People are Buying the Chevrolet Cruze -- 22,771 Sold In May

FYI: Chevrolet Buyer's Guide

DETROIT, June 2, 2011 -- For the first time in five years, an American car is the best selling compact car in the United States. The Chevrolet Cruze recorded 22,711 segment-topping sales in May, and achieved its second consecutive appearance on the Top 10 across all U.S. auto segments.

The Cruze also has helped Chevrolet gain share in the compact segment -- which represented 16 percent of total U.S. sales in May -- and accelerated the brand's shift to fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines.

In May, fuel-efficient models four-cylinder vehicles -- including Cruze, Equinox and Malibu -- accounted for 51 percent of Chevrolet retail sales. That is up from 36 percent in May a year ago, and doubles the rate of four-cylinder sales five years ago.

"The launch of the Cruze has exceeded all of our expectations," said Alan Batey, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Sales and Service. "Cruze launched as a brand-new vehicle, with a brand-new name, in one of the most competitive segments in the industry.

"Today, Consumer consideration for the Cruze has increased to the point that it is on many of the same shopping lists as established compact cars, like Civic and Corolla," he said. "This is an incredible accomplishment, even considering the industry's disruptions caused by the tragedy in Japan."

Cruze trails only the Honda Civic in sales for the 2011 calendar year:

The Cruze has increased Chevrolet's share of the compact car segment, even as the segment grew by 19 percent year to date. For 2011, Chevrolet accounted for 11.9 percent of the compact car market, up from 9.5 percent a year ago.

Much of the success of the Cruze can be attributed to its exterior styling and fuel efficiency, which were ranked as the top reasons for purchase in an internal survey of more than 500 Cruze buyers.

Karen Peters of Hemet, Calif., traded in her 2005 Toyota Corolla for a Cruze after seeing the Cruze in a television ad.

"I just fell in love with the Cruze the first time I saw it," she said. "There was nothing wrong with my Corolla, and I wasn't even looking for a new car. But something about the Cruze just stuck with me. I finally had to go for a test drive, just to get it out of my system. All it took was a short test drive, and I fell in love with the Cruze."

Like Peters, nearly 51 percent of Cruze buyers are new to Chevrolet, either trading in a non-GM vehicle or purchasing outright -- suggesting they were either adding a vehicle to the household or that the Cruze was their first new car. For 2011, Cruze has brought more than 40,000 of these "conquest" buyers -- second only to the Silverado full-size pickup for attracting new customers to the brand.