The Cruze was the best-selling U.S. compact in July at 24,648 cars, beating the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus, and it outsold cars of any size in June. GM has found the sweet spot in the market, pricing the Cruze at as little as $16,525, between the Corolla and the Prius, and delivering mileage of 30 mpg or more. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Mike Sussman is one of the buyers helping General Motors Co. come back in the small-car business. The 45-year-old systems analyst just traded in a Toyota Prius for a Chevrolet Cruze, seeking both high mileage and more pep.
“I was very, very leery about buying U.S., to be honest,” said Sussman, who lives in Greensboro, N.C. “They got me with the mileage. It actually drives like a regular car. With a Prius, you always feel like you’re driving a science experiment. It just doesn’t have a lot of guts.”
The Cruze was the best-selling U.S. compact in July at 24,648 cars, beating the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus, and it outsold cars of any size in June. GM has found the sweet spot in the market, pricing the Cruze at as little as $16,525, between the Corolla and the Prius, and delivering mileage of 30 mpg or more.
The Cruze helped make GM the world’s top seller of vehicles in the first half, a ranking it lost on an annual basis in 2008, the year before the company’s government-backed bailout. The company’s rise in the small-car market, where GM has traditionally been a laggard, is emblematic of a turnaround for the automaker.
GM’s U.S. market share rose to 20 percent in this year’s first seven months, from 19.2 percent in the year-earlier period. Passenger cars accounted for 42 percent of the company’s sales, compared with 39 percent last year, according to Autodata Corp.
While GM’s small-car revival has followed the March 11 natural disasters that delayed production at Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., the spurt may not be an anomaly. GM is benefiting from improved cars and new advertising plus missteps by the Japanese rivals, analysts and executives said.
