The next generation of Chevy Cruze that was due to be introduced later this year has been delayed. It looks like we won’t be seeing the vehicle until sometime in 2015. The delay is reportedly due to engineering changes being made to the car.
The plan is to completely redesign the Chevy Cruze. This will mean not just exterior changes to the vehicle, but interior changes to provide more passenger space and a bigger trunk as well as improvements to fuel economy.
So far this year, sales of the Chevy Cruze have been very strong. It’s up nearly 17% for the first six months of 2013 selling 134,000 units. In June it did so well that it was ranked the second best selling passenger car. The only vehicle that beat it was the Toyota Camry. There’ also a diesel version of the Chevy Cruze slated for release later this year which should serve to bolster sales even further.
The Chevy Cruze has been around for awhile now, debuting back in 2009 when GM was just coming out of bankruptcy. Since then it’s old over 2 million units worldwide. It may have been new four years ago, but by the end of this year it will actually be GM’s oldest model.
The company is a bit gun-shy after the recently revamped Chevy Malibu wasn’t received as well as it had hoped. They’ve even resorted to a refresh of the model for 2014 to try to reinvigorate its sales.
This makes GM hungry for success with a reintroduced Chevy Cruze. The fact that it’s doing as well as it is right now gives them more time to decide exactly how they want to change and improve the vehicle.
Rather than rush to introduce the car on a predetermined timetable, taking the time to make sure the changes are ones consumers actually want will hopefully keep the Chevy Cruze from suffering the same fate as the Malibu.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
