Will Gm Get The Compact Car Right?

This September, GM plans to roll out it's next generation of compact cars

. Again? Another attempt at the industry segment they just can't seem to get right? Yes, "General Motors thinks it can finally sell a good small car," says Tom Krisher of the Associated Press.

This better be the case. GM has a horrible history in the compact car market. Dream up visions of the Corvair and Geo. Or, even as far back as last week's Cobalt. Or even the good ole' Vega. Yuck, remembering these cars makes my skin crawl.

GM is looking to the Cruze to be its answer. The Cobalt only sold 105,000 copies last year. This pales when compared to the numbers posted by the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla. Trust me, GM knows this. They know they are strong in the Truck and SUV segments, but they lose big time when it comes to compact cars.

Today's youth feels GM is out of touch. That is evident by the fact that GM's average buyer is 51 years old. That could be why they mistakenly threw the boring, cheaply made Cobalt into the mix. Maybe they learned something from Scion and Mitsubishi, who tout average buyers around 40. Those guys definitely win with the younger crowd.

So is the Cruze the answer? Can it be a winner in this segment? Will the competition snuff it out? Will it be able to catch the attention of the hip, young shoppers? Who knows. After all, "They can't afford to get it wrong," says Micael Robinet, an automotive analyst with CSM Worldwide in Michigan.

GM claims they have worked out some of their past issues producing small cars, especially with the Cruze. They are already selling it in other countries. They have fixed the noisy transmission and hushed the tires. They also tout it gets 40 miles to the gallon. Better still, GM has cut production costs and have plenty of room to put more quality in to the product.

The Cruze was designed in Korea by Daewoo, a division of GM. It was engineered in Russelsheim, Germany and will be assembled in plants around the world. It is 180 inches long and powered by a new family of direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder engines that range from 1.4 liters to 2.0 liters. Recent test drives do show it to be quieter, nimbler, and more robust than anything GM has ever brought to this category.

It may be nicer looking, have a better interior, and pack a better punch that its predecesors, but is is quality? If GM expects younger buyers to look at the Cruze, it will have to compete with the Corolla and the Civic for quality. GM thinks they have this worked out. They plan to invest in quality, saying they have learned people will pay a bit more for superior dependability. They even held up production several months because managers were unhappy with performance.

GM plans to ask around $17,000 for a base model Cruze. Even though this is more than most of the competition, they claim it has a lot more standard features. There will also be a package with leather seats and other gadgets that starts around $22,700.

According to the article by Tom Krisher of the Associated Press, Tom Stephens, GM head of product development, says the company has tried to make sure the Cruze will be better than Corolla and Civic. We will see when it hits the showroom.

by: David Ruebush

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