Chevy Cruze 2LT Rather than take yet another kick at the compact can, GM has effectively abdicated development of their newest small car, the Chevrolet Cruze, to other divisions across the globe, most notably Opel and GM Daewoo Auto Technology Company (yes, that Daewoo). Built in 8 factories (located everywhere from Australia to Kazakhstan) and sold in over 60 countries, the Cruze has to satisfy a dizzying set of demands, serving everyone from affluent North Americans who may buy the car for their adult children, to overtaxed Europeans who will pay incredible sums for what they consider a “family car.”
The North American launch of the Chevy Cruze 2LT was delayed by about a year, but the Cruze ended up arriving here at the best possible time – the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sentra are all long in the tooth and due for a re-design. The new Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus are only now hitting dealers, and cars like the Suzuki SX4 are on the radar of almost nobody. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the Chevy Cruze 2LT has the upper hand in a segment devoid of new product – but that means that GM won’t be able to blame anyone else should the Cruze suddenly stall in the marketplace.
