Chevrolet is celebrating its 100th birthday this month. One of the highlights of the centennial celebration is hitting the 1 million global sales mark with its popular affordable small car, the Chevrolet Cruze.
The Cruze “is the fourth best-selling nameplate in its segment and the seventh best-selling nameplate overall,” Chevy says in a statment . The Cruze is sold in many global markets besides the U.S., including China, Russia, Canada, Spain and India.
The Detroit Free Press says the Cruze has been one of the major reasons for GM’s turnaround since receiving taxpayer-funded government bailouts.

“In its first 12 months of sales, the Chevrolet Cruze compact ranked 10th among all U.S. vehicle purchases,” the Detroit Free Press reports. “The car’s Lordstown, Ohio plant has been running three shifts plus overtime Saturdays since late spring and has still had difficulty meeting racing consumer demand.”
The Chevrolet Cruze is the successor to the Cobalt, which reviewers mostly disliked. The 2012 Chevy Cruze starts at $16,720. The popular Cruze ECO, which boasts engineering enhancements to slightly increase fuel economy over non-ECO models, starts at $19,245.
The Associated Press recently reported that in early 2013, GM will be adding a diesel to the Cruze’s engine lineup, and says that the diesel variant is expected to get about 50 mpg. Pricing for the diesel Cruze has not yet been announced, but it will also be built at the Lordstown, Ohio factory.