Opinion: Fine, Don’t Bring The Cruze Wagon.. But Please Bring The Hatch!
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It’s common knowledge that the Chevy Cruze is a very good, if not the best, compact car on the market today. Heck, it sold over 20,000 units in the month of February alone. But why is The General limiting the Cruze’s success in North America by only selling the sedan and omitting the hatchback and wagon?
Granted, maybe having all three — the sedan, hatch, and wagon — in North America would be too much variety. In that case, why not bring the hatch to the States while leaving the wagon for European consumption? Before you answer, have a look at Ford, which is doing just that with its Focus line. The Focus outsold the Cruze last month in the U.S., by the way, in no small part due to the variety and choice the Focus offers in the sedan and 5-door hatch. So why the Cruze hatch hasn’t reached American shores yet is beyond us.
Simply put, Chevy needs to bring the hatch to the States. Here are the three top-most reasons for doing so:
Demand
Every player that matters in the mainstream compact segment offers a hatch variant of its compact sedan offering, including:
- Toyota Matrix
- Kia Forte 5-door
- Hyundai Elantra GT
- Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback
- Ford Focus 5-door Hatch
- Mazda 3 5-door
- Subaru Impreza 5-door
- VW Golf 5-door
To say there isn’t any demand for a compact five-door hatch is like saying that most people still want white-wall tires. Outdated.
Design
Have you seen the Cruze hatch? It’s not a staid, plain, boring version of its three-box sedan counterpart. The hatch, with its rakish tail, is beautiful. And no matter what the going notion is about U.S. car buyers having some sort of a disdain for hatchbacks, Ford seems to be doing just fine selling theirs.
Business
We’re sure that the Cruze hatch will not sell in as high numbers as the sedan in North America. But it will certainly add volume to the nameplate. Our guess is that offering the hatch will increase sales somewhere in the vicinity of 5,000 units a month — representing about 25 percent of Cruze sedan sales.
What’s more, the business case for making the hatchback available here is a no-brainer: add it to Lordstown production in Ohio, modify some aspects of the assembly to accommodate the revised rear-end, and badabing badaboom — you’ve got a more complete lineup of compact offerings.
So, there’s ample evidence that the Cruze five-door hatchback will result in nothing but good things for Chevy. Any arguments against?
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I think they should bring both the hatch and wagon but make both of the exteriors look interesting. Especially the Hatch.
Both look great to me!
but then compare the Cruze hatch to Focus, Elantra Hatch?
Badabing badaboom ????
The Cruze hatch does not sell so good as they thought it would sell, over here in Europe. I think the Cruze SW will do better…..
Yupp, badabing badaboom:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=badabing%20badaboom
Is any Chevy doing well in Europe? Heck, is any vehicle doing well in Europe given the decreased volume across the industry?
I just feel like the back of this hatch looks plain.
Here is one Chevy Dealer 100% in favor. I have a felling that the US will see the hatch in th upcoming global refresh.
Why the hatch over the wagon? The hatch is shorter than the sedan, while the wagon is longer. I don’t see the utility of the hatchback, and it reminds me of the Malibu Maxx too much.
Mostly due to demand. The hatch will sell in greater numbers due to its more “youthful” and “hip” image… even though I think said image is complete BS.
With higher gas prices maybe
Like I said in Manoli’s wagon video post, I would appreciate another variant for the American consumer. Although I relish in the fact that I own a car that not everyone has around here in Los Angeles (versus a Camry or Altima), I always love seeing Cruzes on the road.
In fact, everytime I see one on the road I exclaim “Cruze!” and point like an idiot.
i think somebody should start a fb fan page of bringing those to production lol and see how many likes lol
@Alex Luft , Yes Audi and Porsche’s sell well in Europe , they sell so well the workers get a bonus http://www.thelocal.de/money/20110303-33495.html and http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1693493.php/Porsche-rewards-staff-for-sales-boom-with-record-bonus
It think they should offer both. Younger 20’s buyers could go for the hatch, while people moving into their 30’s would likely trade up to a wagon to offer more room for the kids. Just as some people don’t like “wagons”, some of us despise SUVs.
Personally, I would prefer the wagon, especially with a turbo diesel. The hatch would meet the needs for a lot of people, but the roof line doesn’t seem that much different than a sedan, so for someone with my needs (roof rack) the hatch doesn’t quite cut it. I’m only going by photos to compare the Cruze hatch, but the body designs from Ford, Mazda, and others seem more appropriate. The Cruze variant seems like an overly conservative company being afraid to deviate too much from a sedan.
I really like the cruze and want to buy a new everyday car that is practical and gets great fuel economy. The cruze almost fits. But the focus has a hatch and I really need the extra hauling ability. I want to buy the chevy but without the hatch…..The focus only has a 5 speed manual but if they fix that I will have to buy the Ford.