2011 Chevrolet Cruze First Drive

Until now, General Motors hasn't exactly taken the small-car market seriously. While Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia have built their empires on the hoods of pint-sized, fuel-efficient transportation, history has shown the captains of Detroit tend to offer up parts-bin afterthoughts. Cars like the Chevrolet Cavalier and Chevrolet Cobalt have left a sour taste in the mouths of buyers thanks to noisy and de-contented cabins, rough engines and build quality that would make a Yugo blush. As a result, Americans have developed a sort of Pavlovian retch when we hear the term "compact car."

But a new dawn may be approaching – one heralded by a rash of new straw-weight fighters that aim to bring a global small car philosophy to the U.S. GM intends to be part of that party with the introduction of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, a sedan that, for all intents and purposes, is more of a landmark model for the company than the endlessly-hyped Chevrolet Volt. To get our meaning, you'll need to throw all of your heinous memories about American-built small cars out the window beginning... now.

This is not the next Cobalt. To saddle the Cruze with its rental ancestor's moniker would only hobble the product before it manages to get off of the ground. The two are only similar in the fact that one will take the reins from the other, and for proof, you need look no further than the new model's design. Whereas the Cobalt sedan always came across as having more than a little Fisher Price on a beer-thirty Friday feel to it, the Cruze presents itself as a well-scaled version of the Bowtie's larger four-door offerings.