No, you aren’t seeing things this morning. Chevrolet announced late Wednesday night a five-door version of their staple compact Cruze will be heading to Detroit for the 2016 North American International Auto Show — and they published some photos to prove it.
The first-generation Cruze, while available as a hatchback in other markets, was never marketed as a five-door in North America. The addition of a the new hatchback looks to fix that for the Cruze’s second generation.
As a current owner of the long-forgotten Saturn Astra, this intrigues me.
It was thought that General Motors might fill the compact hatchback-sized hole in its lineup with a Buick rebadge of the Opel Astra. In China, the tri-shield is enticing; in America, not so much (unless there’s a $3,000 on-the-hood cash incentive). So, General Motors decided against bringing its Chinese-rebadge Buick Verano GS stateside and we’ll be seeing the Cruze hatchback on our shores instead.
The five-door Cruze will swallow 18.5 cubic feet of whatever your heart desires if you bring a few friends along, or up to 42 cubic feet of cargo if you plan to drop the rear seats and run errands solo. It sits on the same 106.3-inch wheelbase as its sedan counterpart, making the space between the axles slightly greater than that of its Opel/Vauxhall Astra cousin across the pond.
When it goes on sale this fall, the Cruze hatchback will only be available in LT and Premier trims. For comparison, the Cruze sedan is also available in more basic L and LS trims. Adding the RS package means your Cruze hatchback will look like the one pictured here.
Powering the Cruze will be the same start/stop-capable 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine fitted to the sedan, producing 153 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 177 lbs-ft of torque between 2,000 and 4,000 rpm. GM expects to achieve 40 mpg on the highway with the four-door Cruze, so expect a similar claim for the hatchback.
And, as with every GM vehicle these days, the Cruze hatchback will be available with Chevrolet MyLink (and associated Apple CarPlay and Android Auto); 4G LTE (and its incredible data fees) with WiFi; a full suite of safety technology including lane keep assist, rear cross traffic alert, side blind zone alert and rear park assist; and heated surfaces everywhere.
We’ll learn more about the Cruze hatchback at the Detroit show next week.
Hecho en Mexico!
Ole’!
“Cruze Hatchback to be made in Mexico
Lordstown plant will continue to build sedan
Thursday, January 7, 2016
By Kalea Hall
[email protected]”
http://ltf1090.tam.us.siteprotect.com/news/2016/jan/07/chevy-cruze-hatchback-to-be-built-in-mex/?print
Between Mexican Silverados & Cruze Hatchbacks, Chinese made Buick Envasions, and a metric ton load of other Mexican and Chinese-part-sourced vehicles, General Motors and Chevrolet are the Heartbeat of American Wal-Mart Parking Lots, finally!
See the USA in your Mexican Chevrolets!
You forgot to say “FIRST!”
Sorry, “PRIMERO!”
Donde es el Chevy Cruze hatchback fábrica ubicada?
¿Dónde está ubicada la fábrica del Chevrolet Cruze 5 puertas?
Hey now. My Cavalier, yes Cavalier (I imagine you fainting at this point, DW), was mostly made in Mexico and is still the most reliable car I’ve ever owned. Reached 200K with only one major repair before I sold it. I still see it driving around here from time to time.
Point is, the Mexicans can make good stuff… lmao
Aren’t HEMI engines Hecho en Mexico?
Looks like Chevy has started a Ford Focus production line at an Oldsmobile plant somewhere near Juarez.
The problem of course being it does not share good looks with the chunky Cruze, but rather looks straight up Kia.
http://auto-database.com/image/kia-rio-pics-14565.jpg
I think the Rio and Forte look phenomenal, so I’d take that as a compliment if I were GM’s styling department.
I think the Forte Koup is okay, and I do like the Elantra GT. And I liked the i30 before the Elantra GT. The Rio, not so much.
Overall it’s not awful, just not quite as good looking as the sedan. And pales in comparison to the Mazda 3 hatch.
The Forte in its variations are OK; this is better looking than the Forte hatch and about the same as the i30, but not as good looking as the Euro cee’d in Pro_cee’d form.
The front end could use some small changes (and maybe the taillights), but overall, a pretty handsome looking hatch.
I’d say 90% Kia and 10% Subaru, though that might be the color messing with me. Either way, GM found a way again to make something that I love in theory into something I don’t in reality. But at least the hatch is an option now, I guess.
I want to not like it. Something about the rear three quarters view makes me think of a Fit, which isn’t a good thing IMO. But the resemblance to the Forte/Elantra is a good thing, because those are some decent looking little hatches. If it feels as substantial as the sedan I’ll call it a job well done.
But even with my not insubstantial love for hatches, I can’t find room in my heart for the Mazda 3. Everything just looks and feels so…brittle.
Future President Donald Trump warned us about this…
Hey, you guys wanted NAFTA. It’s benefited you immensely. Sorry you’ve finally started to feel the downsides of it.
Gotta love the US. Rah rah capitalism and free trade, except when it creates inconvenient situations.
Since the color matches his ‘hair’ – I expect the Donald will predict this will be a YUUUGE hit for GM.
Did I write ‘hair’? I meant make-up.
Hahah, I hate yuuuuge.
I thought for the longest time it was a Yiddish accent type thing that only Jewish people did. But then I realized it was a very unique New York accent thing, and the people I heard do it just happened to be Jewish and from New York(comedians).
In the future, all subcompacts and most compact sedans/hatches will be built in Mexico.
GM can’t keep building them in the US when all the competition is building them or planning on building them in Mexico.
Ok folks all of you who said over the years if the cruze was only a hatchback I would buy one get your order in ASAP. I am not sure offering it only in the higher trims is a smart idea but give them credit for bringing it here. The cruze is a pretty decent car from the rentals that I have driven.
I said this five years ago when I was shopping for a reliable, boring commuter. Key words, five years ago.
I don’t see how it has 18 cubic feet in the back. The overhang looks far shorter than in the sedan, and the sloping rear window looks like it would cut off any space above the setback.
To be fair I saíd wagon, not hatch. The short overhang of the hatch makes it too small on the cargo department for me. I do hope they sell though.
By only making the hatch available on the higher trim levels, GM is just repeating the strategy that made the Cruze Diesel such a perennial best seller. Because if there’s one thing Chevy buyers love in their economy cars, it’s having the highest possible trim level.
I said I’d buy a new Mazda3 if they brought over a manual top-trim 2.5L hatchback, and they did, so I went and did it. Cant promise to buy any more cars for a few years.
Lift it 3″. Cheap HR-V.
Technically they already have: the Chevy Trax.
Trax has a taller and more useable rear roof/cargo area. This thing is as stylistically stupid as an HR-V.
Except the Trax is worse in every other way than the HR-V (and most of its competition).
I wonder what the long term quality is like. We’re blown away by the quality of the Astra. I’ve always assumed it was because it wasn’t a domestic market vehicle.
From the 2nd and 3rd photos, I thought that it was an Elantra Hatch with a Chev bowtie.
Priced right, it will probably sell quite well in Quebec.
If it’s available with a manual I’m interested. And hopefully it’s just in time for my planned new car shopping this fall.
I bet not since it has that stupid start/stop feature. Agreed, manual would make it more enticing however.
…and a Super Sport package would be especially nice.
Wow, this came out of left field for me.
If it’s available with a stick, this is on my shopping list too — the rental Cruzes I’ve driven were quite competent, well-screwed-together cars.
This is way better looking than the new Cruze sedan.
Jeez does Ford now sell excess capacity to GM? That looks terrible.
They’re really going after the ricer crowd.
I think it looks fine, a little over designed, but at first glance I thought this was a joke because it was clearly a picture of the Focus hatch with a bowtie on the front.
As someone who hasn’t liked Chevy’s recent designs – (how many grills are they up to now – 3? 4? 5? per car) – I like this a lot. However, the trend of offering hatchbacks only in upscale trim is perplexing. Why take an unpopular body style and make it more undesirable? If the price ends up being similar to a midsize car, what is the point -especially now that midsize cars offer about the same fuel efficiency.
I can’t see how people buy small cars that are not hatchbacks. They never have to haul anything? They all pickup trucks as a second car? I just hope this is a growing trend so that in 5 years or so when I’m car shopping again, I’ll have more choices.
I hear ya, but since hatchbacks now get all their utility squashed out of the roofline, what’s the point?
@Fred,
Generally its because people don’t want to be seen driving a hatch (or wagon), utility be damned.
Also yes, statistically a large number of multi-car households will have either a pickup truck, minivan, or crossover as one of their other vehicles. Also most folks are content to pay for delivery when something needs to be hauled. And if all else fails, F150s and Silverados are the top selling vehicles in the US. Someone you know has one. So does U-Haul.
@DeeDub,
That’s why station wagons are so much better! That said a hatch is still more useful than a sedan even if the roofline sucks the space away.
Ever since I got my first owned car 89 Civic Si hatchback, I have always preferred the hatchback design over the sedan design for its versatility. Bigger and more flexible storage, better rear view in the rain with the wiper and “end of car” awareness. I think this looks better in this guise than the sedan but that’s an aesthetic comment reflecting my personal opinion.
I love station wagons and I miss my b-body wagons. Wagons imply something more specific than a hatch, they imply that the body length doesn’t change and that the roofline is extended all the way to the rear of the vehicle. Hatchbacks are often shortened and have plunging rooflines. I would always choose station wagon over any other body style. Hell the Suburban I’m interested in is basically a Silverado station wagon.
EDIT: Wikipedia has a good diagram illustrating the difference
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hatch_and_wagon_with_pillar_layout.jpg
Fun exercise: compare this 5-door Cruze hatch to the 5-door hatch named Volt.
I would guess the Cruze diesel won’t be offered in this body.
I would think otherwise. There’s a large cross section between diesel people and hatch people. What’s the sedan/wagon breakdown on TDI sales? Its probably worth GM’s effort to offer the diesel here.
Dang it…guess my letter to Mark Reuss last year asking/inquiring about a Cruze WAGON didn’t resonate (he did reply, which I guess is something). And a shame that GM continues to outsource more and more of its production away from the USA (to be fair, Ford and Chrysler aren’t much better). Of course, come July 4, they’ll trot out the flags and “Heartbeat of America” type adverts all over again.
Looks like a Kia or a Focus. Looks pretty good.
You can’t have too many hatchbacks. I hope they do well with it and that it encourages more mfgs to offer compact hatches rather than just subcompact.
Nice. Now do a coupe and drop the lesser Chevrolets as they demean the bowtie.
Make Cruze the one stop small car shop.
Sounds like someone went to the good idea party last night!
I didn’t see you there.
OH SNAP.
You get one of those.
Ya just cashed in!
Is this Elantra GT?
I’ve never felt guilty of having bought my last 3 US built
Toyotas, much less after reading this.
I’d rather have the wagon over here instead, but at least having a hatch as an option is nice. Especially after my current Cruze lease is up in 24 months, might make staying with Chevy an easier choice. Though I strongly doubt I’ll get the same kind of cheap lease in two years that I have now, but usually brand loyalty is worth something. We’ll see how the next 2 years go.
Hopefully this is more fully realized than the last half-assed Astra we got here, the Saturn Astra. Hardly Americanized and tacked on to a dying brand, we wonder where the hatchback stigma comes from.
Handsome, but man the sloped rear glass and truncated trunk really do a number on the cargo area.
You guys forget that Americans don’t like wagons any more, will they go for an affordable, family sized one? Doubt it.
Hatchback not wagon, friend.
Hatchbacks should be at least as long as the sedan they are based on. The Focus is a foot or so shorter overall than the sedan. This doesn’t look any different than what Ford does with the Focus.
I like it, but only one engine option? Laaaame.
“Powering the Cruze will be the same start/stop-capable 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine fitted to the sedan, producing 153 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 177 lbs-ft of torque between 2,000 and 4,000 rpm.”
The same engine? Looking at GM Canada’s site, the 1.4L turbo puts out 138 hp and 148 lb-ft of grunt.
New Cruze gets a new 1.4L.
The Cruze is so sloooow. Not enough powah!
Bud Lindemann voice: “The Cruze hit the weight room and came out several hundred pounds lighter than the old pudgy model. Throttle response is adequate, though we would have liked to see a little more at the top end.”
So I was right; the 5-door crossover (or hatchback) is nothing but a modern station wagon.
No. The U.S. market doesn’t get many modern station wagons. Cast thine eyes towards Europe and you’ll see a modern station wagon and it won’t be a hatchback or CUV.
Station wagon is automatically a hatchback nowadays. What we Americans used to call ‘hatchbacks’ are now called ‘liftbacks’ elsewhere.
The new Cruze sedan was one of the cars that surprised me most at the LA Auto Show. I think the hatch version looks very nice. I think this will steal sales from the Mazda3 hatch…now someone looking for a hatch can just to their Chevy store instead of trying to find a few-and-far-between Mazda store.
Scion iM will be affected by this more than the Mazda.
I’m waiting for the photos of the lower spec LS and LT models with plastic wheel covers; there’s probably less chrome and the rear bumper design features are probably more restrained on the lower spec models, which is more to my liking.
Finally, the bowtie division makes good on the hatchback promise. The fact that its assembled in Meh ico gives me pause – will the fit and finish/ quality be on par with a U.S. car? I hope so. This could possibly be a replacement for my HHR panel. The big test for me is: does my bike fit in the back? It does in the HHR. Barely, but it does. That sloped rear window makes me doubt it.
Depends how much you expect to disassemble between rides. Front wheel and saddle off will fit in most cars with fold down rear seats. I even fit a mountain bike in the back seat of an Impreza sedan once by popping both wheels off. It isn’t worth the hassle, though. Hitch mount with a platform rack is by far the best way to go. I have this setup on my FR-S and my 4Runner. It is so nice to get to the trailhead and immediately ride instead of spending 10 minutes getting everything back together and adjusted for the ride. My mountain bikes are Lefty equipped, so it isn’t as simple as a QR.
“It is so nice to get to the trailhead and immediately ride instead of spending 10 minutes getting everything back together and adjusted for the ride.”
+1
I use to disassemble my and my kids bikes to put in the back of an MDX. So much better with a rack and as a bonus you regain use of the cargo area.
Looks sharp, and completely Korean in design.
If you want an American car these days, buy a Toyota or Honda.
… I’m pretty sure that’s a Ford Focus.