Chevrolet unveiled its second-generation Cruze today in Detroit, with new styling, lighter curb weight, and a new standard 1.4L Ecotec turbocharged engine that boasts a healthy power bump over the old car’s motor, which shared the same displacement.

The car is a little bigger than the outgoing car: a 68-mm stretch in overall length and a 25-mm chop out of the car’s height combine to give the car a sleeker stance, and a 14-mm longer wheelbase contributes to a small increase in interior space.

Gone is the boring 1.8L normally-aspirated motor that served base versions of the old car; the new 1.4L turbo is standard, and gains of 15 hp and 29 lb-ft of torque (153 and 177, respectively) promise a noticeable performance boost given the new Cruze’s trimmer curb weight–engineers used high-strength steel to cut 113 kg from the body structure, which the manufacturer claims is 27 percent stiffer. GM estimates highway fuel consumption of 5.9 L/100 km, and auto start/stop will help save fuel in city driving. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard, and a six-speed auto will be the option, which contradicts our previous report that the car would use a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

A 1.6L turbodiesel will join the line in 2017, replacing the 2.0L in the current car; GM says diesel details will be announced closer to the start of production, but the company says the new motor “specifically targets the German (read: Jetta and Golf) dominance in the segment.”

We’ll soon have a more detailed rundown of the new Cruze from contributor Paul Williams, who attended the unveiling.

The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze – a larger, lighter, more efficient and more sophisticated evolution of the brand’s best-selling global car.

The 2016 Chevrolet Cruze – a larger, lighter, more efficient and more sophisticated evolution of the brand’s best-selling global car.

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