Chevy Cruze Hatch, Wagon Planned. Or Not.
From the moment that GM’s Next Small Thing was announced, this blogger complained that the baby ‘Bu approach made for a particularly inflexible platform. And then we heard that the Orlando seven-seater Cruze variant wouldn’t be made in America, seemingly confirming that GM doesn’t take the roomy compact trend seriously. Perhaps GM was listening to our complaints, because Automotive News [sub] reports that GM is considering hatchback and wagon versions of its new compact in order to “accommodate the ‘individuality’ of markets around the globe.” “We will have tool sets in many locations,” says Hans Demant, managing director of Opel of the Cruze strategy. “And as soon as you have a tool set, you have variation which you can create basically at no cost. You have a customer advantage if you make a little modification while you’re doing that.” Demant also reveals that the Cruze will have different powertrains from market to market. Of course, highlighting the Cruze platform’s flexibility and GM’s ability to make tweaks based on individual markets’ needs doesn’t mean any of these variants will arrive in the U.S. at any point. In the very same article, GM COO Fritz Henderson says that the Cruze “won’t have high levels of variability. Huh? “We’ve developed the vehicle to meet broad, different levels of regulations: pedestrian protection, safety, emissions, all kinds of different requirements,” says Henderson.”But other than that, the Cruze will be the Cruze.” In other words, no news here. We think.
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The Cruze will share its Delta II platform with a number of variants: Opel Astra, Opel Zafira (which will be similar to Orlando), and perhaps some other variants for South America. I always assumed a hatch version was inevitable for Western Europe, which is not fond of trunked sedans in this category. But what will (eventually) be sold here?
Many people could use a compact seven-seater. They just don't realize it yet. Who would these people be? Anyone who usually only needs two rows of seats, but could use a third from time to time. I'm in this boat myself. Unfortunately, no one is offering the vehicle I want yet. Ford's S-Max would be very nice, but a Zafira might also work if a sport version were offered.