New Cruze Diesel MPG "Comparable To Cruze ECO"; In Showrooms In May

[minnfang]

Or... GM could make a direct injected, 45MPG, 1.4T Cruze Eco; and a 250HP, 2.0T Cruze SS and actually have a chance of selling a lot of cars.
Nearly a dollar per gallon more for diesel, dealing with a fuel additive, and an up front hit of $2000 for a negligible MPG increase? No thanks.

[MechEng]

Not suprising. This will likely be the best performing Cruze model. With the engine being built in Germany and shipped to Lordstown I feel this is not going to be a cheap option. Feels like GM is killing the Diesel before it even starts production.

In my opinion this engine would be better placed in an Equinox or Malibu. The new 1.6L Turbo Diesel would be a better engine for the Cruze. It would still likely be the best performing Cruze (fairly close to the 1.4T gasser) but would get close to the mystical "50mpg" number.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013...-20130116.html

[bballr4567]

Does anybody remember the difference in the Cobalt and Cobalt SS as far as MSRP?

In 2009 the SS MSRP was $24,095. A Cobalt in 2LT was around $18k. That is a $6k difference. Do you think it would be any different now?



GM is doing the right thing in bringing a car to market in the US that they already offer overseas. There is nothing wrong with that. People that havent driven a diesel will never understand the value of it.

[silvergoat2k6]

Diesel is already $4/gal here, about 78 cents higher than unleaded regular at this time...it may be different elsewhere, but here in Western MI I've never seen diesel priced anywhere near unleaded regular gasoline and I've lived here almost 10 years now.

Bottom line is if you want 50 mpg (or it's equivalent), you will need to either buy a Volt or a Prius.

[Ed753]

Do you know how much the additive is?

Plus, I have to bring this up every single time a diesel thread comes up because someone always assumes that the markup for a diesel engine magically goes away once its purchased. It doesnt. In fact, in vehicles that offer a diesel engine they all have higher resale value than their gas counterparts throughout the life of the vehicle.

So the savings isn't today, its in 10 years when a regular Cruze is worth $1,000 and the Diesel Cruze is worth $2,000!?

I'd love to see that in the ad campaign....................

Based on what we know today, even a soft-focus lens and rose colored glasses can't make this look pretty.

[bballr4567]

So the savings isn't today, its in 10 years when a regular Cruze is worth $1,000 and the Diesel Cruze is worth $2,000!?

I'd love to see that in the ad campaign....................

Based on what we know today, even a soft-focus lens and rose colored glasses can't make this look pretty.

There are no savings in buying any car. That is proven. An $800 car that you put $500 a year into making run is cheaper than any new car yet the market manages to buy over 14 million last year. How does that work?


Its going to take YEARS for the Cruze to reach $1k. Hell, I had a hard time finding a Cavalier for $1k last year.

Just like any vehicle that is available with a different engine. You buy a Malibu Turbo itll always be worth a little more than the N/A I4.


Just looked up a 2006 Jetta. TDI with 96k miles is being sold for right at $16k. The 2.5 NA model that has 93k miles is going for $10.5k. The MSRP difference was right at $2k IIRC.

[ILLICEMAN]

I was really looking forward to the diesel but with fuel here 65 cnts higher and the milage fig. not so great I will pass.

[emh]

Bottom line: The official, EPA rated Cruze diesel MPG numbers may possibly disappoint, hurting the marketing potential of this new Cruze model. The (urea) additive requirement and estimated $2000 option cost are not going to help either.

Isn't the Jetta TDI mpg very similar to the Cruz Eco (manual) as well? So why would the Cruz be disappointing? Hopefully GM can beat that threshold by a bit but I don't see something like 42/30 (hwy/city) particularly disappointing, provided they can do it with an automatic.

[bballr4567]

Isn't the Jetta TDI mpg very similar to the Cruz Eco (manual) as well? So why would the Cruz be disappointing? Hopefully GM can beat that threshold by a bit but I don't see something like 42/30 (hwy/city) particularly disappointing, provided they can do it with an automatic.

Exactly. Go look it up on fuelly.com. You'd be surprised because the damn things average 10-12 MPG higher than the gas counterpart.

Its only a disappointment because the Eco manual can get 28/42 in its ratings but its buyer set is limited because the automatic is pointless in Eco trim.

[BlackGTP]

There are no savings in buying any car. That is proven. An $800 car that you put $500 a year into making run is cheaper than any new car yet the market manages to buy over 14 million last year. How does that work?


Its going to take YEARS for the Cruze to reach $1k. Hell, I had a hard time finding a Cavalier for $1k last year.

Just like any vehicle that is available with a different engine. You buy a Malibu Turbo itll always be worth a little more than the N/A I4.


Just looked up a 2006 Jetta. TDI with 96k miles is being sold for right at $16k. The 2.5 NA model that has 93k miles is going for $10.5k. The MSRP difference was right at $2k IIRC.

Why does everyone think that because German brands command higher resales with their diesels that American companies will do the same? The Germans have an established following in the USA, Detroit diesels will evoke only snickers and "remember the 1980's" comments. I bet it takes awhile for American diesels to command a premium in the resale market, that is assuming Detroit sticks with diesels and doesn't abandon them due to slow sales.

[bballr4567]

Why does everyone think that because German brands command higher resales with their diesels that American companies will do the same? The Germans have an established following in the USA, Detroit diesels will evoke only snickers and "remember the 1980's" comments. I bet it takes awhile for American diesels to command a premium in the resale market, that is assuming Detroit sticks with diesels and doesn't abandon them due to slow sales.

What about the HD diesel trucks? Those suddenly get forgot about when a diesel goes in a car? Diesel buyers arent regular customers. Sure, the autopress will laugh and remind people how crappy the last diesels were but they did suck. Diesels used to ALL be sucky in the 80s.

VW has been putting out good TDI vehicles for about 12 years. Its not like they have been doing it for decades.

[ohub]

Exactly. Go look it up on fuelly.com. You'd be surprised because the damn things average 10-12 MPG higher than the gas counterpart.

Its only a disappointment because the Eco manual can get 28/42 in its ratings but its buyer set is limited because the automatic is pointless in Eco trim.

As an owner of a 2010 Jetta TDI wagon, I consistently beat the EPA numbers both in town and on the highway. Mileage varies by weather, primarily (as with most cars). I have not hit 50MPG though I have hit the high 40's on highway miles. The TDI has a 2.0T engine like the new Cruze will have.

[G8tor]

Bad news IMHO.

I had hoped GM was appealing to potentially new buyers who would be willing to try something new like diesel in exchange for increase fuel economy.

You can forget the resale argument because it is not proven a US made diesel will hold its value comparable to proven foreign makers.

Plus in a shaky economy people are looking for ways to save either one to weather any future economic storm or two get over the one they have just been through.

GM didn't hear alarms going off when the Malibu ECO was trashed widely by the media and somewhat by buyers too for under delivery in the MPG department?

Does GM want to risk another car magazine adding the Cruise Diesel to Malibu ECO as one of the 10 worst cars label?

[Cobaltss_King]

The diesel Cruze won't be disappointing most of you are missing the advantage of the diesel which is range. In my Passat I get well over the 795 mile claim that's registered I'm in the 920 mile range. Real World numbers will show the benefits of buying the diesel over a hybrid. I'm also hopping it does offer a manual transmission option.

[CountryME]

Similar to the TDI Jetta, I would expect to see much better real world fuel economy ratings for the Diesel Cruze than reports. EPA's official mileage numbers for the Jetta TDI is 29 mpg city / 40 mpg highway for the automatic, 30 / 41 for the manual. Volkswagen hired independent tester AMCI to test the Jetta TDI's "real world" mileage on the road. They came back with 38 city / 44 highway--or 24 percent and 10 percent higher respectively. (Source:http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...han-epa-admits).

So with that perspective, you should see much higher real world numbers. That said, I am still disappointed that my 2000 TDI Jetta averages 48-50 on my daily commute and auto makers have been so hindered by the emissions rules that they are struggling to get back to those numbers 13 years later.

The article noted "The automaker just might find its niche market in diesel truck owners, often the more educated men, who now are looking for a smaller model. " I think they have slightly missed the mark. Even though this may be a source of buyers, GM should be aiming their marketing at the engineering community. At my place of business, the percentage of TDI VWs is much higher than normal. I attribute this to the value engineers place on efficiency, resale value and real world drive-ability.