 Margaret Brooks at the CATA office with a 2011 Cruze/Photo by Dave Boe Chevrolet launches small Cruze
Chevrolet Marketing Director Margaret Brooks cruised by for lunch with the Midwest Automotive Media Association on Thursday, June 24 2010. Her mission? Introduce Chevrolet’s (although Chevy remains an acceptable term) small car strategy and resurgence for 2011 and beyond.
Chevrolet’s ‘Gas Friendly to Gas Free’ product strategy includes the much-hyped Volt extended range electric plug-in vehicle as an important element of the ‘gas-free’ equation. While Volt will not hit dealers in any great quantity until sometime in 2011, Chevy has three small, old-school internal combustion ‘gas friendly’ vehicles in the pipeline squeezing out 40 miles per gallon on the highway.
The Chevy Spark, launched earlier this year in Korea, Europe and India, is an easy-to-park, easy-to-maneuver urban car. Spark competes in the minicar segment popular across the pond and is expected to dealers late in 2010 as a 2011-badged vehicle.
The second 40-mile-plus vehicle is the subcompact Aveo. Like Spark, Aveo is a South Korean-built product and front-wheel drive. Competitors include the Honda Fit and impressive new Ford Fiesta.
The main attraction of Brooks’ speech was the all-new Cruze; Chevrolet’s replacement for the compact Cobalt, which lasted only one short generation after the retirement of the long-running Cavalier.
“Cruze is the first global product in the Chevrolet lineup,” Brooks said. “The car has a very sold, light, nimble feel and truly is doing what small cars were always meant to do but so often missed the mark on.”
Cruze is already on sale in 60 countries around the world. The four-door sedan is expected on sale in the United States this fall. Assembled in Lordstown, Ohio, the all-new sedan includes 10 standard air bags. Pricing starts at $16,995. It’s larger and roomier (especially in the rear-seat region) than most in the compact segment while offering upscale amenities. The Cruze ecomodel also promises 40 miles per gallon thanks to a 1.4-liter, four-cylinder Ecotech turbo engine, ultra low rolling resistant tires and ultra light alloy wheels. Also available is a slightly larger 1.8-liter four-cylinder Ecotec engine. No diesel engine is planned for this first-generation Cruze.
Engines are mated to either a six-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission. “Cruze is the poster child of gas-friendly vehicles in the Chevrolet lineup with 40 miles per gallon while being fun to drive,” Brooks added.
But what’s really in a name? If Chevy’s new compact has the drawing power of a Tom Cruise and celebrity sex appeal of a Penelope Cruz, the bow-tie division of General Motors may be on to something. Margaret Brooks walks and talks about the new Cruze./Photo by Dave Boe
Show of Solidarity
In what only can be best described as an automotive day of unity, Chrysler shared the spotlight earlier in the day as Wendy Orthman brought a new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee to the Chicago Automobile Trade Association headquarters for journalists to ohhh and ahhh over before heading downtown to a dealer hoedown at Solder Field.
Since both GM and Chrysler benefitted from recent guaranteed government-backed loans, it’s great to see the two playing nice together for the benefit of the working media. Thanks Tony, Wendy and everyone who worked to make this happen.
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