The Chevy Cruze just broke the 100,000 global sales mark, and to celebrate, President Obama signed the hood of a prototype 2011 Chevy Cruze sedan – dubbing it, “The car of the future!”
The U.S.-spec Chevy Cruze may have debuted at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show in December, but it has been on sale around the world for over a year. The Cruze managed to generate 80,000 global sales by October 2009, and now the the Cruze has surpassed 100,000 sales in 60 different countries worldwide.
Although not yet available for U.S. consumption, Chevy says to expect the Cruze to hit U.S. showrooms as early as the third-quarter of 2010. The Cruze is expected to return an impressive 40 mpg highway thanks to a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that should be good for about 140 horsepower.
“With expected highway fuel economy up to 40 miles per gallon, Cruze will be extremely gas friendly while,†Brent Dewar, vice president, Chevrolet . “Chevrolet’s focus is on forward-looking technologies to the benefit of our customers, such as the highly efficient, small-displacement turbocharged engine in the Cruze.”
President Obama recently appeared at a General Motors event, where he personally signed the hood of a prototype Cruze, inscribing the words, “The car of the future! Barack Obama.”
Although the prototype President Obama signed was the traditional sedan version of the Cruze, recent speculation by Motor Trend suggested that Americans may also have a four-door coupe and SS variant in their future as well.
“Cruze is already a hit across Europe and Asia and now, it’s coming to America to challenge the status quo,” said Jim Campbell, general manager, Chevrolet. “It’s the latest tangible example of how Chevrolet is working to bring new products to market that range from gas-friendly to gas-free.”
References
1. ‘flickr…’ view
2. ‘Chevy Cruze interactive…’ view
3. ‘Chevy Cruze SS, anyone…’ view
