Workers glimpse GM’s Chevy Cruze

Photo

Chevrolet Cruze

By Don Shilling

GM showed a photo of the Cruze to employees during a TV presentation.

Workers caught a brief glimpse of the car coming to the Lordstown plant, but General Motors still is keeping the Chevrolet Cruze under wraps.

Rick Wagoner, GM chief executive, showed a photo of the car during a presentation Tuesday that was transmitted to GM workers all over the country. It was the first time GM had shown the car.

Chris Lee, a GM spokesman, said Wednesday, however, that no photos of the car are being distributed to the press. The Vindicator, however, obtained a shot of the car that WFMJ Channel 21 pulled from Wagoner’s broadcast.

GM announced last week that the Cruze will be unveiled for the first time at a car show in Paris in October. The car is to be launched from the Lordstown complex in 2010, although it also will be produced elsewhere for markets outside North America. The local plant now produces the Chevrolet Cobalt.

Nancy Libby, a Chevrolet spokeswoman, said no details have been released on when the Cruze would be shown in the U.S.

So far, the public has only seen the Cruze through spy photos that have been taken by freelance photographers as the car has been tested in Europe and the U.S. These photos show a car that is disguised in black tape or with leather wraps. The car looks similar to the Cobalt, although industry observers call the Cruze’s design more aggressive.

The Cruze has received a lot of attention in the trade press and in newspapers.

Scott Burgess, a columnist for The Detroit News, wrote Wednesday that GM needs the Cruze to be as much of a success as its redesigned Chevrolet Malibu.

“If Chevy doesn’t hit the Cruze out of the park, call the paramedics,” he wrote.

He noted that the Cruze promises success because GM is powering the car with a new 1.4-liter, turbocharged engine that is to have fuel efficiency of 45 mpg.

Car enthusiasts have been closely following developments on the Cruze. Automotive Web sites have been running spy photos as they become available, and discussion boards are filled with comments about GM’s decision to use Cruze as the name of its small Chevrolet.

One post on Motor Trend’s Web site said this about the new name: “Stupid name. First of all, I hate deliberate misspellings. [What] is a ‘cruze’? Secondly, Chrysler has the PT Cruiser. The names are too close. Why not call it the Challenge? Or the Charge?”

Another post says: “Cruze is a better name. Like it or not, the Cobalt got just about as much respect as the Cavalier did and should be killed for the same reasons.”

Another has a suggestion for a high-performance version of the Lordstown car, now called the Cobalt SS: “I guess the SS will be nicknamed the ‘Cruze Missile.’”

shilling@vindy.com