GM India is busy readying an onslaught of cars for our market in the coming months and it seems that the second half of 2012 will be rather busy. From a facelifted Captiva to the MPV Enjoy and the other big launches of the Sail sedan and hatchback, GMI is rolling up its sleeves as it plans to regain its fifth largest car manufacturer tag in India.
But before all that, it has another car that will go under the scalpel. Come June, GMI will introduce the facelifted Cruze. The Cruze is GM's entry D-segment warrior and has done pretty well for itself in the last few years, becoming one of the best-sellers in its segment. In June, what we will get to see is a facelifted version of the same car. A wider chin, new design fog lamp clusters and revised air-dam apart, the headlamps have a new clear lens and even gets new alloy wheels. A marginally revised tail lamp cluster makes up the major changes.
On the inside, there are marginal changes including new colours for the instrument console, a new audio unit with brighter background colours and other minor updates.
The biggest change though is under the hood. A new 1998 cc motor replaces the 1991cc VM Motori engine. The new engine is designed to be more refined and powerful as well. Power is now up to 161 bhp from the current 148 bhp. This should mean a marginal improvement in acceleration times, though we anticipate it to also improve fuel economy by a similar margin. Expect the usual six-speed manual and automatic transmissions to be offered.
Expect a marginal hike in the price tag. Our estimates suggest a 2.5-4 per cent increase in the price, taking the base Cruze up to Rs 13.5 lakh from the current 13.15 lakh, ex-showroom Mumbai, while the top-end automatic could retail for upwards of Rs 16 lakh, up from the current Rs 15.7 lakh. Watch this space for further updates.
EDIT: Picture is of the facelift as seen on the estate. Saloon will have similar features.
