2011 Chevrolet Cruze: GM Steps Up With This New Addition, But Will It Be To Late?

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

We have been hearing about the Cruze for a little while now, especially since back in August TheCarConnection.com reported on GM’s $500,000 expected expenditure to launch the new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. Now with bankruptcy very close to becoming a reality and Pontiac biting the dust earlier this week, the question is whether the Cruze is leading edge or like the Cobalt, behind the times before it is announced (review here).

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

The good news is that the Cruze is getting good press so far. The bad news is that there is not a test vehicle for the U.S. configuration yet. So right now the only thing we have to go off of are the European model reports. What we do know is that AutoWeek recently got their hands on a European model and took it for a spin and one word comes to mind—progress. Yes, it appears that the interior has been upgraded with soft-touch plastics and chrome trimmed instruments, while the exterior wears the now standard Chevrolet split grille treatment in the front and out back the rear end looks like a cross between a BMW 1-Series and a Toyota Corolla S.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

More good news for the Cruze, Autoweek reports that the interior and trunk dimensions are competitive with other European and Japanese auto manufactures and the seats aren’t like torture devices. What about performance you ask? Well, we can’t really speak about the 140 hp 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that is supposed to be the standard equipment on this side of the pond, but we can report that the Cruze is said to be “stable and composed in high-speed corners” and “hustle along a European back road with gusto.”

So stay tuned for more on the U.S. version of the 2010 Chevrolet Cruze as it is release and keep your fingers-crossed that this is just one piece of a larger puzzle that will help reposition the sinking GM. We have already lost Pontiac and Oldsmobile; it would be a terrible thing to loose the rest of GM as well.

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[Source: AutoWeek]