The GM brass have merely shrugged off the thought of a Chevrolet Cruze hatch, wagon, and coupe here in the United States. Despite this, Honda offers variants of the Civic, Volkswagen the Jetta/Golf, Ford the Focus, Kia the Forte, and Hyundai will soon offer variants of the Elantra.
So, why the reluctance? Money. As usual. GM figures that if it can keep tooling costs down in American plants such as the Lordstown plant where the North American-market Cruze is made today, the company can keep its profits up. According to Automotive News, GM CEO Dan Akerson and CFO Dan Ammann have outlined a goal of increasing global profit margins to 10 percent within the next several years, compared to 6 percent last year. They argue that adding tooling to U.S. assembly plants necessary to build a Cruze wagon/hatch/coupe would add costs and therefore cut into profits.
Sounds like they’re being cheap to us. Despite this, the Cruze remains one of the best-selling cars in the segment, without any variation of body type. At least the diesel-powered Cruze Eco-D is coming. If you want something outside of a sedan body style, there’s pretty much everything but the Cruze. But if you want a more athletic domestic compact than what is seen in the Cruze, there’s the upcoming Ford Focus ST as well as the Dodge Dart RT. And whatever happened to targeting the Millennial/under 35 demographic who share minimal animosity towards wagons and can’t quite afford/don’t want a crossover?
Comments
What a lame excuse
Lame indeed. But, “whatever happened to targeting the Millennial/under 35 demographic who share minimal animosity towards wagons and can’t quite afford/don’t want a crossover?” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the demand for the vehicle(s) in the US.
It’s good that GM wants to bolster the ledger to improve its financial footing, that’s the first order of business…but if by the second generation of the Cruze we don’t see more than the sedan variant in the US then it will be a missed opportunity rather than a wasteful expenditure. Gas prices will continue to rise (yes there is a large seasonal fluctuation, but the year to year trend continues to go up) and part of GMs success now is that it is prepared to deal with this. Last time gas prices shot up, GM was left with a lineup of gas-guzzling vehicles and nothing good or even competitive for the thrifty driver.
But maybe I’m being too optimistic – if gas prices rise high enough to choke the weak recovery we’re in, then demand will be even further depressed – which must be the calculation GM is making. If US auto sales had robust growth we might already see these cars here, but it looks like their best bet based on their projections is that we won’t have strong growth and the threshold for sales of those cars to overcome the additional costs of building them won’t be met. So that’s kind of depressing…but at least GM can strap in and inch towards that 10% profit margin in the meantime (just make it worth our while with product in the next decade).
Well it’s a shame Variants of the Cruze won’t be coming to the States or made here.
I sure was looking forward to the hatchback but not interested in the Cruze sedan.
The wagon actually doesn’t look that bad!
But maybe there planning on another car that will be a small coupe or even a hatch or wagon version as another reason they are not coming here.
Who knows…?
But I won’t care if they come out with either of the new Concepts.Right Now I’d buy either one of them as gas prices are rising and rising and a Sonic or Spark just won’t do it for me! And that Poll is pretty close for either one!
What is GM’s problem? Really, they won’t bring anything good here and then give us lame excuses and basically insult our intelligence.
When Saturn was around they offered a compact car in coupe (SC) Sedan (SL)
and wagon (SW)
GM is so late the game on this one, that it might just be too late for Gen I, but as I continue to say, it’s a mistake to not offer the OPTION of a wagon or HB. You just can’t be the utility and efficiency of these small cars with big cargo capabilities. My Saab 9-2X Aero WAGON (Subaru WRX) has a top speed of 140 mph, 62 cubic ft of cargo space with seats down and can corner with any BMW…oh and it’s AWD.
And where are Saab and Saturn these days????
I bet you already know this but I am going to say it anyway since you are asking. In my opinion GM killed Saturn off because of bad management. As far as Saab goes they sold it off with no intention of helping it survive.
Who cares? My “Saab” was built in Japan by Subaru.
It would be so easy for the Cruze Hatch, as there is a lot wrong with the Ford Focus that isn’t easily changed, and a lot of Americans lwant to buy American. Then when we consider the GM entries (Encore/Sonic) and find that they botched a simple but important design element through carelessness, it’s truly sickening. Many of the Asian cars don’t fit even moderately tall (6 ‘ 00”) Americans very well, and the German makes are rip offs after the purchase. So if you don’t like sedans the pickings even if one is willing to go foreign are pretty sparse.
SAAB and Saturn are gone and like stated above, bad management. And in reality, Saturn should have been gone years ago and Oldsmobile should have been restructured like Cadillac. But, fast forward through all of GM’s bad years to now, and they are definitely headed in the right direction. Unfortunately, they are starting to make small mistakes that’s going to hurt them. Not allowing optional variants of the Cruze is a mistake. What GM needs to understand is it’s called an “OPTION” for a reason. People will pay money for it if they want it with no stress to GM.
Certainly don’t expect to ever see a Cruze wagon here, but hatch? Maybe? I’m sure GM is watching the Focus 5 door very closely. If it gets some momentum, then maybe we get it? Probably will take forever to actually materialize if it ever does come.
I CAN GO AND GET A FORD IF I HAVE TO,I WOULD LIKE A GM CAR BUT IF IT IS NOT HERE WELL WE BYE WHAT IS HERE,SORRY GM,HI FORD
Good luck with your Ford Robert. Maybe Ford will add an Eco Boost engine in it for you and tell you they are the originators of taking a smaller engine and force feeding it to make V-6 or V-8 power. Ford is lame and so is their gaudy styling!!
Funny because while they want to keep profits up, buyers like me won’t buy this Cruze because it doesn’t come in a 4 door hatch version. Label this under Fail
Speaking as a millennial, I can say that GM is making a mistake by not offering a wagon or hatch version of the Cruze. Although it might not be a huge seller among its bread-and-butter market of Midwestern middle-aged men, it would do well with younger buyers. People that say Americans aren’t interested in buying station wagons have clearly never been near a Subaru dealership in Colorado or Utah or anywhere else in the Rocky Mountain region. Audi and VW seem to do strong sales in this area as well. I probably would not buy a Cruze sedan, but would definitely have interest in a wagon version, or even a hatch. GM’s strategy that anyone interested in a non-sedan can be upsold to an Equinox is not one that I am sure is a winning one.
Agree completely. Huge Subaru fan here and GM has NOTHING to compete. Anybody within GM that thinks an Equinox is going to be cross-shopped by a die-hard Subaru fan should be fired.
I admit that I would look at the Cruze diesel numbers before jumping into something like an Elantra GT. My preference is a car that offers more utility than a sedan. That would be a hatch .GM’s job is to make a profit. As long as Cruze numbers look good, losing a few customers that want a compact hatch won’t hurt. But, If Chrysler does a nice hatch and Elantra GT is a hit, hopefully GM will respond. I would kind of like to see GM lose enough compact market share so they will offer more than just a sedan.
If they had built the hatchback first, they wouldn’t have to retool. Didn’t GM learn anything from Saab?
damn bean counters
I too like the others above feel that GM is missing the sales by not having a wagon/hatch model in the Cruze. I’m a member of the Ford Social network and own both Chevy and Ford Models. I’m holding on to a ’05 Malibu Maxx that is used on our horse farm. What Ford and GM don’t realize is that Wagon customers aren’t likely at all to be a SUV or Crossover customers. I’m pushing all my contacts at Ford to consider the Focus Wagon that is sold in the UK. Guess what? They are listening. They don’t say yes or no. I feel the wagon variant will be coming.
As a current owner of a 2011 chev cruze and loyal GM customer for the past 40 years, I am looking at purchasing a non GM vehicle for the first time as I cannot wait any longer for GM to make up its mind as to bring a 2014-15 cruze hatchback or wagon to Canada.
The only models that I like are the 2013 chev trax and buick encore
Lee Iacocca of both Ford & Chrysler fame once commented at a lecture I attended that he pushed his people into mistakes. What he was getting at was a person can try and make things risk free, but then the market changed and you lost business. Vehicles like station wagons and 5-door always sale. The other automakers offer wagons and hatch backs and they sell. GM needs to get back into the wagon business. Mini Vans and other crossovers sell. Why? No other choice. In Europe they have the option of SUVs and Mini Vans, but the humble station wagon out sells the others. Ford’s C-Max, Toyota’s Prius V an Scion XB proves all age groups like and will buy a wagon. Time to catch up with a Cruse Wagon, and do offer a diesel option there as well GM.