The readers of The Diesel Driver magazine have voted the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel as the top diesel car of the year, and voted Chevrolet as the top diesel manufacturer.
“The Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, with a market-leading 46 mpg highway (5.11 L/ 100 km) is clearly setting the pace for diesel-powered cars in the United States,” Jonathan Spira, editorial director of The Diesel Driver, said in a statement. “The message from our readers is clear. Diesels are back and Chevrolet is in the forefront.”
The Cruze secured 59.3 percent of the 11,030 votes cast. Competing models included the Audi A6, A7, and A8, BMW 328 and 535, Merecedes-Benz E250, GLK250 and ML250 and the Volkswagen Beetle, Golf and Jetta, among others.
“The Cruze Diesel is really showing the world what diesel can do,” said Cristi Landy, Chevrolet senior marketing manager. “It combines fuel efficiency and performance into a fun-to-drive vehicle that really offers compact car drivers an option that speaks to their lifestyle and personality.”
Chevrolet received 45 percent of the 11,161 votes cast for top diesel manufacturer. The nominees included Audi, BMW, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen.
The Cruze Diesel, with its all-new 2.0L clean turbo-diesel engine, achieves an EPA-estimated 46 mpg highway, better than any non-hybrid or gasoline passenger car in America. This allows it to travel 717 miles on a single tank, equivalent to about 10 hours of highway driving.
Comments
Wonder how much is in the marketing budget to buy votes?
Don’t get me wrong, the Cruze D is a good car with a great engine, but come on, manufacturer of the year?
Pretty easy answer. $0.
I do not watch commercials anymore but has anyone seen a Cruze commercial on TV, much less a diesel one lately?
Are you one of the people in the dark about the favours (read: money) exchanging hands in regards to awards and accolades?
I guess I am. Please supply a link showing my ignorance.
I used to work at GM Marketing for and next to the guys/gals that would have been making these payments you speak of. And I never heard anything about this and I am sure I would have at least heard rumors of it. But with your knowledge I am sure you can supply the objective facts. I mean someone in the last 10 years would have said something if this was really happening.
Andrew is asking a legitimate question. People at Audi, BMW, Mercedes and VW must be laughing.
Compared to offerings from these manufacturers the Cruze is an ox cart.
Yea, really laughing hard. Cheapest Audi diesel is $47,000. Did not check BMW and Mercedes but they must be well over the $25,000 Cruze diesel. They really do not care about this segment.
And VW just got their first real competitor. They are laughing real hard.
Chevrolet has the diesels in trucks which is what most “Americans” want with a diesel (I bet those non American Canadians like them too). Look at the volumes of truck diesels vs the car diesels.
this guy has not done his research cruze d rocks
When you consider the Cruze diesel wins in mpg plus you can get one with heated leather, power seat, remote start, back up camera, sunroof, MyLink infotainment center with Bluetooth media streaming and text/message reading, OnStar, RemoteLink app, 4 wheel disc brakes, 10 standard airbags, the best safety rating in the class, all for under $30,000 Canadian, it is no doubt the best value in the marketplace for a diesel.
Add in the fact this little car has up to 280 lb-ft torque and it is also one of the most fun to drive cars in its class.
Andrew, its not “manufacturer of the year”, it is “diesel car of the year”. Huge difference there.
Yet the first paragraph says: “voted Chevrolet as the top diesel manufacturer.”
That’s why I agreed with the award for the Cruze, just not Chevy.
Ok, my bad. Now I get your comment.
Actually, when you consider the Duramax in HD trucks is still the most reliable one in the industry (cummins had that claim until they upped the hp/torque to match GM/Ford a couple years back and have had a lot of issues with computer programming, etc), and add in the new Cruze diesel and the diesel sold in the Colorado in 1/2 the world, it could be argued that GM is right up there with any other diesel manufacturer. But the best, it would be nip and tuck.
Chevrolet also was voted Diesel Manufacturer of the Year.
The words “value” and “Cruze” cannot be used in the same sentence. You can get a true driver’s car with a diesel or a WRX for less.
base vehicle with auto trans
2014 Cruze diesel $25,810 (not including $1500 cash back)
2014 Golf diesel $26,300
I did not do a feature to feature comparison but the Cruze comes standard with leather, the Golf has cloth. But in looking at VW’s comparison it does look like the base Cruze was featured very close to the base Golf diesel.
Cruze has the same HP but a whole bunch more torque and higher highway mpg (46 vs. 42). City is lower in the Cruze (27 vs. 30)
The diesel-powered Mazda 6 is coming. I have no doubt this car will easily take the title away from the Cruze.