WHEN: June 2012
HOW MUCH: Rs 12 - 14 lakhs
ENGINES: 2.0-litre, 4-cyl, diesel. 166 PS
COMPETITION: Renault Fluence, Toyota Corolla Altis, Skoda Laura
Chevrolet India is gearing up to launch a refreshed version of its popular executive sedan, the Chevrolet Cruze. The new Chevrolet Cruze has an uprated engine, some minor styling tweaks and improvements to its NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) levels.
On the styling front, the new Cruze gets a revised front bumper, front grille, fog lamps and a new chin. It's still instantly recognisable though. The front two-part grille now has a deeper, more pronounced lower section, with horizontal slats replacing the earlier honeycomb mesh. The front fog lamps have been integrated into triangular nacelles, which together with more pronounced chin give the new Cruze a much more aggressive face.
At the rear, the tail lights will do away with the round elements within the lenses, replaced by more angular designs. New look aloy wheels complete the styling changes with a flourish.
GM has also upgraded the Cruze's engine, and power now jumps from 150 PS to a lofty 166 PS. Despite the increase in power, the company has worked hard to make the Cruze more drivable. While no doubt the Cruze has always enjoyed stonking performance, the huge turbo lag meant that accessing the power was tedious, especially in traffic, with a huge surge when the turbo spools up. Chevrolet assures us that the new car is much more drivable, and that its engineers have worked hard to address this criticism. Special attention has been paid to the Cruze's NVH characteristics, with new sound deadening material being used for the bulkhead and under the floor.
New engine produces more power and is more drivable as well.
Chevrolet will launch the new Cruze in the Indian market sometime in end June or early July. Prices will be revised slightly upward, to the tune of Rs 60,000 or so. Three variants will be available, which include the Cruze LT manual, Cruze LTZ manual, and the Cruze LTZ AT, with a six-speed automatic transmission. The Cruze currently enjoys a strong position in the Executive Sedan segment, considering it is the only diesel automatic at the price (the Laura AT is much more expensive) and Chevrolet India wants to milk this to the maximum.
