I Prefer The Cobalt Name Instead of Cruze

General Motors is finally stepping up to the plate with a better look at its new small car, the Chevy Cruze, which is supposed to replace the Cobalt around mid-2010.

These photos have been released ahead of the Cruze’s live showing in October at the Paris Auto show. The car’s appearance is based heavily Chevy’s new global design language, which has shown up recently on the Malibu sedan and Traverse crossover.

The Cruze bosts the new grille treatment of current chevy vehicles, with wrap-around headlights. Chevy says the Cruze is roomier than its competitors with more length and width, and the wheels jut out a bit from the body. The car is expected to be able to get more than 40 mpg. And if they can do that without it being a slug I will definitely buy one.

They gave the car a dual cockpit layout interior that has also shown up on recent redesigns, and was inspired by 1960s Corvettes.

The Cruze lgoes one sale in Europe next March. It will get it’s power from two four-cylinder engines, and a new 2.0-liter turbodiesel.

The U.S. Cruze is expected to get four-cylinder and turbo power plants from GM’s global offerings. It will be built in Lordstown, Ohio plant.

GM is betting hard that the Cruze will be a hit with consumers, as it’s replacing a good platform, the Chevy Cobalt, which posted sales of more than 200,000 annually. The Cobalt was launched in latter part of 2004.

The Cruze’s competitors will the like of the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Volkswagen Jetta.

I wonder if Tom knows GM named a car after him?