The Chevrolet Cruze is a compact car that has been produced by General Motors since 2008. It was designated as a globally developed, designed, and manufactured four-door compact sedan, complemented by a five-door hatchback body variant from 2011, and a station wagon in 2012. During its introduction, the Cruze replaces several compact models, including the Chevrolet Optra which was sold internationally under various names, the Chevrolet Cobalt sold exclusively in North America, and the -market Holden Astra.
The Cruze was released in 2008 for the South Korean market as the Daewoo Lacetti Premiere until the phasing out of the Daewoo brand in 2011, when it was renamed to Chevrolet Cruze. In , the model was sold between 2009 and 2016 as the Holden Cruze. In 2016, the Cruze sedan was restyled and renamed for the market as the Holden Astra Sedan, as a sedan complement to the Holden Astra family.
Due to the market shift towards SUVs and decreasing sales, the Cruze has been gradually phased out. Production of the Cruze in South Korea ended in 2018 as part of restructuring of GM Korea, which in turn ceased supply of the Holden Astra Sedan to . In the United States and Mexico, production ended in 2019, while production in China ended in 2020. , the Cruze continued to be produced in Argentina. It was replaced by the Monza in China, which is known as the Cavalier in Mexico.
Previously, the nameplate has been used for a version of a subcompact hatchback car produced under a joint venture with Suzuki from 2001 to 2007, and was based on the Suzuki Ignis.
Nameplate disambiguation
Before the release of the global Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan in 2008, General Motors made use of the name "Cruze" between 2001 and 2008 in Japan, Australia (as Holden Cruze), and New Zealand. Announced as the Chevrolet YGM1 concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1999, the original Cruze was derived from the subcompact Suzuki Ignis five-door hatchback (known as the Suzuki Swift in Japan). Despite the Chevrolet branding, the YGM1, like the production car, was the work of GM's Australian arm, Holden. Along with the styling, Holden executed most of the engineering work and were responsible for devising the "Cruze" nameplate. The Cruze came either with a 1.3- or 1.5-liter engine coupled to either five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmissions.
Manufactured by Suzuki in Japan, GM revealed the production Chevrolet Cruze in October 2001, with Japanese sales commencing the following month. From 2002 through to 2006 this generation of Cruze was sold in Australia (as Holden) and New Zealand (as Chevrolet).
The production Cruze had standard front-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive optional. Chevrolet pursued a marketing strategy that positioned the high-riding Cruze as a light-duty sport utility vehicle (SUV). This contrasted with Suzuki's approach with the Ignis marketed as a conventional passenger model. From 2003, Suzuki of Europe began manufacturing the Cruze as the Suzuki Ignis—representing a facelift of the original Ignis, but only for European markets.
First generation (J300; 2008)
In 2008, GM introduced the Cruze compact car, carrying the "J300" internal designation. Mainly developed by GM Korea, this J300 iteration serves as a replacement for the Chevrolet Cobalt, Daewoo Lacetti and Holden Astra compact cars. GM phased out production of the Cobalt and its badge engineered counterpart, the Pontiac G5 in 2010, just prior to the manufacturing of the Chevrolet Cruze was to commence. The first renderings of the Cruze were revealed by GM at a press conference on July 15, 2008, with the first official images released on August 21, 2008.
At the ceremony of the start of production of Cruze at Ohio, Mark Reuss, the president of GM's North American operations said, "This is everything for us". It is described as GM's most significant new vehicle introduction into North America since the Chapter 11 reorganization in 2009, and is GM's latest attempt to build a small size car that North American consumers would "buy because they like it – not simply because it is cheap".
Underpinned by the front-wheel drive GM Delta II platform, GM has confirmed the Cruze development program occurred under a global design and engineering team. GM Daewoo in South Korea played a leading role in the design and engineering of the Cruze, along with GM's German-based Opel division. This development program spanned over 27 months at a cost of US$4 billion. A total of 221 prototypes were tested in Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.