There’s two variations of the Chevrolet Cruze that we never received here in North America. Australia and other markets received the Cruze in both hatchback and station wagon bodystyles, while us Americans had to make do with the sedan only. Luckily, Chevrolet has smartened up a bit and vowed to offer the next-generation Cruze as a hatch.
Even though Australia had all Cruze body styles on offer, there’s still one theoretical variation of the car Holden never made available, a Ute. This idea probably never made it out of some whacky Australian engineer’s brain, let alone on Holden or Chevy’s drawing board, however one DeviantArt user recently rendered what it would look like if it had.
A Cruze Ute would be less practical than the existing Commodore-based Ute, with a smaller bed and cabin, however it would also be more economical, easier to drive and park and cheaper. The artist in this case appears to have envisioned a performance-oriented Cruze ute, with flared fenders, aftermarket wheels and an engine intake integrated into the grille.
Maybe if Australia makes enough noise, Holden will offer the next-generation Cruze with a pickup bed to replace the outgoing Ute. It’s not likely, but we’ll have our fingers crossed anyways. Check out the rendering here and let us know what you think in the comments.
Comments
To all those powers that be, I would buy that. Shoot, I think I would buy more than one.
Ute is a playing ground for Alpha, not Delta. If you’re going to make a Delta Ute, just import the Gamma II Ute that GM sells to the developing world already.
But if you do that GM, I will cry. I will also cry tears of joy for an Alpha Ute… as will every citizen in Australia.
That’s cool, I would buy one. Of course a production version would be watered down and not a performance looking machine, but nonetheless I think it’s amazing. Besides, here’s another thought: GM in it’s current Mentality doesn’t have the balls to do something like this. As far as GM vowing a US hatchback Cruze, I’ve seen and heard that this new Trax is to cover that aspect for the US. So I don’t hold out any hope that a hatch will get here or is even in the works.
Hi, Paul. Over here in Brazil we get a Hatchback model which is about (only) 4 inches smaller than the sedan sold in US. Also, ours has an 1.8 16 valve engine. You may see its pics and specs (in portuguese) on the page http://www.chevrolet.com.br/carros/cruze-sport-6.html . Hope you enjoy it 🙂
*Almost forgot: you may also google it for “Cruze Sport 6” – the results will show you the brasilian variant for the sedan model, on hatchback platform 🙂
Would make for a cool homologation car
Well I like the idea but the photo is not realistic. While the grill would be right and some of the body there is too much concept drawing here to draw much of a real consideration of what we see.
With that said I do like the idea but really question how well a FWD small truck would sell here. Dodge and VW tried and never got very far. I know GM would like to slot in a smaller truck and FWD here but is the market ready yet for it? I really don’t know and I am sure GM wished they knew too.
The Alpha looks like it has hit an end for use at Chevy beyond the Camaro. I am not sure if it is the cost for the volume they would sell or if they plan to use more of it for the future Cadillac models since they opened the door to more models there.
GM has really gone dark of late even more so than they have the last couple years. It will be interesting to see what they do.
I do know the next 10-15 years we will see a car market much different than we have today. Everyone is running scared right now looking for that niche that is going to pay off like the truck segment. Right now they are putting their chips in the CUV market but the rest looks up for grabs. Lighter weight and smaller engines are going to be the rule and that means a lot of changes are coming.
I would hate to be in product planning right now. I bet they sleep little.