As we stated a few months ago, automakers always get tax credits from cities in an effort to get them to build new plants or retool existing plants. As we know, the upcoming Chevy Volt is likely to be assembled in the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant where the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS are currently built. As you may expect, those two models might not last too much longer, so the Volt is very important to the Detroit factory. The engine for the Volt, though, is expected to be built in a new facility which will be located near the existing Flint Engine South and Flint Truck plants, also in Michigan. Fortunately for the city, some three-hundred jobs will be saved. That engine will be a 1.4-liter four cylinder and should also make an appearance under the hood of the next Chevy compact, the Cruze, in turbocharged form. The total sum which GM will invest is $359 million and the plant will cover some 530,000 square-feet.

[Source: The Detroit News]

At a press conference in Lordstown, OH this afternoon, GM CEO Rick Wagoner officially announced that the Chevrolet Cruze would be built at the plant alongside the existing Cobalt. Wagoner alluded to this in June during the company's annual meeting. GM will invest $350 million in the Lordstown plant to tool up for production of the new compact sedan that will also spawn numerous other small cars. An additional $150 million will also be spent launching the Cruze including a new line to build the 1.4L turbo four cylinder engine in Flint MI. Cruzes will also be built in Europe and Asia for sale in those regions. It's expected that the Cruze with the new engine and 6-speed automatic transmission could achieve as much as 40 mpg on the highway.


[Source: General Motors]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Cruze

Chevrolet has just released official photos of the first car to be based on the company's next generation Delta platform, also known officially as the Global Compact Car platform. The Chevy Cruze will get its official debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and will be available globally starting in Europe next March. The U.S. market should get the Cruze about a year later with initial sales alongside the existing Cobalt, though eventually the Cobalt goes away in favor of the Cruze. At its European launch the Cruze will have 1.6L and 1.8L gas four-cylinders with variable valve timing and a new 2.0L diesel good for 150 hp. The U.S. market Cruze is expected to debut with the new 1.4L direct injected turbo four that will be built in Flint, MI. Cruzes for North American drivers will be built at GM's Lordstown, OH plant alongside the Cobalt.

The Cruze platform will ultimately spawn a whole plethora of small vehicles in the GM family, including the next generation Astra and a compact MPV to replace the Zafira. That MPV is planned to be built in Detroit alongside another member of the Delta family, something called the Volt. The Volt will have different styling and a hatchback body style along with a normally aspirated version of the 1.4L to charge its lithium ion battery pack. The Volt will also share many under-body components with the Cruze. More details on the Cruze are after the jump.


[Source: General Motors]

The General, along with the rest of the American automakers, has a long established history of making the most profits from the largest vehicles. Small cars from the Detroit 3 have therefore fallen way behind the imports when it comes to desirability. GM Global Design Chief Ed Welburn went so far as to say, "In North America, we never did a good small car." Ouch. Instead, all the best designs come from overseas, which GM has plenty of experience in. "Today, we are able to draw on resources of design centers in Korea, Brazil and Europe who really know how to do small cars," says Welburn. Like the ones who designed the Aveo?

So, if the Cobalt and Aveo are not good small cars, at least they'd better be cheap, right? Sure, but expect that to change too as upcoming replacements for its aging small cars will be more expensive than current models. The Chevrolet Cruze, not expected in the U.S. for at least a few more years, will cost an extra few thousand dollars compared to the Cobalt. Hopefully by then, the Beat will be properly engineered for the American market as well.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Chevrolet has seen a double-digit sales increase of its Cobalt compact car this year since gas prices began their unstoppable upward trajectory. Fortunately for us in the states, the newfound importance of small cars means that we will likely see the new 1.4 liter turbocharged global-mill in the U.S. version of the Chevy Cruze when it goes on sale here in 2009. See, everything has an upside if you look hard enough. Fuel economy in the forties on the highway will be welcome, as will the adequate 120-140 horsepower. When the new Cruze goes on sale in its home market, it will be built in the Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cobalt is currently assembled. Expect both cars to remain in Chevy's line until the Cruze and its next-gen Delta platform sees its full ramp-up. A sedan body-style will appear first, though we'd expect a coupe shortly thereafter to properly compete with such vehicles as the Honda Civic and Ford Focus.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Chevrolet's next new compact car will make its debut in October at the Paris Motor Show with a new name. The Chevy Cruze is the Chevrolet brand version of GM's global compact car platform known as Delta. The Cruze will be built in a number of locations around the world including Lordstown, Ohio beginning in spring 2009. When the Cruze launches in the U.S. it will initially be built alongside the existing Cobalt, which will likely be offered only in cheaper low content versions for another year or two. The Cruze will be powered by GM's new turbocharged 1.4L four cylinder that will eventually see use in a variety of GM small cars. The platform of the Cruze will also form the underpinnings of the next generation Opel/Saturn Astra and the Chevrolet Volt. The GM press release is after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]