Officially official: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze

[Ravenfreak13]

Someone pulled a sebring!

[97regalGS]

Actually I like the gold bowtie. It matches the trucks as well. It eludes class I think.

you may want to spell check that post

[Oracle of Delphi]

You're not alone, BV. I'm not a fan, at all. It's not a cohesive design at all. The front looks Korean, the sides look European, and the rear looks Japanese. None of it looks American, and that's the worst part to me. Chevy's an American institution, but outside of the US it's just another car company. What would've been the harm in giving the car a thorough, distinctive American design and show the world what Chevy's really all about? When they're done right, American designs do sell overseas (HHR, Corvette, CTS come to mind). I'm thoroughly disappointed in how this car turned out, and as long as I give a crap about cars I'll never own one. I'll either run my Cobalt (whose design I much prefer to this thing) into the ground or leave the Chevy fold if I need my next car to be compact.

Z, GM has designated Chevy as its world brand, so it will look less and less American and more worldly as time goes on.

[C.H.U.D.]

B-pillars are the DEVIL.

Did you know that B-pillars are responsible for the

assasination of JFK

I'm pretty sure the car he was riding in at the time was a convertible.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

hyundai sonata greenhouse

daewoo / chevy epica rear end

semi decent front

terrible cheaply creased side character line as bad as a sentra or elantra

Or Insignia

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Z, GM has designated Chevy as its world brand, so it will look less and less American and more worldly as time goes on.

Which is fine, because the 'big time' american character can flow over into Pontiac... Oh wait...

I do want Chevrolet to keep some american flavor though. And if this country/culture weren't so self loathing, they might appreciate that.

Then again, if this is what sells, maybe Chevy can do this and keep the american flavor in models like the Camaro and Corvette.

Edited August 22, 2008 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[pow]

Or Insignia

The Insignia is miles better than this. It's almost as they intentionally made the Chevy uglier for the low end of the market, and to leave room for Opel. Ford doesn't have this problem, and based on what we've seen so far, I think I'll prefer the upcoming Focus. I know the Fiesta is one segment smaller, but that's better looking, too.

[gm4life]

you may want to spell check that post

I know I screw spelling up all the time.

[turbo200]

Malibu is relatively entirely Euro influenced, aside from a large Chevy grille [whose overall aesthetic presentation originated with Audi] and Corvette-inspired 'unique' taillights [whose overall shape is highly reminiscent of BMW], yet no one complains that car's too worldly or not American enough.

Though I can see where some of the complaints are coming on this car, I also think it's a solid entry. In particular I think the front end is great. the sculpting is very good, character lines good, and overall expression great. I think the touches of other recent Chevy concepts, including that Colorado remake at SEMA, are fabulous [bulging hood]. I'm less excited about the side profile and rear view. These could have been more distinctive. surfacing from the silver car looks great, but it looks already dated on the red car, could be lighting and angle.

the big question is how can GM continue to prioritize so poorly? The biggest car market, where the biggest weakness in small GM cars exist [now that Astra is old, slightly overpriced and outdated in the context of competition], and Korea is gonna get it almost 2 years before us?

[Ravenfreak13]

I don't like the headlights...makes it look cheap and 1st gen ford focusy. Cars with multiple bulb surrounds tend to look much more upscale then a 1 big headlight.

[pow]

B-pillars are the DEVIL.

Did you know that B-pillars are responsible for the

assasination of JFK (& framing of Oswald) as well

as the Black Plague & even the spread of HIV!?

Recent evidence has come to light that points to

B-pillars in the John Bennet Ramsey case...

Actually, I meant to say "everything aft of the A-pillar", but somehow I typed B-pillar instead...

Basically I like the front clip. I agree with reg that the side is Sonata and the rear is Epica.

[ocnblu]

Chevrolet, the quintessential American brand, goes Korean. That's my take. And it is not a compliment. The Future of GM? Murkier than ever. With Chevrolet becoming a foreign brand... why buy Chevrolet? May as well buy any foreign brand. Edited August 22, 2008 by ocnblu

[frogger]

After comparing the two, the new Kia subcompact has a better looking exterior than this Daewoo.

[Camino LS6]

Chevrolet, the quintessential American brand, goes Korean. That's my take. And it is not a compliment. The Future of GM? Murkier than ever. With Chevrolet becoming a foreign brand... why buy Chevrolet? May as well buy any foreign brand.

Yup.

The strategy is beyond stupid.

It's as if the brain-dead folks behind it tried to take the approach that would have the least appeal globally and then promote it as a "global" car. It is least-common-denominator thinking, and insures that no one anywhere on the globe will feel a connection to the product.

Brilliant.

[!!!TED!!!]

More pictures from Lordstown:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/chevrolet-cruze.html

[Robert Hall]

Chevrolet, the quintessential American brand, goes Korean. That's my take. And it is not a compliment. The Future of GM? Murkier than ever. With Chevrolet becoming a foreign brand... why buy Chevrolet? May as well buy any foreign brand.

Well, in Europe, Chevrolet is a Korean Revolution...it's line is former Daewoos..

[97regalGS]

It's not being built in the US next year and shipped to Europe. That is the 7-seat Delta MPV. Initial production of the sedan will be in Korea (October 2008 or so), followed by Russia (later in 2009) and finally the US (2010). Plants in Central Asia, Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, Ukraine, China and possibly Poland (EU) will serve markets in their regions.

You are seeing photos now because, well, Korean sales begin in several weeks and European sales in the Spring. The red car after all is a European model, hence the chunky European plates. The photos will be out there, it's pointless pretending they doesn't exist because US production and sale is further off.

The launch engines are the same as those offered in the Astra, but will be built in Korea. The 1.6 is a higher-tune version of that in the 2009 Aveo, the 1.8 the same as that offered in the Astra. The diesel is a VM Motori design upgraded and built by GM Daewoo and currently used in the Epica, Captiva, Antara and in lower-tune form in the Optra. Mercedes' 2.0 L diesel (not used by Chrysler) appears to be a DOHC version (the standard VM design is 16V SOHC), and Hyundai also licensed the design.

$350 million will be spent on the plant in Lordstown (tooling etc.) and $150 million on US homologation (a mere tenth of what a brand-new Cobalt would have cost).

hey grif, a serious question for a moment.

How much does it really cost OEM's for platform development. Cause your suggestion that a brand new Cobalt would cost $5B to develop sounds, to me at least, to be a touch higher than I would have expected. Perhaps you can shed some light that. It might give the readership a better appreciation of the costs that OEM's, like GM, face from a business point of view.

(I mean, if a brand new Cobalt, which would draw from existing platform experiecne were to cost $5B, I have to belive that Alpha would have to be greater than that!)

[Intrepidation]

Z, GM has designated Chevy as its world brand, so it will look less and less American and more worldly as time goes on.

Then why by the "American Revolution" brand? If it it's not American it makes it much less of a valid choice overa foreign car.

[Robert Hall]

Then why by the "American Revolution" brand? If it it's not American it makes it much less of a valid choice overa foreign car.

That's just the US marketing slogan...in Europe, it's more of the Korean Revolution brand.

[Robert Hall]

the big question is how can GM continue to prioritize so poorly? The biggest car market, where the biggest weakness in small GM cars exist [now that Astra is old, slightly overpriced and outdated in the context of competition], and Korea is gonna get it almost 2 years before us?

Chevy probably couldn't afford to stand it up and get it the door earlier, what with the cost of the launches of the Traverse, Camaro, and Equinox within the next 2 years for NA..

[haypops]

Then why by the "American Revolution" brand? If it it's not American it makes it much less of a valid choice overa foreign car.

Personaly I think these cute two word descriptions for a brand are a mistake. Just build a good car at a great price and forget all this branding stuff. Otherwide your American Revolution Chevy will look like this:

and your Pontiac wide track performance car will look like this:

[Intrepidation]

That's just the US marketing slogan...in Europe, it's more of the Korean Revolution brand.

My point is that why bother to by "American" if the American car looks Japanese/Eruopean/American. Especially since Chevy's long been promoted as being distinctly American.

[Robert Hall]

My point is that why bother to by "American" if the American car looks Japanese/Eruopean/American. Especially since Chevy's long been promoted as being distinctly American.

Well, they are trying for a world car....look at the original Focus..it was a world car, didn't look distinctly 'American', but did well here..

[CSpec]

More pictures from Lordstown:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/chevrolet-cruze.html

Cool, thanks for the link. Too bad they covered up the interior.

[frogger]

Maybe its not as bad as I thought from the side. The rear still reminds be of the old Malibu with the huge chrome bar though

http://www.leftlanenews.com/wp-content/plu...idg=1&idi=8

As far as American compact sedans, it won't be hard to be the best one ever as we haven't had good ones.

Edited August 22, 2008 by frogger

[Intrepidation]

It really isn't that bad, but there are some bad styling cues that if fixed would ake a world of difference I think.

[siegen]

After comparing the two, the new Kia subcompact has a better looking exterior than this Daewoo.

The side profile on the Cruze is nicer than the Forte, and the Cruze has a lot more character overall than the Forte. The front of the Cruze is a bit of a mish-mash though.

[cyclonic]

Can we say "J-car"?

[!!!TED!!!]

Can we say "J-car"?

How do you figure?

I wonder if Pontiac will get a version though (at least for Canada)...

[Robert Hall]

How do you figure?

I wonder if Pontiac will get a version though (at least for Canada)...

Well, it is the modern equivalent of the J-car. The J-car was a world car, sold in different brands, different names, different bodystyles in many markets. This car, though, will have the same styling and name in more markets than the J did, though.

[thegriffon]

hey grif, a serious question for a moment.

How much does it really cost OEM's for platform development. Cause your suggestion that a brand new Cobalt would cost $5B to develop sounds, to me at least, to be a touch higher than I would have expected. Perhaps you can shed some light that. It might give the readership a better appreciation of the costs that OEM's, like GM, face from a business point of view.

(I mean, if a brand new Cobalt, which would draw from existing platform experience were to cost $5B, I have to belive that Alpha would have to be greater than that!)

I meant ten times more than $150 million. The rest is spent on tooling and preparing the plant. More money will be spent on plant and tooling elsewhere.

A new unibody vehicle, including new architecture, that will meet standard American and European safety standards will cost $1billion, or more (Commodore cost a billion, and so did the Mystique/Contour/Mondeo all those years ago). A second vehicle on the same platform is a lot less, and takes a lot less time to do (c 12 months instead of 5 years). Say $200 million, less for purely cosmetic changes, more for more substantial changes. Depending on price class, technology etc. it can still vary widely. You can, on the cheap get Porsche or Magna or another development company to do a new one on the cheap (say three new vehicles for $300 million), but you get what you pay for, i.e. zero stars in NCAP testing, and all the refinement of a kit car with an interior sourced from Home Depot. Tooling of course is on top of that and varies depending on the number of plants, the number of stamping sources, and how compatible it is with existing facilities. $350 million is about average for a new vehicle line, but can be a lot less for CKD facility.

It is a J-car, as long as you understand the body-designation has no connection with the architecture. It is in fact J300, succeeding the J200 Optra/Lacetti, and the J100 Nubira. Before that was Daewoo's version of the J-body Cavalier. The VIN-code however will probably switch to the Astra/Cobalt's A-body designation.

[thegriffon]

Didn't everyone else publish it on Thursday? I know I did.

[regfootball]

Z, GM has designated Chevy as its world brand, so it will look less and less American and more worldly as time goes on.

PER C-PF i'm sUrE

[regfootball]

Or Insignia

maybe that's why saturn said no....LOL

[GMTruckGuy74]

While it may not be perfect in everyone's opinion, I personally think it's much better looking than the current Cobalt sedan (though I do agree that the taillights look too Korean/Japanese in style).

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I'm still not that sold on it...

I want to like it, but then I see the wheels (ripped off from the G6) and the roofline (Ripped off from the Ion) and the overall asian-esque proportions and I don't know.

Get used to it guys...

It's almost as if GM has abandoned it's home market in favor of growth regions. Does GMNA actually do anything anymore? I mean, I can see spending some big change in the growth areas, but don't completely give up on us at the same time GM.

I do kinda get a Camaro vibe from the proportions of the front end though.

I think it is better than the Cobalt and I think it will do well if GM markets it right. (So, it probably won't do so well)

Edited August 23, 2008 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[daves87rs]

*Drumroll*

I'm going to have to say it is the best looking GM compact in 20 years.....

It has a little bit of Malibu, Ion, and a little bit of Mazda 3 shaken in.

It has something most compacts lacks....some balls (and looks)

Hopefully it will offer a wide range of options..

Now I want to see the wagon version.......

Love it or hate it...you will notice it....staring at you....

[A Horse With No Name]

Its my favorite thing about the new Chevy cars. I think its bold and in your face. Pointedly American, especially with the big bowtie in the middle.

I agree. Thats a fine looking car!

Chris

[Whistler]

Anybody notice in the Lordstown pics the Cruze has a new Chevy bowtie?

Its got the thinner/longer one from the Camaro... Looks way better than the short/stubby one that they've been using for a few years...

[ZL-1]

I like that front end

[Sixty8panther]

I'm pretty sure the car he was riding in at the time was a convertible.

HAHAHAHAHHAHhhhahahahahahaahahahha!

I get it... hence no B-pillars, right? ...WRONG!

Originally i gave ZERO thought to that, just

posted a stupid statement to be funny but

since you brought it up.... look again dude:

[we now return you to your originally scheduled thread...]

Edited August 23, 2008 by Sixty8panther

[cire]

More pictures from Lordstown:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/chevrolet-cruze.html

Thanks for providing the link to the additional pictures. The pics provide a more in depth look into the external appearance of the car.

I think with some minor exterior alterations, the car would look great and could even be considered a style leader in the compact sedan segment. The C-pillar fake out has to go; it cheapens the design (the chrome piece below the window line needs to be morphed into a window surround). The protruding matte black parts surrounding the fog lights need to be body colored (it would make the front end appear more upscale). The Chevy bowtie needs to be solid chrome or hollow in the middle to let the car's body color show through; gold just looks so ghetto (to me). If GM would tweak these minor issues, I would consider this one of the best looking compact sedan designs on the market (still not Mazda3 caliber, but pretty close).

I've looked at these photos extensively to try to find bigger faults with the design and I simply failed to see any. I think this car is a huge stylistic leap forward for a compact Chevy sedan. I think it could even attract new customers back to the brand. If you parked this car next to a Corolla, Civic, Elantra, Spectra, Sentra, Impreza, SX4 Sport, Forenza, Cobalt, or current U.S. Focus, it would shame them all. The Mazda3 and Lancer are the only two mainstream compact sedans currently available in the U.S. with designs that compare favorably (or might be slightly superior) to this car.

[maxximus1]

yes, i like everything about the car but the rear passenger windows. whats with that huge black plastic. looks like it was boarded up at the last minute. i know alot of other cars have it too but this one seems bigger than usual. should have made it a non opening window at the least.

maybe the coupe will look better just like the cobalt did.

[gmcbob]

It's a nice looking car, I hope it sells.

Any predictions on how many they'll sell here in the States?

[dwightlooi]

The styling a little plain, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. At least it isn't blatantly ugly like some GM designs of the past -- the Grand Am, Monte Carlo, Firebird, Corvette Stingray, 82-92 Camaro, Saturn S-series, Aurora, etc comes to mind. And, it doesn't have dubious tack on features that spoils an otherwise petty cars -- like the nostrils intakes on hood of the G8 or the fake vents on the Saturn Sky.

The Cruze isn't as distinctively its own stlying wise like the Civic, but neither are any of the other cars in the segment. In this segment, that is not particularly important. What is important is that the car be technologically up to date in the eyes of the buyers, offer good economy and is reliable in service. And it looks like it will with the 6-spd auto and a 1.4 liter DI-turbo powerplant. If the interior can be anything like a Volkswagen which they are benchmarking it should be pretty good. Tack onto that a youthful image and perhaps an image bolstering SS model and it should do just fine.

[daves87rs]

It's a nice looking car, I hope it sells.

Any predictions on how many they'll sell here in the States?

Pretty good...if they price it well.

Also depends on the next Civic....hopefully it won't look like the accord....

[bowtie_dude]

I just wish it was here Summer 09

[bearrunner44]

I have to say it- I think I hate this car. It's the first big misstep Chevy's made since the latest round of vehicles (Malibu, Traverse) entered the lineup. The cheap black plastic on the C-pillar, the grab bag of vaguely European design elements that EVERY other manufacturer is using right now, the somewhat Elantra-ish look from the A-pillar back; this thing's a confused little mess. It probably would've reached near-Sebring levels of badness if they hadn't put such a bold, unique front clip on it. That's probably the only part of the car I really like.

Unless they really nail the interior, and I'm talking class-leading, I can't see myself buying this. If there's going to be a coupe or a hatchback, I just hope it'll look better than the sedan.

[Turbojett]

yeah, uh...

NO.

Am I the only one that things it's a hideous design mess? Sorry, I'm keepin' the Cobalt, it's a much better (and sportier) looking car. I don't care how supposedly better it's built, or what better engine it has. The Ion was less offensive to the eye. This just looks like bits and pieces from Sebrings, various Volkswagens and Accords were pasted together on the Delta.

[saturnd00d]

I see bits of ION and cobalt in the design of this thing, but mainly because it's still on Delta. The C-pillar comes directly from the ION sedan, same for the trunklid, same for the rear bumper where it meets the taillights, how it flows from the bottom of the taillight through to the bumper. Cobalt shared those details, and so does the Cruze.

I see the design as more evolutionary instead of revolutionary. I'm not sure if it's because I'm Canadian instead of American, but this thing needs some major rhinoplasty. The front end is hideous. Those headlights will give little kids nightmares for the rest of their childhoods. The taillights are way too similar to the canuck-only Acura CSX (civic reskin for Canada). The profile makes me think they just combined influences of different cars and slapped them on.

Example of the tails:

For my next car, I'm buying a used Astra or Aura, and once that car and my Vue have served their time, I'm officially done with GM (if they are even around that long). They have screwed us over long enough. The way it makes me feel, as a consumer in the marketplace, is that if you don't have $30K or more to spend on their vehicles, you'll be getting the crap end of the stick when it comes to what they can offer you. For the price they ask for some of their crap, you can buy a great car through another brand. I think I'll shop around in 10 years time when it comes to replacing my vehicles. I'll be looking to find an automaker who cares about the direction it's going into.