When we talk about Chevrolet in India then we don’t remember much models from this brand but still it has a soft corner in Indian car buyers.
Chevrolet’s an American car company which is owned by General Motors group but why this globally successful car got failed in Indian car market.
And why they shut down their business in india and not only single time but this car brand had to close its business in india second time before they left india.
History
Chevrolet introduced some famous and failed products in indian car market during its operation from early 2000s to till 2017 when Chevrolet finally stopped its operation in India.
There were some successful cars in indian market before cruze was launched for example Chevrolet Tavera, beat, spark, aveo and some failed attempt of chevrolet like forestor, sr-v, optra, Captiva.
There was only one car which was launched in india by chevrolet in its last years if operation in india due to poor sales and it was a premium true American suv chevrolet trailblazer which was on sale only for 2 years after its launch in india.
Cruze journey
Cruze is also known as j300 and Chevrolet was already selling this car in Japanese, Australian and new Zealand car market with this name but it wasn’t a proper sedan it was a semi light duty SUV.
but chevrolet didn’t do a proper analysis of indian car market and they launched an underpowered but overpriced car optra which could not impress Indian buyers.
After all of this blunder chevrolet finally launched its iconic best selling car chevrolet cruze which was also known as j300 and this car later earned a historical name as a diesel rocket due to its ergonomically performance.
Updates and upgrades
Initially cruze was launched with 2.0 liter turbocharged diesel engine which produces 150 ps and 320 nm torque which was giving a punchy driving experience at that time which became its usp. Chevrolet introduced only one engine option in india with diesel engine where there was petrol engine launched in us and Europen countries.
First generation (2009)
First generation cruze had some electronics and mechanical issue which resulted in factory recall to so many units to fix it
Common issue which was faced by owner was steering column failure, engine compartment fire risk. But still it was safest sedan with 5 start ncap euro crash test rating.
First major change(2011)
There was second update in cruze after 2 years of its debut in 2011 where cruze got improvements in fit and finish and Chevrolet tried to work on previous issues.
This upgraded version got extra performance with increased power figure from 150 to 166 ps and 380 nm torque which gave it a name diesel rocket it was beast according to that time.
The combination of power and style in affordable price increased its customers which were modifying it to the next level.
After many improvements in this car there were still some reliability issues which raised a question mark who were owning it or planning to buy one.
The main issue with this car was plastic coolant outlet which was causing issues by cracking and then resulting in overhearing which was affecting engine gaskets and cylinder head damage.
Chevrolet didn’t have a big share in indian market so there were limited showrooms and services which were resulting in parts unavailability and making repairing time longer.
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Second generation (2016)
Soon after chevrolet brought second generation in india in 2016 which was later proved a reliable car with lots of improvements in components.
Chevrolet decided to give extra premium look and increased safety features to make ot even more safe by introducing modern features in second generation cruze.
Cruze got this time soft touch interior, touchscreen infotainment system with mylink and ot added 6 airbags for extra safety stability control and advanced abs.
Cruze was still available in only diesel engine which was same as previous one but it was most reliable engine with increased mileage.
Cruze started giving 2 transmission options from 2011 which was manual transmission for base trim LT and both manual and automatic transmission in top varient LTZ.
Manual LT and LTZ were giving approximately 17+ mileage where automatic LTZ was giving 14 kmpl mileage.
Price
Chevrolet did a mistake with price while launching optra in india and it was a overpriced car which caused the failure of the optra so this time Chevrolet was cautious about price bracket.
Finally cruze was launched with price of 12.98 lacs in October 2009 and Chevrolet decided to manufactur cruze in india to reduce the price to save money from import tax.
Now chevrolet was giving competition to brands like Honda ford Suzuki skoda with this reasonable price of cruze by offering more power and features in less price.
Look
This factor also played a crucial role in its popularity in Indian car market. This sedan was giving premium look with sportier and futuristic design.
Large and aggressive front grill was giving a different road presence to this car with premium look and side profile long and sporty with sleek designed door panels and long hood with sharp boot.
Long wheel base, sporty aerodynamics, wide widths all these point were giving it a true American muscle car appearance with rich performance.
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Features
All those features which are standard in 2025, those were given in 2009 in cruze even at that price point such as comfortable leather seats with tremendous comfort to give a tough competition to those recliner sofas at premium hotels.
There was Bluetooth connectivity touchscreen infotainment, rear parking cameras with sensors, rain sensor wipers, keyless entry, cruise control etc.
Central console was inspired by plane cockpit which was giving a unique experience for both driver and passenger.
Success of cruze in indian car market
After offering such tremendous value to the customers in a very affordable price cruze hit a massive success with records sales.
Cruze defeated most selling car honda civic by selling 25% more cars than civic and it was slightly behind from top selling car Toyota corolla by only 200 cars.
Why chevrolet had to close its operation in india despite having such good car?
Chevrolet made a place in indian car market with its famous suv Tavera and then brought iconic hatchback Spark but still Chevrolet didn’t have good reputation in indian customers as it was lacking good cars.
There are some those cars which mostly indian have never heard about as it didn’t compete with other car brands due to poopr reliability or marketing.
When there wasn’t any reliable or value for money chevrolet model then cruze ignited a spark of hope in this company but due to make in India strategy, this car had lots of reliable issues which started shattering customers trust in chevrolet.
When other cars were bringing advanced technology and features in their car, cruze took very long time to upgrade and this car was already facing reliable issues so customers started avoiding this car.
Chevrolet sale was dropping day by day and it was becoming very hard for them to operate their business in india so chevrolet shut their business in india and this most loved car had to stop manufacturing.
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