Award-Winning Safety Reinforces Chevrolet Best-in-Class Value

DETROIT – The Chevrolet Cruze offers buyers more value for the dollar than any compact car along with more standard equipment, more miles per gallon, and award-winning safety ratings.

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze recently earned the highest-possible 5-Star overall vehicle safety score from the revised New Car Assessment Program conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Cruze also received the best possible “Good” ratings in front, side, rear and rollover crash protection tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which recognized Cruze as a 2011 Top Safety Pick.

Combined with the most standard equipment in its class and class-leading fuel economy with the Eco model, these top safety ratings reinforce that Cruze offers unparalleled value for compact car buyers, said Cruze Marketing Director Margaret Brooks.

Model Top Fuel Economy Standard Air Bags IIHS Top Safety Pick 2011 NHTSA Crash Safety Ratings

2011 Chevrolet Cruze 28 city / 42 hwy 10 Yes 5-Star

2011 Honda Civic 25 city / 36 hwy 6 No NA

2011 Toyota Corolla 26 city / 35 hwy 6 No NA

2012 Ford Focus TBD city / 40hwy 7 NA NA

2012 Hyundai Elantra 29 city / 40 hwy 6 NA NA

“No matter how you look at it, Cruze is a car that delivers a lot for the money,” Brooks said. “It’s also one of the safest cars in its class.”

Unmatched Crash Safety Ratings
The Cruze was tested under NHTSA’s new rating system, implemented for the 2011 model year. It is based on more rigorous frontal and side crash tests along with rollover resistance testing. Under the new system, the three test conditions are combined mathematically into an Overall Vehicle Score. The Cruze is the first vehicle tested under NHTSA’s new rating system to achieve five stars in each of the individual crash impact conditions leading to an overall vehicle score of five stars – the highest rating possible.

More Miles Per Gallon
Cruze achieves up to 42 mpg on the highway – the segment’s best fuel economy – with the Eco model arriving in January. That efficiency that beats most hybrids on the market without the cost of a hybrid. Cruze LS offers up to 35 mpg on the highway and Cruze LT and LTZ models are rated at 36 mpg on the highway.

More Standard Features
Cruze starts at an MSRP of $16,995 including destination, with the most standard equipment in its class.
All Cruze models are equipped with comfort and convenience features, including: air conditioning, power locks with remote keyless entry, OnStar with Turn-by-Turn Navigation, XM Radio with three-month trial subscription, AM/FM single-CD radio, six-speaker stereo system, passenger seat height adjustment, and a 60/40 split folding rear seat.
All Cruze models also feature the most standard safety features in its class, each contributing to Chevrolet’s goal of protecting passengers before, during and after a crash. Standard features on all models include:
• 10 air bags including front knee air bags – a first for the segment
• Front passenger seat occupant sensing system
• Panic Brake Assist and Enhanced Smart Pedal
• StabiliTrak electronic stability control
• Rollover sensing technology that enables timely head curtain side air bag deployment
• Three-point safety belts in all five seating positions
• Safety belt retractor pretensioners and lap pretensioners in the driver and front-passenger positions
• Safety belt load limiters (with pretensioners) in the front safety belt retractors
• Child seat latching system in the rear seat
• Tire pressure monitoring system
• Daytime running lamps and automatic headlamps

The Cruze has a strong, unitized body structure that incorporates high-strength steel (HSS) in key areas to enhance strength and crash protection. It is used to help prevent intrusion into the passenger compartment. The Cruze also features underbody main rails that extend from the front of the structure all the way to the rear, further enhancing the body’s strength and stiffness. A cross-structure beam behind the instrument panel anchors some vehicle features, while supporting the body during side-impact crashes.

Finally, Cruze is equipped with standard OnStar 9.0 that includes Automatic Crash Response and its latest enhancement, Injury Severity Prediction. This feature helps OnStar advisors alert first responders when a vehicle crash is likely to have caused serious injury to the occupants. With Automatic Crash Response, OnStar uses data from a collection of built-in vehicle sensors that can signal an advisor for help if the vehicle is involved in a moderate to severe frontal, rear or side-impact crash, regardless of whether an air bag deploys.