2011 Chevrolet Cruze preview

2011 Chevrolet Cruze preview

Chevrolet hasn’t always been known for having highly rated small cars in the safety category. In fact, the third Chevrolet Cavalier was known for having particularly bad side-impact crash test ratings earning only one star from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for the 2005 model year. It was also rated as a car that had the “highest rates of driver deaths” among other models in its class. The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is on the road to close the gap and change the common expectations of small Chevrolet (GM) cars.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

2011 Chevrolet Cruze

Before we get to some of the actual safety results on the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, let’s take a look at some of the standard safety features. Chevrolet has done the consumer a great service with the Cruze by giving the compact car a number of safety segment firsts, which include the ten airbags. Yes, we said ten. The Cruze has front, side curtain, thorax side bags for front and rear passengers and knee bags. The rear thorax and knee bags are standard on the Cruze—another first in the economy compact car segment.

So what does all this mean? The bottom line is that the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is probably the safest compact car in the world. General Motors is expecting a five-star and Good rating in all categories from the NHTSA and the IIHS, respectively. The results from our two American agencies aren’t in just yet, but you can believe it will be widely publicized if it turns out like the rest of the world’s crash test programs. In Korea, China and Australia the Cruze has achieved top marks and has the status of being one of the safest cars in Europe. Basically, the Cruze may be the cure to a decade of cars from Chevrolet that didn't quite make the grade.

 

Be sure to check out all of the details of the European crash test results over at TheCarConnection.com and stay tuned right here to AllSmallCars.com for more small car news.