Chevy Cruze Diesel Targets 50-mpg Highway Rating

General Motors Co. predicts its 2018 diesel Chevrolet Cruze small car with a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder diesel engine will have a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy rating of at least 50 mpg when it goes on sale this spring.

“I think it (highway mpg) will start with a 5,” Mark Reuss, GM’s product development chief, tells Automotive News. This would make the model the first non-hybrid car in the U.S. to break the 50 mpg threshold since the Honda CRX HF received a 51 mpg rating in 1987, the newspaper notes.

The new diesel Cruze will have two transmission choices: a 9-speed automatic and a 6-speed manual. Latter gearbox will be the more efficient transmission, according to Mike Siegrist, chief engineer for the diesel.

The previous Cruze with a 2.0-liter diesel and 6-speed automatic had an EPA highway rating of 44 mpg. That engine had a cast-iron block, while the new 1.6-liter diesel features a lightweight aluminum block.

The 1.6-liter mill, which also will be offered in the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers, generates 137 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque. This compares with 148 hp and 258 lb-ft for the larger diesel.

GM debuted the 2.0-liter diesel in the Cruze in 2013. That was GM’s first diesel-powered car sold in the U.S. since the Chevy Chevette in 1986.