Following the EPA’s publishing of fuel economy figures for the 2019 Chevrolet Cruze, reports noted the addition of a continuously variable transmission. However, the CVT will be assigned to fleet buyers only.
CarsDirect confirmed with Chevrolet that the CVT will not be offered to retail customers and the six-speed automatic transmission will remain for gasoline-powered cars. The nine-speed automatic will stick around for Cruzes with the 1.6-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine.
The CVT returns slightly better fuel economy over the six-speed automatic transmission at 30 mpg city, 38 highway, 33 combined compared to 28/38/32. The 2019 Cruze Diesel sedan remains the most frugal of the bunch with 31/48/37 EPA-estimated ratings.
Without the six-speed manual transmission, the 2019 Cruze Diesel loses its coveted EPA-estimated 52-mpg highway rating as well. In fact, the six-speed manual goes away for all Cruze models, as predicted, for the new model year.
With the CVT ruled out for retail customers (for now), the Chevrolet Spark continues on as the only Chevy offered with a CVT. And it remains to be seen if the brand will eventually roll out a new Eco trim for the compact car.
Comments
R.I.P. 3 Pedals…
Is the Cruze sedan diesel made at Lordstown or in Mexico?
Sedan is made in Lordstown, the Hatchback in Mexico.
Even the diesel is made at Lordstown?
How come the epa highway rating for the Cruze dropped from 40mpg for the 2018 to 38mpg for the 2019? My 2016 was rated at 42 mpg which it still attains to this day!
They don’t breakout the Premier trim anymore, which was lower at 29/39, but even with a different trim mix in the EPA doesn’t explain the drop to 28/38. You might be able to find out by scouring the 2019 Order Guide – maybe they dropped a feature like active grille shutters or changed the tires a bit (GM does tend to drop features to cheapen builds further into a vehicles model run).
It will be interesting to see how the CVT holds up.