during my time I did puzzle (and chafe too) over this. I witnessed that which I thought abusive. The existence of the JOBs Bank became everyone's favorite pinata seemingly. Well, the chess game in progress currently will eventually obviate the need and purpose for 'The Bank'. It's a different GM and a different America now as we fret the influences well beyond our control i.e. China, India and the rest. Influences which were only glimpsed over the horizon a generation and one half ago and spoken of only in whispers. That volume has risen to a deafening roar as America, convinced that her salvation lies in technology, the selling of information, abstract concepts and financial products eschew getting it's hands dirty or bending it's back unless it involves strengthening it's 'Abs'.

An America that made that which it consumed worked well for many generations. Off-shoring our heavy lifting leaves many, union and non-union alike, scrambling for honest work. The game of musical chairs as it applies to gainful employment has so many nervously looking for a seat for when the discordant music stops. NAFTA has eviscerated us. I don't care who authorized it, it's time to re-evaluate what we can do for ourselves. Yes the Chinese and Indians are bidding for more oil and energy. Their need is derived from the requirements of doing for us what we no longer do. A vicious circle. I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.

[PurdueGuy]

Voted for "doesn't bother me", though I do think they're kinda dumb for not sticking with the Cobalt name. I'm closer to indifferent than hatred.

[!!!TED!!!]

Maybe I didn't get the memo, but who first reported this name? Is it official?

My first thought was of the rebadged Suzuki Ignis.

I voted: Doesn't bother me. Cavalier, Cobalt, Cruze...it doesn't matter as long as the car is good.

If they plan on having the Cobalt and this sold at the same time, than it can't be called Cobalt too. Unless the current car becomes Cobalt Classic....which would be dumb.

Maybe GM is on...cruze control! Ahahaaa

[smk4565]

everyone knows what a corolla and civic are. no one is gonna have an effing clue what a CRUZE is.

Exactly. 30+ years of brand recognition, vs a new car that no one will know, and they will have to run a big advertising campaign for.

[longtooth]

Exactly. 30+ years of brand recognition, vs a new car that no one will know, and they will have to run a big advertising campaign for.

Ad blitz along the lines of Malibu. The day Malibu 'landed', it was everywhere. Every section of USA Today in multiples within each section if I recall correctly. I think I still have that issue. From 10-17-07 or thereabouts.

[thegriffon]

Maybe I didn't get the memo, but who first reported this name? Is it official?

My first thought was of the rebadged Suzuki Ignis.

I voted: Doesn't bother me. Cavalier, Cobalt, Cruze...it doesn't matter as long as the car is good.

If they plan on having the Cobalt and this sold at the same time, than it can't be called Cobalt too. Unless the current car becomes Cobalt Classic....which would be dumb.

Maybe GM is on...cruze control! Ahahaaa

The Ignis was never rebadged as the Cruze. The Cruze was a different vehicle designed by Holden as a Chevy crossover, on the same platform as the contemporary Ignis. Although sold as a Holden for a short time, the Cruze was primarily intended as a mini SUV for the Japanese market, while the Ignis was a standard A/B-segment hatch. Suzuki sold both in the same dealerships until fairly recently (the Cruze longer than the Ignis). Magyar Suzuki in Hungary much later built a longer, lower, wagon version of the Cruze, replacing the previous Ignis as a cheaper alternative to the new Swift.

[Intrepidation]

I would rip off the Cruze badges and put Cobalt badges on. Problem solved.

Seriously though, this is name is something I would expect Kia or Hyundai to make up, which no compliment.

[97regalGS]

This flip-flopping of names is idiotic, IMO. You'd be surprised at how many people (although I will admit many of them are 'older') who come into the show room and wonder aloud what replaced the Cavalier.

Celebrity - Lumina - Impala

Malibu - Corsica - Malibu

Vega - Chevette - J2000 - Cavalier - Cobalt - Cruze: all in the span of the Corolla.

Is GM retarded, or is there an entire department of middle-management marketing hacks who are trying to justify their bloated salaries?

you forgot the Beretta.

[regfootball]

i still see berettas out and about and i swear they have extreme name recongnition. they could name it beretta and it would be better off than cruze.

monza, chevette, i liked Vega, COBALT is great....cavalier even is too (they just never updated the car).

oh well. I know what a focus is. i dont have to relearn all that.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Lame...

[!!!TED!!!]

The Ignis was never rebadged as the Cruze. The Cruze was a different vehicle designed by Holden as a Chevy crossover, on the same platform as the contemporary Ignis. Although sold as a Holden for a short time, the Cruze was primarily intended as a mini SUV for the Japanese market, while the Ignis was a standard A/B-segment hatch. Suzuki sold both in the same dealerships until fairly recently (the Cruze longer than the Ignis). Magyar Suzuki in Hungary much later built a longer, lower, wagon version of the Cruze, replacing the previous Ignis as a cheaper alternative to the new Swift.

Yeah...I feel dumb now.

I wiki'd it after I posted, and knew you would correct me.

I also noticed (after the fact) that you broke the news about it being the Cruze in the other thread.

[ToniCipriani]

As I said in the other thread, I'll take Lacetti before Cruze. But if anything, just go back to Cobalt.

[Robert Hall]

This flip-flopping of names is idiotic, IMO. You'd be surprised at how many people (although I will admit many of them are 'older') who come into the show room and wonder aloud what replaced the Cavalier.

Celebrity - Lumina - Impala

Malibu - Corsica - Malibu

Vega - Chevette - J2000 - Cavalier - Cobalt - Cruze: all in the span of the Corolla.

Is GM retarded, or is there an entire department of middle-management marketing hacks who are trying to justify their bloated salaries?

I think it was more like (top down):

Impala/Caprice (RWD) -> extinct

Malibu (RWD) -> Celebrity -> Lumina -> Impala

Nova (RWD) -> Citation -> Corsica/Beretta -> Malibu

Corvair -> Vega -> Monza -> Cavalier -> Cobalt -> Cruze

Chevette -> Spectrum & Metro -> Prizm & Metro -> Aveo

[Blake Noble]

Any name is better than Cavalier, to be perfectly honest.

[MyerShift]

Well, if this is the name then I guess I won't be considering a new, small Chevrolet afterall. I don't care how good it is.

With a name this bad, I don't care how good or perfect the car may be.

[VenSeattle]

The name fits in with the theme expected from the potential micro triplets.

If Honda can sell a FIT, Chevrolet can sell a CRUZE. The name should be fine.

[Robert Hall]

Interesting factoid: GM has already used the name before on the Holden Cruze (Aus) and Chevy Cruze (Japan), both rebadged Suzuki Ignis

[ocnblu]

This name change is further evidence that North America has lost considerable importance to GM. If we still mattered, the new car would have been called Cobalt, and the rest of the world would have to adapt to Cobalt. We're second-tier now, mates. Japanese companies are working diligently to produce cars that we'll love, while GM is retreating from the US market.

[Robert Hall]

This name change is further evidence that North America has lost considerable importance to GM. If we still mattered, the new car would have been called Cobalt, and the rest of the world would have to adapt to Cobalt. We're second-tier now, mates. Japanese companies are working diligently to produce cars that we'll love, while GM is retreating from the US market.

It's a dying market for GM; being a big multinational, they are focusing their investments on growth markets.

[VenSeattle]

The Japanese and Germans are building and selling cars in the US market that are competitive globally. GM is finally doing the same.

Toyota hasn't kept every name in the book alive... Corona & Cressida come to mind immediately. Toyota wouldn't sell a car called "Crown" in the US market either.

As for GM, Saturn still got the "Aura" instead of "Vectra". The "Aura" name will probably be kept instead of calling it "Insignia". We'll have to wait and see.

There really isn't any lasting warmth or appeal to the name "Cobalt." If GM can find a name that will spark some emotional association with non-car interests or at least with other cars in the Chevrolet line-up, I say go for it.

[Camino LS6]

An inane decision.

But it sparked a very well-written post fom Longtooth.

[daves87rs]

In case any one outside the site noticed-the Cobalt may be selling, but it is quickly becoming a lame POS.

AND, I have a Cobalt.

It has the same or worse resale value than the Cavalier...and the market is hot for small cars..

And what does the Cobalt offer? NOTHING. Maybe a few gearheads with the SS.....

Every other model has passed it...even the half assed Focus looks and feels worlds better.....

Friends who like the Cobalt then not longer like it now....it's kinda a lame joke now....Heck, they like to tease asking me how my new Cavalier... (they know it's a Balt)

It's a car for bragin shoppers now.....

As much as I liked the Cobalt, overall it was pretty much a failure it my eyes..(the SAME wheelcovers since 2005!)

There is nothing wrong with a name change...especially if GM gets it right this time..

While the name is a bit silly, if it is as good as promised (and offers a wagon as PCS says), then it won't be a problem.....

If not, I might be cruzin' for a Mazda 3 or Focus.....

[daves87rs]

Cruze? Indeed. If they'd gone that way 5 years ago. I'd let it go if the next generation is a clear departure from Cobalt. I remember those commercials for Cobalt circa 2004. Just 4 short years ago. Even though I am not a 20 or 30-something, the images of a fun and playful Cobalt caught my attention.

You also mentioned Celebrity. The hardware plant where I worked in the 70's, 80's and 90's was dedicated to manufacturing items such as seat adjusters, door handles, functional and decorative moldings, stamped and roll-formed structural members and a slew of other parts for vehicles across GM's lineup at the time. Celebrity was our 'superstar' during it's lifespan. The manpower (person-power, as there were women working there also) devoted to this effort was considerable at the time. On the date of my hire, there were approximately 4000 souls working on 3 shifts in this city under one roof. I can still recall the sights, sounds and the smell of the place. I was very impressed for a skinny/scared 19 year old just having jumped-ship from college seeking a job for which to sustain a family. That first day was the beginning of a wild ride of sorts.

Looking back on it all I see now, as then, that these jobs, these people performing the work were the embodiment of vitality. What was generated there was broadcast very far and wide. Something that 20 Wal*Marts, a like number of Best Buys, Circuit Citys and the like can not match today. The wealth generated benefited more than just 4000 income earning autoworkers. The whole was definitely greater than the sum of all of us.

Now, the site where so many worked and throve, the site where commerce once flourished is an enormous concrete pad bleached white by the sun. A dead elephant in an elephant's graveyard of former manufacturing locations littering America. Perhaps one day it'll become an office park or a mall or some-such enterprise. But this hallowed ground will not again see the glory which was Fisher Body Trenton (NJ) ever again. I realize that there is a faction that does not fully appreciate nor understand the working members represented by the UAW. They rail at ghosts. That UAW no longer exists. That America no longer exists. As I see it, the freshman class working in auto plants today will be scared 20-somethings with no idea of what was there once. No lifetime of security secured in exchange for applying one's self. Yes, there was and is a JOBs Bank. Personally I was fortunate to have caught the wave at the right time, always surfing well-ahead of 'The Bank'. As one who labored 'at risk' for layoff depending upon the whims of the market during my time I did puzzle (and chafe too) over this. I witnessed that which I thought abusive. The existence of the JOBs Bank became everyone's favorite pinata seemingly. Well, the chess game in progress currently will eventually obviate the need and purpose for 'The Bank'. It's a different GM and a different America now as we fret the influences well beyond our control i.e. China, India and the rest. Influences which were only glimpsed over the horizon a generation and one half ago and spoken of only in whispers. That volume has risen to a deafening roar as America, convinced that her salvation lies in technology, the selling of information, abstract concepts and financial products eschew getting it's hands dirty or bending it's back unless it involves strengthening it's 'Abs'.

An America that made that which it consumed worked well for many generations. Off-shoring our heavy lifting leaves many, union and non-union alike, scrambling for honest work. The game of musical chairs as it applies to gainful employment has so many nervously looking for a seat for when the discordant music stops. NAFTA has eviscerated us. I don't care who authorized it, it's time to re-evaluate what we can do for ourselves. Yes the Chinese and Indians are bidding for more oil and energy. Their need is derived from the requirements of doing for us what we no longer do. A vicious circle. I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.

Very good post, longtooth..makes a good point....

[daves87rs]

I think Cruze is the name it's going to have across the globe, so there are more considerations you have to make when you make a jump like that.

[daves87rs]

Any name is better than Cavalier, to be perfectly honest.

Well, I liked Cavalier too...

[ehaase]

I hate the name but I will consider the car if there is a wagon as PCS said.

[Sixty8panther]

I voted:

Doesn't bother me. Cavalier, Cobalt, Cruze...it doesn't matter as long as the car is good.

but I do think that constantly renaming a car (sebment/model/platform) is a BAD thing.

It sure as hell does not help consumer confidence, brand recognition or sales. imo.

If they were going to change names again I agree they could have resurected an old

one like Monza or Nova.

[Robert Hall]

Very good post, longtooth..makes a good point....

Good post...the Industrial Age in the US has been winding down for sometime, as the Information Age has been on the ascendency... the Information Age/Internet era/world of technology is the only one I've worked in and known, so I've been part of it for over a decade and grown with it. Unfortunately, a major transition like this (not just the US, but world wide) has many downsides..

Edited July 11, 2008 by moltar

[daves87rs]

Good post...the Industrial Age in the US has been winding down for sometime, as the Information Age has been on the ascendency... the Information Age/Internet era/world of technology is the only one I've worked in and known, so I've been part of it for over a decade and grown with it. Unfortunately, a major transition like this (not just the US, but world wide) has many downsides..

[Northstar]

Who cares what the name is, we should be more concerned whether or not GM will finally be able to build a world-class compact. Cruze, Cobalt, Crapalier, doesn't make a whole lot of difference. Names like xB and tC didn't stop Scion from selling lots of those cars.

Cruze may actually appeal quite well to younger people, the people who will make up a good portion of the vehicle's sales.

[DetroitNut90]

I don't think I'm opposed to the name as much as I am to GM's lack of picking a name and sticking with it. It makes them look confused, IMO.

Edited July 11, 2008 by DetroitNut90

[smk4565]

I voted:

but I do think that constantly renaming a car (sebment/model/platform) is a BAD thing.

It sure as hell does not help consumer confidence, brand recognition or sales. imo.

If they were going to change names again I agree they could have resurected an old

one like Monza or Nova.

Because No-Va was such a hit in Spanish speaking countries the first time around.

[haypops]

Pssst, Chevrolet will also launch a station wagon version of the Cruze, for those of you that have been pinning for a wagon, like oldsmoboi has been doing of late.

What kind of a lame ass, import humping, liberal tree hugger of a customer would buy a strangely named chevy wagon on the delta platform.

[thegriffon]

Because No-Va was such a hit in Spanish speaking countries the first time around.

Dufus, that is so widely reported as an example of an unsubstantiated urban myth you really should know better by now. It did so well they've used it over and over again already. Only english speakers think it is spanish for "no go". Memories of the last Nova, the rebadged Toyota Sprinter that preceded the Prizm, the Holden Nova, and the Vauxhall Nova are greater problems.