After three years of production, it looks like this entire first-generation era of the Chevrolet Cruze (2011-2015) won't be receiving any awards for reliability at all. There are way more number of black dots in Cruze's reliability chart published by Consumer Reports than I thought, especially the mainstream 1.8L version, and I personally think GM could have done better in much earlier time.
With more number of black dots than I thought, you don't want to imagine what the chart looks like in the future 2021 edition, which will by now show Cruze's complete reliability history years since 2011, and it will be nothing but filled with numerous black dots all over when the cars get older. Technically, Cruze's reliability score is identical to the Cobalt and Cavalier we had before (same below-average mark, half white-half black dot), and nothing has changed at all, even today, very disappointedly.
Now the 2016 redesign is coming shortly, what improvements in quality and reliability will be there, and will it ever match Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla? GM should and must urgently put Cruze #1 priority in reliability improvement, or we will never jump-start the domestic car market and the US economy in our lifetime. Despite Cruze's decent 248,00 sales number and GM's best-selling model (but majority were sold to fleets), it's still in a minor market share, and many reluctant American people still refuse to own another American car. Go ask and speak to your neighbor who has been driving Japanese for a long time.
We're still way below GM's all-time peak 1985 Cavalier's 432,000 sales figure, and we have a long way to go. We cannot allow GM to continue producing low-reliability vehicles without doing extensive testing in quality control. GM should learn and copy what Toyota is doing with their new 2014 Corolla.
To jump start the domestic auto industry and create trust by majority of the American people, the cars MUST maintain a reliability rating score of above-average and better for at least 5 years, and the next-generation version showing excellent rating or better, with higher score than the previous. Then the reluctant buyers will come in. I know this may sound too demanding for the American cars and for the union assembly workers to improve build quality, but this is the only way to prove yourself as an automaker.
There were some attempts made recently, actually. Ford released the Fusion and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ in 2006 through 2012, and this is the only known body generation from an American car maker maintaining a reliability score of above-average and better. Ford Fusion was rated more-reliable than Toyota Camry and Honda Accord at one time (2007-2009). Unfortunately, they slid-off sharply starting with the 2013 redesign, and the trust with Fusion is over now. It was in a border-line gap that Fusion could be seeing sales spike and trust.
Regardless, until recently in 2011, Ford has always done a good job maintaining the famous white dot average score for years (since 1995 to 2010, about 15 years). The Ford Escort and Focus have always scored higher in reliability than the Chevrolet Cavalier and Cobalt, and now I fear the next-generation 2017 Focus will outrank Cruze once again.
Actually, the more I see the reliability charts history, the more I realize that GM DON'T have the capacity to build more-reliable cars than Ford, and maybe Chrysler next in the line. It may be GM's own old nature to produce less-reliable vehicles than Ford, but I will let your own opinion decide.
Please share your inputs and thoughts as I think it's a serious issue. I would love to hear from GM what they're saying about this. How can GM get the Civic and Corolla drivers back to Chevy's showroom?
With more number of black dots than I thought, you don't want to imagine what the chart looks like in the future 2021 edition, which will by now show Cruze's complete reliability history years since 2011, and it will be nothing but filled with numerous black dots all over when the cars get older. Technically, Cruze's reliability score is identical to the Cobalt and Cavalier we had before (same below-average mark, half white-half black dot), and nothing has changed at all, even today, very disappointedly.
Now the 2016 redesign is coming shortly, what improvements in quality and reliability will be there, and will it ever match Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla? GM should and must urgently put Cruze #1 priority in reliability improvement, or we will never jump-start the domestic car market and the US economy in our lifetime. Despite Cruze's decent 248,00 sales number and GM's best-selling model (but majority were sold to fleets), it's still in a minor market share, and many reluctant American people still refuse to own another American car. Go ask and speak to your neighbor who has been driving Japanese for a long time.
We're still way below GM's all-time peak 1985 Cavalier's 432,000 sales figure, and we have a long way to go. We cannot allow GM to continue producing low-reliability vehicles without doing extensive testing in quality control. GM should learn and copy what Toyota is doing with their new 2014 Corolla.
To jump start the domestic auto industry and create trust by majority of the American people, the cars MUST maintain a reliability rating score of above-average and better for at least 5 years, and the next-generation version showing excellent rating or better, with higher score than the previous. Then the reluctant buyers will come in. I know this may sound too demanding for the American cars and for the union assembly workers to improve build quality, but this is the only way to prove yourself as an automaker.
There were some attempts made recently, actually. Ford released the Fusion and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ in 2006 through 2012, and this is the only known body generation from an American car maker maintaining a reliability score of above-average and better. Ford Fusion was rated more-reliable than Toyota Camry and Honda Accord at one time (2007-2009). Unfortunately, they slid-off sharply starting with the 2013 redesign, and the trust with Fusion is over now. It was in a border-line gap that Fusion could be seeing sales spike and trust.
Regardless, until recently in 2011, Ford has always done a good job maintaining the famous white dot average score for years (since 1995 to 2010, about 15 years). The Ford Escort and Focus have always scored higher in reliability than the Chevrolet Cavalier and Cobalt, and now I fear the next-generation 2017 Focus will outrank Cruze once again.
Actually, the more I see the reliability charts history, the more I realize that GM DON'T have the capacity to build more-reliable cars than Ford, and maybe Chrysler next in the line. It may be GM's own old nature to produce less-reliable vehicles than Ford, but I will let your own opinion decide.
Please share your inputs and thoughts as I think it's a serious issue. I would love to hear from GM what they're saying about this. How can GM get the Civic and Corolla drivers back to Chevy's showroom?