If you were holding your breath for an SS version of Chevrolet Cruze, well, you can stop now and resume normal respiration. Chevrolet marketing chief Jim Campbell told Jalopnik that there won’t be a 2011 Cruze SS, or one added later on in the model cycle, despite rumors of the top-of-the-line Cruze having fans inside GM’s offices.
The news isn’t all that bad, since the announcement saves U.S. buyers from the wrath of the Singapore-market Cruze SS (pictured), a vehicle that offers colored stripes and a body kit that seems to be ripped straight off a riced-out Cavalier. At the end of the day, the closest thing to a Cruze SS is the Cruze RS – a vehicle with nothing more than a fancy body kit, bigger wheels, and with nary a performance modification in sight.
The thing that gets our collective mouths watering, however, is the competition: if Ford builds a Focus with an EcoBoost motor, then Chevy might be tempted to react in a competitive manner by putting its effort behind a quicker Cruze competitor. Ford has already announced that a high-performance Focus will debut at the Paris Motor Show and that the model is headed to the U.S.
Chevrolet, the ball is now officially in your court.
[Source: Jalopnik]
Comments
GM needs a car like the cruze to get the corporate MPG up so they can sell trucks and SUVs where the money is to be made and a hopped up cruze with more HP will only lower the MPG average.
That’s true, but how about finding a way to actually money on cars like the Cruze, Malibu, etc? I think the Cruze will be a tremendous profit center for GM as it is, since it’s The General’s first truly global product, which – in the long term – decreases engineering and production costs. And check this out: Ford sells more F150s than Chevy does Silverados, but still somehow finds a way to offer a Focus with all wheel drive (optional) and a suped-up model! If Ford can do it, so can GM (and hopefully better).
Ford some years sells more F150 than Silverados, but rarely sells more than Silverados and GMC Sierras (same truck, different names). For some reason GM does this to keeps it’s greater truck sales innocuous. I agree GM needs to sell a beefed up version of the Cruze in a coupe model. GM moves into markets in phases. For years GM offered the Cavalier ( a lame small car). The Cobalt was the 1st phase of GM’s move to seriously compete in the small car market. The Cruze is the car that will provide the reliability, styling and performance to make GM a strong competitor in the small car market.
Until Chevrolet embraces the world car and follows Ford (I know it hurts to hear that) they will continue to lag. The cars and trucks continue to be dated, offer no utility, do not embrace the current world racing mentality (SS it not it, WRX /RX is). Ditch the huge Bowtie, bring on the hatches and market to the world, not just the slow moving…..
umm their trucks are dated cause they’re like 8 years old. but they are still selling in massive numbers. even though the competition has redone thier trucks within the same time period and are planning on doing it again at the the same time as gm does. and ss is a badge that has come to be revered and only chevy can ofer a true ss just like only chrysler can offer an srt.