Cruze comes home

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

The next-generation Chevrolet Cruze is coming home.

The new model, a sleek, light and larger version of the current model, will be on display for employees, media and others Thursday at the Lordstown plant.

Coming with the Cruze are Martin Hayes, chief engineer on the next-generation Cruze, and Sam Coomes, Cruze U.S. marketing manager.

The Lordstown complex joint leadership team, Ken Lortz, director of the United Auto Workers Region 8, and Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill also will be in attendance.

Leaders of the UAW Local 1112 and UAW Local 1714 have expressed how the local reveal will be a celebration for the about 4,500 General Motors Lordstown plant workers who have built the Cruze for the past five years. More than 1 million Cruzes have been built at the plant.

The next-generation Cruze made its global debut June 24 in Detroit where GM CEO Mary Barra compared the car to a “Mercedes Benz C-class at half the price.”

It comes with advanced smartphone integration and crash-avoiding features such as rear cross-traffic alert.

It has a larger, yet lighter, structure that is 27 percent more rigid than today’s car and is 250 pounds lighter. It gets 40 miles per gallon highway, while its predecessor gets 35.

The new Cruze will hit showrooms next year, and it is expected to build off the momentum of the current Cruze – GM’s best-selling car with more than 3.5 million sales globally.