Chevrolet to unveil 2011 Cruze Eco at the NY Auto Show

General Motors is set to debut the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco at the New York auto show this week. The Cruze is the latest GM model to come to market with high expectations - and if its launch is anything like the Chevy Malibu, Traverse and Equinox, then GM will have another success on its hands. Over the past several years, GM has let its new products do all the talking - and the automotive press has been chiming in with praise.

The all-new Chevy Cruze has been on sale in Europe and Austrailia for several months with great results. The US version is scheduled to enter production in the late summer and be ready for retail sale this fall. The Cruze will be built in Lordstown, Ohio and GM plans to run three shifts which will save thousands of US jobs - another big plus for GM.

The Cruze Eco model is targeted to achieve 40 mpg on the highway due to a GM first: a lower front fascia with shutters.

The Cruze Eco, GM's effort to create a high-mpg car without stripping it of appealing features, closes the shutters automatically at highway speeds to improve aerodynamics and fuel economy.

The Cruze, Chevrolet's new compact sedan, eventually will replace the Cobalt. The Cruze Eco has power windows, power locks and air conditioning. Rather than cutting content to reduce weight, Chevy relied on aerodynamic improvements, an axle ratio that optimizes fuel economy and low-rolling-resistance tires. The car has a six-speed manual transmission.

"We looked at every single possibility of squeezing out the last tenth of a mile per gallon," said Mike Danowski, Cruze product manager. An electric motor is connected to the fascia shutters, which close automatically at 37 mph and reopen at 34 mph. When closed, there is a 0.016 improvement in the coefficient of drag, he said.