Rep Power: 594

New Chevrolet Cruzes will roll out of the assembly line in September, with hopes of drawing the attention of younger drivers and emerge as a major player in the compact market dominated by Honda and Toyota.

The American company had long been struggling to build a steadily profitable line of compacts. Its Corvair and Vega were both safety and design disasters. Customers were more enticed with Corollas and Civic than Chevys. None of its small cars got the Recommended Buy rating from Consumer Reports’ April issue. Cruze’s predecessor, the Chevy Cobalt, sold only 105,000 units in the U.S. last year. In contrast to Japanese car makers Toyota and Honda, both of which drew more than 20 percent of its total auto sales from its compacts, GM only had an 8 percent share.

Furthermore, GM execs dismiss the compact line as an unwise investment due to their cheap prices compared to their expensive manufacturing cost, which is also the reason why its compact offerings, as one reporter observed, are compromised because of GM’s tight control costs.

“They really haven’t spent any time or money on these vehicles,” said Mr. David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports’ auto testing department.

Although GM may be lagging behind the compact race, particularly missing the industry boom last decade, the competition is far from over. Demand for compact and subcompacts in the U.S. is increasing phenomenally, from 21 percent in 2005 to 33 percent this year, and much bigger demand is expected from international market.

Early Cruze prototypes had issues of its own, and poor showroom performance resulted in delaying the production from April to August. Noisy tires, constantly shifting transmission, and lag between gas step and the turbocharger were among the major culprits of the delay.

According to Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, all the problems had been fixed. The former head of engineering assured that the transmission was redone, the turbocharger lag was resolved, so as the transmission. He also added that an Eco version of Cruze will be available, and expected to run for 40 miles in one gallon.

However, many consumers are still skeptical about considering Chevy’s compacts. Previous offerings were often overlooked due to their outdated looks and mediocre performance.

Nonetheless, GM engineers are working hard to improve Cruze’s quality. Pitted against other models during one test ride, Cruze actually proved quieter and the handling seemed to fare better. A reviewer from Consumer Reports was also impressed with the car, from it looks down to its handling and performance.

A base Cruze will retail around $17,000, slightly more than those similar offerings from other companies. GM said that the price premium justifies Cruze’s additional standard features not commonly found in other compacts.

Mr. Tom Stephens, the Head of Product Development of GM said, the construction of the Cruze is better than that of Corolla or Civic.

“They’ve got quite a gap that they’ve got to close just to be competitive, let alone get ahead,” said Mr. Stephens.



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