Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon to debut in Geneva

General Motors announced this morning that when the Geneva Motor Show opens next month, one of their key attractions for the Swiss show goers will be the new Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon – but this roomy Cruze might not ever show up in American dealerships.

As you can see in the image on the right, the new Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon is larger than the 5-door hatchback version; with the area behind the rear wheels stretched 7 inches to add the extra cargo space. The Cruze Station Wagon is the third version of the vehicle that GM calls “Chevrolet’s most popular car”, joining the hatchback and the sedan but today’s announcement comes with the bad news that much like the Cruze hatchback, there are currently no plans to bring the Cruze Station Wagon to the United States.

"The Cruze station wagon caters to an important market segment. It ticks all the boxes for European drivers in terms of distinctive design, dynamic driving, space and economy," said Chevrolet Europe President and Managing Director Susan Docherty.

5-door models like the Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback and Station Wagon have proven to be very popular in the European and Australian markets but the “station wagon” has acquired a somewhat negative reputation for being tragically unhip vehicles driven only by soccer moms and newspaper delivery people. This view by the American consumer market is at fault for the end of very cool wagons like the Dodge Magnum and although compact hatchbacks have slowly become more popular in the US – full blown wagons still carry a stigma that slows sales. Because of this, we are very unlikely to see the Cruze Station Wagon in North American anytime soon but with the steady growth in popularity of models like the Ford Focus 5-door hatchback; perhaps General Motors will bring one of their larger versions of the Cruze across the pond to the US.

Those locations which do receive the new Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon will get 17.6 cubic feet of storage space with the seats in the upright position and when the seats are folded down, the Cruze Wagon offers an impressive 52 cubic feet of storage space. Buyers will get to pick between a trio of gasoline engines (1.4L turbo, 1.6L, 1.8L) and a pair of diesel engines (1.7L, 2.0L), with start-stop technology on the 1.4L turbo gas engine and both diesel options.

Finally, the new Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon includes the new MyLink system. This pairs your smartphone with the in-dash infotainment system – offering full control of your phone including phone numbers and stored media through the touchscreen control panel.