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GM Expects Cruze Diesel To Make Up 10 Percent Of Total Cruze Sales

As of this morning, the 46 MPG highway, 27 MPG city Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel is officially the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid vehicle in the United States. And General Motors expects it to make up roughly 10 percent of Cruze deliveries in the U.S., according to Chevrolet chief of sales Don Johnson. The Cruze Diesel is Chevy’s first diesel-powered car in nearly three decades for the U.S. market, with the last being the 1986 Chevrolet Chevette.

“Quite frankly, it’s been a while since we’ve been out there with a diesel passenger car. So, we’ll see,” Johnson said. “I think success for us is going to be establishing Chevrolet as a technology leader that can offer a vehicle like that in the U.S. market when many other competitors don’t.”

Diesel-powered vehicle are seen industry-wide as a way for GM to quickly and easily increase its Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) numbers. As a whole, diesels improve a car’s fuel efficiency by 15 percent or more, thereby improving an automaker’s fleet average for U.S. regulations.

General Motors director of Chevrolet small car and electrified vehicle marketing Cristi Landy said that the expectation for the Cruze Diesel, which goes on sale in 13 U.S. cities at the end of the second quarter and then in the fall U.S.-wide and in Canada, is to earn incremental sales that attract new customers to the Cruze line.

In 2012, the total share of diesel-powered vehicles in the United States was 3.1 percent, which were mostly made up of trucks. Research group LMC automotive expects this fitter to increase to 7.7 percent by 2018.

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Comments

  1. I hope they are not as horrific as the Oldsmobile Delta 88 diesels. No one wants a diesel, Obama is making them do it, so don’t get mad at GM for this stupidity. Diesel often costs a dollar more per gallon in the PRK (People’s Republic of Kalifornia) so there is no savings in buying one. I wonder who bought those Chevette diesels! OMG, did any last past 40K miles.

    Reply
    1. Still living in the past, trying to leverage a weak argument against diesels by only remembering cars from nearly 30 years ago…only to think nothing, absolutely nothing, has changed.

      Reply
    2. Diesel does not cost a dollar more than gasoline anywhere. Check the figures:

      http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/

      Enough with the political anti-Obama crap already. He won TWO terms in office. As did your hero GWB.

      And be quiet with the notion that nobody wants diesels. About 50% of VW Jetta owners in the US want diesels…recall that VW is the most profitable car company in the world. That must mean something.

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    3. The Chevette diesels were built by Isuzu. And they were bulletproof, and incredibly easy to work on, thank you.

      Reply
    4. If you don’t like Diesel vehicles, you should move to the South Pole! They are everywhere, especially in lower-income areas where Diesel fuel is much cheaper. Besides that, Diesel fuel is also cheaper in others parts of America for trucks, and those few personal vehicles that consume it. History shows that Rudolf Diesel developed his engine to use peanut oil.

      Finally, you can make your own Diesel fuels from bio-degradable oils, such as used vegetable oils, and never burn petroleum again!

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    5. Michael W.,
      I think comparing a Oldmobile Delta 88 to a Chevy Cruze is disingenuous. First When was production of the Delta 88 diesel? It was 1978 to 1985. I think the technology has changed a little since then. You are talking almost 30 years and it was a 5.7L V8 engine. That thing weighed a ton. That is like comparing an IBM 5051 computer from 1985 to an ipad of today. Really???

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      1. Right, that diesel was a Frankenstein 350 conversion. Probably designed by the same guys that did the Cadillac V8-6-4! I was defending GM in my comments. A lot of real stupid engines are coming our way from Obama- 4 cyl Camaros and the END of 3500 pound pony/muscle car. Everything will be a Prius with the CAFE mandate from the Commissars in Washington. People will blame the automakers when they should blame the government. Most aren’t smart enough to make the connection.

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        1. Right. Blame Obama for mandating improvements in fuel economy. Because consumers sure as hell won’t get more efficient cars by themselves…

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        2. You’re the same user who said disagreed with the idea of a lighter, smaller, better handling Camaro because you think lightness means “less safe”.

          You then said that the only thing that mattered was power to weight and 50/50 “axle balance”.

          I’ll remind you that “the END of 3500 pound pony/muscle car” can’t come soon enough, and with it, your ignorance.

          Reply
  2. Sounds good to me. Let’s hope this does well and puts GM back on the map in this segment in a good way. Some other site had the mileage projected at what I seem to remember as something like 32/56. But even these official numbers aren’t bad for the power this is supposed to have.

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  3. No way it does 10% penetration at that price. Put it in a lower priced trim and offer it in a manual and maybe. But not at an almost $26k MSRP which is sure to not be eligible for the $2000 in rebates now available on other Cruze models.

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    1. GM has always had this problem. Revealing the first model as an upper level version that limits sales. By the time the volume seller comes around many buyers have moved on to more affordable (usually non-GM) brands. Remember the Saturn Aura? Remember the current Malibu? BMW also suffered the same fate with that silly 335d that cost almost 50-large. GM doesn’tt do very well with learning from their (or their competitors’) mistakes, it seems. There may be still time to undo this error in judgement, but only time will tell.

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  4. MichaelW… Livin in the past a little arent we…

    Reply
    1. I guess I have a pretty good memory. I didn’t remember the Chevette diesel though, I guess it has a lot of fans on this site!

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  5. No question GM back in the day 30 years ago was belting out some garbage… Thank goodness that has changed 🙂

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  6. This is a reasonable realistic goal for America.

    This is something that has to be grown and some other things would have to change vs. how they are received in Europe.

    I would recommend anyone to look up Bob Lutz Speech at the SAE congress. He addressed the diesel and why it is difficult to sell here in the states vs. Europe.

    Much more to it than fuel price and Memories of the Olds Diesel. The Regulations in Europe are so much less that it really hurts MFG to sell them here.

    There were other factors he listed that were all very valid.

    As for the relation to the Olds up above. While real auto enthusiast know this is not a repeat it is something GM will have to over come in the minds of those who remember. Also every story will mention the Olds at some point bringing up un needed memories.

    This combo has been refined and used in Europe and elsewhere. The greatest issues is the increase cost of the engine the small gain over gas in MPG and the difference in fuel prices. while it may not be a dollar 50 cents can turn some people away. Also the fear of the Diesel as many have little clue of their nature or much about them.

    GM needs to be out front with this combo and market it to remove all mystery and falsehoods. Even then it will not be like Europe making up to 50% of the models sold.

    If they ever could grow this to 25% it will be a win here. The more the better.

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  7. They need to offer the diesel in the Eco version. Lighter, better aerodynamics and a manual transmission. Get that auto outta here!

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  8. I’m not a great fan of the diesel, however others like them so good luck to it and them. I’m presuming its the same diesel as what GME cars use so if so it should be all profit for GM as European sales would have recouped the development costs. GM is in a win win situation with all its products and could if demand is sufficant market them all worldwide. Lets hope the successes continue 🙂

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    1. As a V8 fan, you should be a fan of the Audi V8 4.2 L TDI with 240 kW (326 PS) Diesel engine…

      And of the V12-diesel-powered Le Mans racing cars of Audi and Peugeot which dominated the Le Mans 24h race the past years. OK, those are no V8 engines, so not your piece of cake.

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  9. Really no one knows how many diesel Cruzes will make it across the curb? As Don Johnson said “We’ll see?” Personally, even as good as the Cruze is in general, I think $26K is a lot of dough for one regardless of engine,content, etc….I will be watching for the inevitable Cruze 2.0TD vs Jetta TDI comparison test though. I’m guessing that in real world driving, the fuel econ. will be virtually the same.

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  10. My Girlfriend has a jetta tdi she bought it 4 months ago. she gets impressive miles to the gallon with it . and its got some low end kick, enough to put a smile on your face. diesel in wisconsin is about 4dollars a gallon regular is 3.60 a gallon . she pays more up front but fills up much less often. so she is saving alittle money, nothing major but it balances out slightly to the jettas favor. her car drives just like any other car but with alot more torque on the low end. have nothing negative to say about diesel cars. in fact I envy her fuel economy.

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  11. Diesels have improved a lot since back in the day when only VW & PSA took the market seriously although they still even now sound like tractor engines (bit of a turn off when it’s a prestige motor) & tbh no I still wouldn’t go out & buy one, however if I was to get offered one on lease or as a company car I wouldn’t say no & that’s something I wouldn’t of said a couple of years back.

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  12. A lot of these small SUV 🙁 types (X1, Q3 etc) seem to be complementing (hopefully not replacing) their hatchback eqivants. Is it just me or are these things ugly.

    Reply
  13. Weren’t those Delta 88 diesels converted gas engines? My cousin had an S10 pick-up diesel around ’83. Only came in manual and no A/C. As for Cruze, no one was looking at it at the NY Auto Show. Could be a NY thing. Don’t think it will sell well because of trim level.

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    1. thehofinator what you are presenting is called a “man says” example… just because you didn’t see anyone looking at it at the point in time you were there doesn’t mean there’s no interest in it.

      As for trim level: GM is just now entering this segment… it will do what makes sense for its business first and foremost and will expand into the future. As a sidenote, what if most Jetta TDI are sold in the upper trim levels?

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  14. No one will buy a gutted Diesel because it would not be cheap even gutted.

    Happy customers will be the greatest selling point. If they get great MPG, performance and service they will spread the word. This is a slow growth segment and will not be conquered in 3 years.

    Reply
  15. “Chevy’s first diesel-powered car in nearly three decades”, wrong in its generality, true only for the USofA.

    42.4% of all Chevrolet Cruzes registered as new cars 2012 in Germany were Diesel powered, 72% of all Orlandos, 76.3% of all Captivas, and 76.7% of all Malibu. The overall lower Diesel-percentage for the (Korean) Chevrolets of 38.2% is due to the fact that the best seller, the Spark, is not available with a Diesel (few such small cars are available with a Diesel engine).

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    2. Those percentages are impressive. I think that once these new EPA standards start kicking in and mileage requirements go up people will start to change their tune about these. For now it will require even smaller cars or more efficient powertrains, and the diesel is one of the latter.

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      1. To evaluate those Diesel percentages, one had to take into account that in Germany, Diesel fuel is less taxed, and thus cheaper than regular petrol. This makes a more expensive Diesel more economical than a petrol engine for those people who run long distances with their car.

        Reply
  16. Time will tell as to the fate of a Cruze diesel.

    Reply
  17. Give me a manual and Ill get one

    Reply

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