[obermd]

First, we need to confirm the exact model of your car. Is this a 2016 Cruze Limited LS Automatic or a 2016 Cruze LS Automatic. The Limited is a 1.8L engine and the other trim is a 1.4T direct injection engine.

In the case of the LS Limited, this is the nature of the beast but most people who hear it report this every single time. The generation 1 automatics have a shift to neutral feature that some people can hear reengaging.

If it's a generation 2 LS then I'm going to guess that the times you don't hear the clunk is when the auto-stop feature didn't engage. When the auto-stop restarts the engine this is a light but noticlble clunk.

In both cases I suspect your car is operating normally.

 

[obermd]

Can someone tell me how the a/c is driven in a stop start engined car?

Two A/C modes. ECO mode the A/C stops and the blower switches to low. Full mode the engine doesn't stop.

 

[obermd]

That makes stop start pretty useless in an Australian summer.

Ditto here in the Southern US. But it makes for excellent EPA City mileage calculations. EPA testing is done with all accessories (radio, A/C, daytime running lamps, etc.) off.

 

[obermd]

And they smashed VW for cheating, two faced it seems.

TOTALLY different scenarios.

VW was caught cheating on emissions. This would be a MPG cheat, but only if it is shown to bring the car's fuel economy down significantly below the rated City MPG. Given that GM is rather conservative with their fuel economy numbers I doubt that the A/C being on all the time will bring this number down far enough to cause an issue.