Voila! Lordstown Cruze debuts in Paris

Chevy Cruze Unveiled in Europe

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Chevrolet unveiled its new Cruze to the press Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at the Paris Auto Show. Expected to get close to 40 miles-per-gallon, the Cruze hits the European market in March. Production for U.S. sales will begin in 2010.

By Don Shilling

Other Chevrolet models will have styling similar to that of the Cruze.

Now the rest of the world gets to see Lordstown’s next car.

General Motors unveiled the Chevrolet Cruze to the worldwide automotive press Wednesday at the Paris Auto Show.

“Chevrolet is raising the bar and doing it where it matters most — the value segment,” Ed Welburn, GM vice president of global design, told about 350 journalists. The presentation was shown in an online webcast.

When a door went up and a red Cruze was driven out, it was the first appearance of a production model of the car, which is coming to GM’s Lordstown complex in 2010.

GM officials have shown pre-production models recently at events in Lordstown and Detroit. Those models didn’t have usable interiors, however. Wednesday’s events included the first official release of photos of the car’s seats and dashboard.

Welburn said the Cruze will use high-quality components and trim for the interior. On the exterior, GM is striving for tight panel alignments and a solid structure that is expected to obtain maximum crash-safety ratings, he said.

The Cruze will feature two options on four-cylinder gasoline engines — a 1.6-liter engine with 112 horsepower and a 1.8-liter engine with 140 horsepower. It also will have a two-liter diesel engine with a turbocharger that will produce 150 horsepower. A diesel engine with 125 horsepower is to be introduced later.

All future Chevrolet models will follow the same styling cues as the Cruze, Welburn said.

He pointed to the Cruze’s arched roof, sloped windshield and wide-mouthed grille.

GM said the sloping rear pillars and short deck on the trunk give coupelike proportions to the sedan.

As an example of this consistent styling, GM also unveiled the Orlando, a seven-seat crossover vehicle that it will be showing at auto shows. The company hasn’t committed to building the Orlando but said it is designed to be built on the same underbody platform as the Cruze.

The Orlando features Cruze-inspired headlights, which creep up along the side of the vehicle, and a similar grille.

GM also unveiled the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car that is to be sold in the U.S. by the end of 2010. It will be built in Michigan.

Fritz Henderson, GM president and chief operating officer, said the Cruze will be GM’s first global car. It was developed by design teams in Europe and Asia.

The Cruze will be sold first in Europe, arriving at dealers there next March. It is to be built at several locations around the world.

The Lordstown complex, which has about 4,300 hourly workers, now produces the Chevrolet Cobalt but will begin making the Cruze in the summer of 2010.

as a 2011 model. GM recently added a third shift to the complex to boost car production.

shilling@vindy.com