[drvhplyevraftr]

I was talking to some manager for corporate sales from GM today and he said Cruze will be launched sometime in Sep timeframe and the price range would be around 15 lakhs for the top end diesel 150 bhp engine. Cruze would compete with Civic, Altis. Cruze is not a replacement for Optra and Optra sales would continue. He spoke about something called magnetic doors (doors close with touch of a finger it seems), keyless ignition start, 64 bit micro processor control, drive-by-wire technology for not just the accelerator but also for the clutch so less wear and tear and no maintenance/replacement hassles etc. I am not very sound in car mechanics etc so did not drill too much into what he spoke.

I did not read all the 7 pages of this thread, so please pardon me if this information is already present in this thread or if some of the information does not make much sense.

[farfromnormal]

Spotted at marine drive around 5pm.

[MumBiker]

I was traveling to Airoli via Mulund on the EEH (Eastern Express Highway) in Mumbai on 13th July, 2009.

Thats when i spotted these 2 parked on the roadside with their badges covered. I could only manage a quick snap from my moving vehicle with my cellphone.

Hope i have rightly identified the vehicle

[aaggoswami]

Yes, you have identified the vehicle correctly. This is the Chevrolet Cruze that was supposed to hit the roads in September, but you never know when they are up and running in showroom. GM has done a lot of testing but I dont know why they are not launching it.

[nickatnite]

The Cruze definitely looks much better than the dowdy Optra. My main worry is the pricing as the greedy Indian dealers will look for short term gains over long term sustainable profit.

Originally Posted by nickatnite

The Cruze definitely looks much better than the dowdy Optra. My main worry is the pricing as the greedy Indian dealers will look for short term gains over long term sustainable profit.

Dowdy? I think that the Optra is still one of the best looking cars around. That was why I bought one. Did not consider any other parameter, the engine, the drive, the ride, the badge etc. I just fell for the looks.

[muni]

The Optra is one of the few cars that look clean from all angles ( the tyres may be a bit small).

I have seen the Cruze and must say that it looks bigger and better than Optra. It is a well proportioned car for sure.

It will not be priced in the Optra range for sure.

[fx45]

I would like GM to discontinue Optra and sell Cruze as the New Optra. JUst like what Toyota did with the Corolla, but seems GM is going the Skoda and Hyundai way.

[sandy16000]

Optra is a good car and a good looking one too, (I used the 1.8 litre LT variant for 6 years before selling it off to get an Endy), but there is merit in refreshing it. From what I have been reading on this thread, the Cruze may be technologically superior to the Optra, apart from being a bigger box. In which case, they are doing the right thing, IMHO, to lauch it separately. They will hopefully refresh the Optra at some stage.

[pulsar7778]

GM Employees & Dealer ship engineers were in the training last week and one my ex collegue in GM said, it was an awesome experience.

[anshu_46]

@ pulsar7778

Car looks good, was the pic taken in a dealership or at the factory.

Yuck the alloys don't go well with the car, would look much better with better footwear.

Let's see what Chevrolet does with its pricing, just pray that they don't price it high first and if it doesn't garner sales, then go on a price reduction spree a'la the Spark.

[stark_prod]

Wonder which engine configuration it will come with. Hope they launch Cruze with the 1.8L TDI. And if the top end came with a Sunroof option, that would be the icing on the cake!

[nkrishnap]

In all the pics, the ground clearance seems to be less.

Hope this is car does not scrape the mountains on the road

[pulsar7778]

Originally Posted by anshu_46

@ pulsar7778

Car looks good, was the pic taken in a dealership or at the factory.

Yuck the alloys don't go well with the car, would look much better with better footwear.

Let's see what Chevrolet does with its pricing, just pray that they don't price it high first and if it doesn't garner sales, then go on a price reduction spree a'la the Spark.

It was in the Pune Plant, it's launch module, where the technician & workshop engineers will be trained on the vehicle

[ask77]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

In all the pics, the ground clearance seems to be less.

Hope this is car does not scrape the mountains on the road

Ground clearence of Optra is around 161mm which is OK for this class. Hope the GC of Cruze is equivalent since they have done extensive testing of this vehicle on Indian roads.