First Drive: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze

No hatchback=NO SALE!

I agree. Like the Cobalt, it looks fine but nothing more.

They are going to have to come up with more interesting variations of the platform fast before it falls into the same trap as the Cobalt. A perfectly good car with a reputaion as a rental car or a car for budget shoppers only.

"Good enough" doesn't cut it anymore. There are too many really good interesting small cars out there.

GM needs a small car people want to own regardless of price.

unfortunate exterior. it looks all the world like a Saturn (not a good thing). The interior looks good

Why in the world do we not get this car until 2011? GM is being pounded over the head by congress for not producing enough efficient cars, and it is going to wait an additional 18-24 months to bring it's new small car here, 3 YEARS after it was introduced elsewhere. Isn't the US GM's biggest market, how are we behind Korea in getting this car?

5 years of development and the best they can offer to stary with is a wussy 140hp? My 1996 Sunfire 2.4 was more powerful than that.

On the plus side, kudos for the 6 speed auto. If you aren't going to provide reasonable power then the extra gears should ahlp get the most from what you have.

@brian55
There is a hatchback that will go on sale in Europe, and it may come to the US.

I agree with the comments about it's boring looks. The Corolla looks so much better.

i noted in the pictures on the side of the article that the engine was rated at 140hp. The next picture down stated that a future turbocharged I4 would make 140hp also. Was this a typo? Can someone please verify this?

And while it gets the 140 hp wuss engine the Torrent gets a 2.4L 175 hp DI 4-cyl that can get 30MPG highway.

Why is this not an optional engine in the Cruze?

Sorry, the Equinox, and it's 182hp.

If this engine can produce that kind of mileage in an SUV it should be good for 3-4 mpg more in the Cruze.

Here's hoping GM can out Corolla a Corolla. Looks good to me.

GM learned its lesson from selling hatchbacks with the Astra....meaning they didn't sell.

It's interesting that this is a "mid-sized" car replacing a "compact" car.

isaacl--Naturally aspirated 1.8L engine = 140hp
Turbocharged 1.4L engine = 140hp

No typo, read closer.

"GM learned its lesson from selling hatchbacks with the Astra....meaning they didn't sell."

Hatchbacks are selling great for eveyone else these days. If that's the lesson GM learns from the Astra they deserve to go under.

The Astra didn't do well because people had either not heard of it or they assumed it was just a new version of the Ion.

The car actually looks nicely styled. I see some Korean influence here, meaning, it's conservative but a little bit handscome. The interior appears nicely styled, for once. The instrument cluster is much better than that in the Corvette! That's a good sign. The old cluster appears to have been designed for the Blazer using a child's stencil, and then carried out through the ranks.

I wouldn't worry about the handling. This is lighter and stiffer than the Cobalt SS, and I'm sure it would get tuned right in Super Sport trim.

Good to see a fully competitive GLOBAL small car roll out of GM as the Cavalier was ....awful, no other words for it.

The Cobalt was leaps and bounds better vs the Cavalier but it still wasnt quite there. The Cobalt SS (turbocharged) was a great performer however the car itself wasnt all that desirable. Im really hoping the Cruze will be a hit for GM.

I don't think the styling is much better than the Corolla, but I think that's perfectly OK. Certainly the Corolla and Civic didn't become the class leaders by looking sexy. A good interior, great fuel economy, and reliability are what buyers in this segment look for. Well, looking at the interior photos (above) GM's claims for fuel economy (40 mpg-ish) and recent reliability (just as good as everyone else) I say check, check, and check. Now all they need to make it a success is appropriate marketing and a media that will judge it on its merits and give it a real chance. Marketing, well, that's why the Astra didn't take off. The product was there, but it was another story in the GM saga of too many mouths to feed. The media, well its gotten better. We'll see.

If they made an SS version with the 260 hp 2.0L and the same handling and braking (or better) as the Cobalt SS, I'd buy it without a second thought. Sadly, I don't think President Obama, CEO of Government Motors, will go for that sort of thing.

Oh and Bankerdanny, yes, 30+mpg would be good, but since the turbo 1.4 should get about 40 mpg, they're going with that. That power is on par for the class. Besides, the Cobalt Sport (aka non-supercharged SS) had a 2.4L rated at 180hp-ish, and it just didn't make a huge splash. You either wanted economy, or you wanted the power of the SS (200hp or 260hp later on). It was a middle ground that just didn't work in this sort of application.

What's up with the Old Country Buffet sizing with GM compacts? I don't think it's a good thing.

Roar02Ram, It might be larger, but not to big, Think about the 09 Corolla, drove that the other day for first time and that thing is huge, I'm sure its practically a midsize now too. . . Plus the 4000 rpms constantly in regular acceleration would make me cross of that car without a second thought. To buzzy of an engine, and its way to big now... Cruze looks better then the Corolla in my opinion, Corolla looks like a refresh, opposed to a new redesign, and its stupidly big, look at the doors! It looked huge next to my Mazda 3.