General Motors Co. said Thursday the new Chevrolet Cruze diesel sedan will get an estimated 46 miles (74 kilometers) per gallon in highway driving, 4 miles better than the company said in February.
The Cruze diesel, which starts in sales price at $25,695, including freight charges, goes on sale in some U.S. cities, including Milwaukee and Baltimore, beginning in June followed by a national introduction in the fourth quarter, said Annalisa Bluhm, a Chevrolet spokeswoman.
The model is one of about 20 new vehicles Detroit-based GM is bringing out in the U.S. this year as the automaker works to replace an aging lineup following its 2009 U.S. bankruptcy reorganization.
GM’s U.S. market share dropped to an 88-year-low in 2012 as Toyota rebounded from natural disasters in Asia in 2011. GM, Toyota and German-based Volkswagen are vying to be the world’s best-selling automaker.
VW has seen increasing success from its diesel vehicles in the U.S. About 20 percent of VW’s 146,478 Jetta sedan deliveries last year in the U.S. were diesel, according to the company.
Gary Altman, chief engineer for Chevrolet small cars, told reporters in February that the diesel Cruze was expected to get 42 mpg on the highway.
“We were still testing at the time,” Bluhm said. “Engineers really went for incremental improvements and got 46.”
GM has said it hasn’t sold a diesel car in the U.S. since the 1986 Chevrolet Chevette.