Re: 2015 Chevy Cruze May Get Lower Price - Dealer Speaks Of New "Price Point" At Intr
The Cruze has exactly the same rear seat leg room as the 1980 Citation. And the same as the current CTS sedan. The X bodies were lauded for their interior room and it was large enough inside to form the basis for the A Body intermediates with just slightly more rear leg room for the As.
Another element of the X Cars was the ability to pack 54" of shoulder room front and rear, intermediate size specs and something the Cruze also matches with the difference in the rear, compared to the Citation of 0.1 of an inch. 54" of shoulder room was a selling point for people down sizing from a large car or intermediate to an X.
35.4" of leg room and 53.9" of shoulder room is a respectable amount of rear seat packaging considering the Focus has 33.1 and the Fiesta 31 and small change.
180" for a compact car has been common with GM compacts for decades. That's not large: Corvair, Cobalt, 3rd Gen. Cavalier and aside from the Citation at 176", the X cars were 180". Corsica, 183, Chevy II, 182, 2nd Gen. Cavalier, 182.
The front end "refresh" hasn't done a thing to correct the awkwardness of the horizontal split grille theme Chevy has been using for years. It always looks like they're trying too hard to establish "brand identity" with a styling theme that looks forced or grafted on. Like a 61 DeSoto.
As for the "de-contenting": does everything have to be "premium" these days? Chevrolet's backbone has always been value. What is wrong with honest value from VL [if they offered it] to LTZ?
Personally I don't want a four wheeled vibrator or a rolling condo. Just give me a choice. As few or as many "features" as I want to pay for. A low price, reliability, value for money and at the very least an ignition switch that works and sway bar bushings that don't have to be replaced at 36,000 miles.
They did the same thing with the Cobalt. When my 99 Cavalier was totalled in Oct. 84 in a rear ender. I wanted to replace it with a Cobalt. The dealer had three or four. 2 colors available, all of them optioned up to 18.000. Row upon row of SUVs and trucks. I went to the Saturn dealer which had my choice of colors, options, body styles and prices [it okay not to say "price point" BTW. Please.]. Chevrolet lost a sale trying to pretend the Cobalt was a "premium" compact. Why? Because they really made an effort "this time" to get it right ? Or because they just decided it was so?
The compact car segment is still where price conscious shoppers go. And value buyers. Bargain hunters. People downsizing from larger cars looking for the same features they had in their bigger cars. A wide swath of potential customers to mine. And some, like me who think that less is more. AC and automatic at most. Crank windows are fine. Remote start, auto door locks and leather wrapped steering wheel, whatever. Someone else can choose that stuff. I'd even welcome a "console delete" option. At least give me the option of not having all that stuff larded on and a few stand alone options [like cruise control] for a "VL" base price and I'd be happy.
Of course they'd probably sell 0.1% of total production, but I can dream can't I? For me, simpler is still better.