In an effort to “increase awareness and consideration” of its offerings, GM has introduced new, lower-price base trim levels for four of its vehicles. Those vehicles are: the Chevrolet Cruze sedan and Equinox SUV, the Buick LaCrosse sedan, and the GMC Terrain SUV.
The Detroit News has the story. These new budget models represent reductions of around $1,500 to $2,600 from their respective previous entry trim levels. The Cruze L, for instance, starts at $16,170 – a savings of $1,575 over the Cruze LS. The Chevrolet Equinox L sees an even bigger reduction from the LS trim level, down $2,400 to $22,120.
The Detroit News contacted Chevrolet Spokeswoman Annalisa Bluhm, who said that both the Cruze and the Equinox “are in critical segments: Compact car is the third-largest segment in the U.S., and compact SUV is the fastest-growing and largest vehicle segment in the U.S. Both L trim-level options give us a great chance to introduce the brand to new customers with competitive products featuring unexpected features.”
Even with the significantly lowered pricing, consumers won’t be getting stripped-down, poorly-equipped budget vehicles; the Cruze L, for instance, retains keyless entry, traction control, and even an OnStar 4G LTE hotspot. It does, however, ship exclusively with a 6-speed manual transmission – a fact that will likely alienate much of today’s clutch-illiterate drivers.
There is another potential hang-up; these four new base models may not qualify for the same incentives as plenty of GM’s other models. But so long as customers see a few competitively-priced GM products in the search for their next entry-level sedan or crossover, prompting consumers to take a closer look at the brand, the new base trim levels will have served their purpose
Comments
El Cheapo advertising gimmick as very few will probably be had.
They should lower prices across the board!! I mean significantly !!