雪佛兰科鲁兹是通用汽车公司的全球畅销车型。科鲁兹2016版使用了全新的生产平台，让这款C级车的车身变得更长、更宽敞、动力性更强、更为轻巧（重量减轻113公斤）。此外，2016版科鲁兹还配备了一系列新技术，其中包括带有自动启停功能的全新1.4L直喷涡轮汽油发动机与一系列车辆互联技术。

目前用在德国欧宝一些车型上的1.6L涡轮柴油发动机，由通用汽车匈牙利圣戈特哈德工厂生产，计划用于2017年初在北美上市的科鲁兹车型。

新版科鲁兹将销往全球40多个国家，通用汽车的D2XX紧凑平台代替了目前使用的Delta II平台。同样使用Delta II平台的还有别克威朗、雪佛兰Equinox、欧宝雅特等车型。科鲁兹原本只有四门三厢车体，而今后还将加入五门两厢车体。新版科鲁兹的轴距从现在的105.7英寸（2685毫米）加长至106.3英寸（2700毫米），总长亦增加了2.7英寸（69毫米），这使其车身大于本田思域、福特福克斯、道奇Dart、马自达3、现代伊兰特、日产 Sentra和大众捷达等竞争车型。

通用汽车表示，新版科鲁兹的内部空间比以前更宽敞，后排腿部空间为36.1英寸（917毫米），不仅比旧版更大，而且还比福克斯和伊兰特的后座腿部空间长了2英寸（51毫米）。前轮距和后轮距与旧版相同，分别为60.8英寸（1544毫米）和61.3英寸（1557毫米）。

与2016版雪佛兰沃蓝达一样，新版科鲁兹的总高度也有所降低。工程师指出，总高度下降1英寸（25毫米）不仅使车身看起来更圆润，还能让拖动系数（Cd）变成0.29，公路燃油效率预计能够达到40mpg。但6月24日新版科鲁兹发布时EPA燃油效率测试尚未完成。

据称，新车架构的坚固程度比2015版高出27%，这有助于降低车内噪音，提升汽车动力性能，并保障乘客安全。车身使用8%热冲压成型/高强度钢合金打造而成，重量较旧版降低了53磅（24公斤）。

新版科鲁兹的麦弗逊柱前悬挂与扭梁后桥都使用了铝和优化钢部件，因此通用汽车首席执行工程师Ron Arnesen认为新版科鲁兹的底盘系统“也许是这个级别中质量效率最高的”。新版的车轮尺寸为从15-18英寸不等。

通用汽车在新版科鲁兹上使用的新一代1.4L涡轮增压发动机造就了安静的车内环境。小型Ecotec汽油发动机首席工程师Tom Sutter告诉《汽车工程杂志》，新版科鲁兹车内测得的噪音级别相比参照车型大众1.4L TSI低了50%（6dB(A)）。发动机的敞开式铸模铝气缸体构成了一个可强化底部的床板结构，这也使汽车固有的NVH性能得到了提升。

铝制缸体的重量也比当前Family Zero系列的1.4L涡轮发动机所使用的灰铸铁缸体轻了20磅（9公斤）。新发动机依然保持旧版的长冲程设计，但新版车型的直喷气缸压缩比为10:1，使该发动机的SAE功率评级提升至转速为5600rpm条件下的153 hp（114 kW），而采用喷嘴燃油喷射的旧版发动机为138 hp （103 kW）。在扭矩方面，SAE的评级结果为177 lb·ft （240 N·m）。此外新发动机还使用了摩擦较低的活塞环、凸轮轴驱动和油泵等部件。新版驱动桥采用了标准M32六速手动变速箱和6T35六速自动变速箱。

在新版科鲁兹的车厢内，用户将看到雪佛兰标志性的双座舱布局、大量安全功能和车载信息娱乐配置。中控台上的7英寸MyLink屏幕不仅能与Google Android Auto和Apple CarPlay互相兼容（使用后者的用户可配置8英寸屏幕），还配有无线手机充电的功能。Android Auto要求用户使用Android Lollipop 5.0或以上的手机，而Apple CarPlay则要求用户使用iPhone 5或更高级别的机型。此外车内还配有支持Wi-Fi热点的标准安吉星 4G LTE。新版科鲁兹的汽车安全功能包括侧边盲区警示、车后超车警示、车道偏离警示和前方碰撞警示等。

目前，将于北美上市的2016年新版科鲁兹由通用汽车俄亥俄州洛兹敦工厂负责生产，公司为此投入了5000万美元以升级生产设施。

2016 Chevrolet Cruze is larger, longer, and sheds 250 lb

General Motors’ best-selling global product, the Chevrolet Cruze, gains an all-new platform for 2016 that helps make the C-segment model longer, roomier, more aerodynamic, and lighter—shedding 250 lb (113 kg)—while gaining the new 1.4-L direct-injected turbocharged gasoline engine with stop-start and a suite of available connected-vehicle technologies.

A 1.6-L turbodiesel sourced from GM’s Szentgotthárd, Hungary, plant currently offered in Opel models is scheduled to debut in North American Cruze models in early 2017.

To be sold in over 40 countries, the new Cruze shifts to GM’s D2XX compact platform which succeeds the current Delta II that is shared with Buick Verano, Chevy Equinox, Opel Astra, and others. The four-door notchback body style is expected to be joined by a five-door hatch. A slight increase in wheelbase, to 106.3 in (2700 mm) from the current 105.7 in (2685 mm), along with 2.7 in (69 mm) longer overall length, makes the new Cruze larger than competitors Honda Civic,Ford Focus, Dodge Dart, Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra, and VolkswagenJetta.

Inside, the car is roomier than its predecessor and boasts more rear legroom—36.1 in (917 mm)—and 2 in (51 mm) more rear knee room than Focus and Elantra, according to GM. Front and rear tracks carry over from the current Cruze, at 60.8 in (1544 mm) and 61.3 in (1557 mm), respectively.

Like the 2016 Chevrolet Volt, the new Cruze’s overall height has been reduced—by nearly 1 in (25 mm), giving it a sleeker look and enabling a 0.29 coefficient of drag (Cd)—a factor in the car achieving the estimated 40-mpg highway fuel efficiency, engineers noted. EPA fuel efficiency testing was not yet completed at the car’s June 24 reveal.

The new body architecture, claimed to be 27% stiffer overall than the 2015 model, is expected to help further decrease cabin noise as well as improve vehicle dynamic performance and occupant safety. The body shell uses about 8% hot-stamped/high-strength steel alloys that help reduce mass by 53 lb (24 kg) versus the incumbent Cruze's.

Executive Chief Engineer Ron Arnesen calls the Cruze’s chassis system “perhaps the most mass-efficient in the segment,” with aluminum and optimized steel components used in the MacPherson strut front suspension and in the torsion-beam rear setup. Wheel size ranges from 15 to 18 in.

GM’s switch to its new-generation 1.4-L turbocharged engine for Cruze contributes to the car’s interior quiet. Measured noise levels are up to 50% quieter—6 dB(A)—than the benchmark VW 1.4-L TSI, Small Ecotec Gas Engines Chief Engineer Tom Sutter told Automotive Engineering. The engine’s open-deck, diecast aluminum cylinder block features a bedplate architecture that stiffens up the lower end, also contributing to inherently better NVH attenuation.

The aluminum block is also 20 lb (9 kg) lighter than the grey iron block in the current-gen Family Zero 1.4-L turbo engine. Still a long-stroke design, the new engine also gains direct injection that, along with a 10:1 compression ratio, helps boost its SAE-certified power rating to 153 hp (114 kW) at 5600 rpm—up from 138 hp (103 kW) on the previous port-injected unit. SAE rated torque is 177 lb·ft (240 N·m). Low-friction piston rings, camshaft drive, and oil pump are used. Transaxles are a standard M32 six-speed manual and available 6T35 six-speed automatic.

Inside Cruze, customers will find the Chevy-signature dual cockpit layout with vast safety capability and infotainment connectivity. The 7-in MyLink screen in the center stack is compatible with Google Android Auto and Apple CarPlay—the latter available with an 8-in screen, and offers wireless phone charging. Android Auto requires a phone running the Android Lollipop 5.0 operating system or above, while Apple CarPlay requires an iPhone 5 or later. There’s standard OnStar 4G LTE with Wi-Fi hotspot. Available safety features include side blind-zone alert, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, and forward collision alert.

Cruzes sold in North America are being built at GM’s Lordstown, OH, complex, which received a $50-million upgrade for the 2016 program.