Your Tax Dollars at Work: The Volt as a Halo Model to the Cruze

In the 1960s, customers who could only dream of owning a Corvette often left their local Chevy dealers with the keys to a new Impala or Bel-Air. Now, it seems the same thing is happening with the Chevy Volt don’t-call-it-a-hybrid and the Cruze small car.

Year-to-date sales are up some 32% across the range, though only 567 of the 80,000 plus cars the Detroit automaker sold in June were Volts. The remainder were cars like the Cruze, which has earned the crown of Chevy’s biggest seller.

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New Study Finds that Chinese Buyers Prefer European over Local Brands

Car buyers’ preferences in China are shifting towards European models and away from domestic and even Japanese vehicles, according to a new study published today by JD Power Asia Pacific. This is the third year that the study takes place.

The latest edition included 65 brands and 161 separate models in nine segments and is based on responses from 4,979 potential buyers of new-vehicles located in 53 cities.

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GM Rumored to Offer Chevy Cruze with a 50mpg Diesel in the USA

Citing two unnamed people that were briefed earlier this week on GM’s future product plans, the Detroit Free Press reported today that the company is mulling the addition of a diesel engine to the Chevrolet Cruze’s range.

According to the insiders, a diesel version of the Cruze would return a highway fuel economy of around 50mpg rivaling the efficiency of the Toyota Prius hybrid which is rated at 51 mpg (4.6 lt/100 km) in the city and 48mpg (4.9 lt/100 km) on the highway. A diesel Cruze would also help GM meet the more demanding government gas mileage rules.

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GM’s Holden Readies Rebadged Chevys for 2011 Melbourne Auto Show

It’s a global economy we live in and as such, it doesn’t come to much of a surprise when we see the same vehicles launched under different brands and names in various parts of the world.

Of course, it would be somewhat unfair to Holden if we didn’t mention that it has played a key role in the development and design of several GM products including the 5-door Cruze that will be show in pre-production trim at the 2011 Australian International Motor Show (AIMS), which takes place in Melbourne from July to 10.

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First Drive: 2011 Holden Cruze Series II SRI-V

Appearing soon after General Motors announced its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the Cruze – which launched in Oz almost two years ago– aims to appeal to buyers that would normally not buy a Holden. Its key competitors in the Australian market are the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and the (European) Ford Focus.

With the recent launch of the Aussie-built Cruze Series II, we thought it was about time we tackled GM’s “game changing” small car. The 1.4 L turbo is said to be the cherry on top of the Cruze cake, and the perfect target for a review. The question is: can it live up to the hype? Read on…

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Chevrolet Improves 2012 Cruze’s Fuel Economy by 2MPG and Adds New Standard Features

General Motors is releasing a model year update for its Cruze compact sedan. There are no styling changes as the company focused its attention on improving the car’s fuel economy and equipment features.

Thanks to a lower axle ratio for the 2012 models equipped with a six speed automatic transmission, the standard Cruze with the 138HP 1.4-liter turbocharged engine returns 38 mpg compared with 36 mpg for the current model, while the Cruze Eco with the same powetrain setup delivers 39 mpg instead of 37 mpg.

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