Video: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze

But this car could make a much bigger splash in part, because it has a pint size turbo engine capable of almost 40 miles per gallon, reportedly. That's four or five miles per gallon better than a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. Upfront you'll notice that there's a split grill. This is becoming familiar now on Chevy models, particularly the Malibu, you'll notice it as well. As you go back, you'll see the profile kind of reminds you a little bit of Pontiac's G8. It's muscular, it's got short overhangs even has the same sort of squared off door handles as the G8, that's a good thing. Rear end doesn't seem quite as memorable, but it doesn't have a trunk that measures just over 13 cubic feet. That beats the Civic and Corolla trunks. Not quite as large as the Ford Focus trunks. Now all three cars do have a split folding or folding rear seats. This does not, it's a fixed rear seat. There's only a pass through for skis and other long narrow items. So if you go to Home Depot or Target and buy really large things, that might be a deal breaker for you. The cabin has the same twin cal sort of dashboard design that you see in a lot of other Chevy products from the Malibu all the way up through the Corvette. A lot of expected things you'd get in this class, a height adjustable driver's seat, tilt and telescoping steering wheel. The seats have this kind of textured woven material. It's comfortable, I'm not sure it's very high quality. It kind of continues onto the mid dash. This is actually an interesting way of avoiding the inevitable use of hard touch plastics you find in this price range. The Smart ForTwo kind of has something similar going on. Gone is GM's old and pretty user-friendly stereo face plate. Instead, there's this sort of phalanx of buttons right here with a directional keypad for the optional navigation system. Storage room is pretty good. There's a pretty large glove compartment. There's a small pocket here with the auxiliary and USB inputs for your iPod, that's a nice thing. And upscale options in this show car include things like automatic climate control, heated front seats, those are nice to have in this segment. Expect safety features like curtain airbags and anti-lock brakes to be standard and with stability control required on all cars by 2012, we wouldn't be too surprised to see that make the list as well. The depressed sales year with car buyers moving toward anything more affordable GM could sure use a big hit like the Cruze. Car like this getting almost 40 miles per gallon if the price is right could provide some much needed traction. <v Narrator>For additional information on this car or any other go to cars.com and our blog Kicking Tires.