1BadBlueSS

Although the 2010 Chevrolet Cruze isn’t scheduled to make its public debut until October’s Paris Motor Show, the Bowtie brand decided to show those gathered at its Lordstown, Ohio plant today a ‘foam’ version of the upcoming sedan.

As expected, the Cruze takes styling cues from the new Malibu, and promises to be a much sharper car than the current Cobalt. Chief designer Taewan Kim says that the new Cruze’s design is meant to be “bold, not evolutionary. We wanted to take a big step forward, making a strong design statement for Chevrolet products around the world.”

The car will hit the European market in March of 2009, with U.S. production at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant where the Cobalt is currently made beginning in June 2010.

Although there is widespread speculation that the Cruze will eventually replace the Cobalt, it still remains possible that both cars could coexist within GM’s lineup. In fact, Chevrolet’s North American head, Ed Peper, says the Cruze is actually intended to create a new segment that slots above the Cobalt but below the Malibu. Seeing the car in person confirms the Cruze could fill that hole in Chevy’s lineup as it is actually bigger than it looks in pictures.

At its European launch, the Cruze will offer a 16-valve, 1.6-liter four-cylinder with 112 horsepower and a 140 horse 1.8 liter. Both gasoline engines will feature variable valve timing on both the inlet and exhaust sides. Also available for Europe, though not expected in the United States, is a 2.0 liter turbo diesel putting out 150 horsepower and 320 Nm of torque (official lb-ft. figures weren’t released, but we’d expect approximately 235 lb-ft). Transmission choices will include a five-speed manual or a six-speed automatic.

Based on what was once called the Delta 2 platform, the all-new Cruze will ride on GM’s Global Compact Vehicle Architecture. The primary engineering and development will come from GMDAT — General Motor’s Korean partner (although there has been strong input from the North American and European planning groups).

Codenamed GMX071, the Cruze shares many components as well as styling features with the next Daewoo Lacetti, including a large portion of sheetmetal.

Obviously Chevrolet’s Cruze and the Daewoo Lacetti will not be completely identical, as each will have different styling cues on the front and rear clips, headlamps and taillights.

Chevrolet will also offer another version for markets outside of the United States, known as the Optra. In addition to these, there will likely be up to 15 different cars for GM’s global markets based on this new “Global Delta” architecture.

DeftonesFan867

I've said this already, but do you think people on this site can read?

theneelster

To GM from theneelster: "Please hire some friggin Italian designers already you retards"

What's the pinnacle of GM sheetmetal design? The cts? g8? Okay the corvette looks good outside...

IsItFast?

...and the vette is fiberglass . GM does need some work in the looks department. Most of the other manufacturers have several models that look badass (but dont perform well).

GSMiller

With that being said I would say the chances of the Cruze being offered in a coupe are slim to none.

Chevy needs to get on the ball and offer more two doored cars.

DeftonesFan867

I guess the AURA, Sky, Astra, Enclave and Malibu all look **** huh? BTW I'm quite sure a coupe version will be available. Remember the Cobalt wont be around forever.

Luminaeus

Wouldn't it be nice if they did a redesign of the Cobalt to be between the Aveo and Cruze for size? Imagine the thrill of the 260hp powertrain with a curb weight around 2300 lbs

HackAbuse

235 ft/lbs?

Thats a shitload of tq!

Victory06

I don't think so. I think that a coupe is pretty much guaranteed eventually.

There were a lot of rumors that when Cobalt replaced Cavalier that there would be no coupe. Chevy isn't going to give up that market. Small cars are the one place where coupes still sell pretty well.

Nighthawk243

So basically it is a "Mini Me" of the Malibu?

jstarkiller78

pontiac has the g6 so chevy will have the cruze.

artawesome

wouldnt the G6 be more to the chevy impala?

DeftonesFan867

Malibu actually. They both ride on the Epsilon platform.

That made ZERO sense.

artawesome

i know that the impala and the monta carlo (sp) shared the same engines. Pontiac got ride of the GTO, or i think they were going another direction with it and redesign it or are they just bring back the trans am- using the new camara as a base ( but i havent read or seen anything about this though).

SilverSurfer

why dont they just replace the impala with the malibu (since its almost as big, infact it has a longer wheelbase) and make this cruze their mid size car? its silly for a company to have 3 small cars i think. o and the g8 i think is more similar to a impala then the malibu since both are large sedans with v8 options