The first generation Chevrolet Cruze was a breakthrough. It was the first truly global product for the American brand, being sold in not only America but also Europe, China, Korea, Australia (okay, under the name of Holden) and many other places. GM set an ambitious sales target of 1 million units annually. It didn’t quite meet that target, but it managed a respectable 700,000 units at its peak and eventually more than 3 million copies over its lifespan. Having tasted the first success, GM wants to go a step further with the second generation. Although Chevrolet is no longer marketed in Europe, the growth in China and Americas could easily absorb the losses, thus the new Cruze has potential to better its predecessor. This time around, GM upgraded its effort by reshuffling its development task. While the Mk1 was developed by GM Daewoo in South Korea, the Mk2 has most of its engineering work led by its European operation, i.e. Opel, in Germany. GM never said so openly (the official tag line is always “developed by GM’s global R&D team”), but in an engineering seminar taken place in Germany 2 years ago, the engineering details of the new car was revealed, and it was known the high-strength steel chassis was developed in Germany. No wonder the car was caught testing many times at Nurburgring.

However, the styling and packaging of the car are likely to be responsible by the design and engineering staffs of local divisions. Take the American version for example, its bold, Malibu-style front end can be designed by only American, isn't it? Meanwhile, the more civilized look of the Chinese version pictured below is more likely to come from the Shanghai studio (alright, purely my guess). Both cars share the same sleek profile which achieves a good Cd of 0.29. The Chinese car has a shorter, 2662 mm wheelbase against the American car’s 2700 mm. Thanks to the longer wheelbase, the American car is claimed to offer 50 mm more rear knee room than the last generation.


Regardless of version, the Cruze is built upon the Opel-designed D2XX platform, which also serves the latest Opel Astra. 72 percent of its monocoque body is made of high-strength steel, compared with 58 percent of the old car or 53 percent of the latest Hyundai Elantra. Besides, another 3 percent is aluminum content. The rigidity of body-in-white is increased by 27 percent, while weight is down by 52 kg. Meanwhile, equal effort has been spent to trim weight from other major components. For example, the new 6-speed automatic transmission is 11 kg lighter than before, while the all-alloy 1.4 turbo engine is 20 kg lighter than its iron-block predecessor. Overall, the whole car is said to be 113 kg lighter.

Having said that, the Chevy is still 100 kg or so heavier than its European cousin. Why? Because it has more weight spent to the sedan boot as well as more sound deadening materials. While the Astra is not quite the most refined European hatchback, the American Cruze is probably the quietest compact you can buy in America, more so than the new Honda Civic. The Chinese version isn’t as good in this respect because it was hurried to the market in early 2015. The American version wisely spent an extra year to improve its NVH suppression and ride composure, which is evident in the real world driving.