Recently, a report on style trends indicated that avocado-green kitchen appliances, a staple of the 70s, may be staging a comeback. Hot on the heels of this is news of Chevrolet’s plan to launch a hatchback version of the next-generation Cruze.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra unveiled the redesigned 2016 Cruze sedan at a media event this week, and although that car is a four-door sedan with styling cues taken from the current Impala, it has been reported that a five-door hatchback model likely will appear on the scene not long after the rollout of the sedan.
The hatchback will not require a big engineering effort, because Chevy already sells a hatchback Cruze in overseas markets such as Australia and the dramatically-expanding China market.
In the 70s hatches were hot, but the American market cooled off where others did not. Volkswagen was arguably the first company to realize where the American market was going when it introduced the original Jetta in 1979, a car that was essentially a Rabbit (Golf) with a conventional trunk. VW has also never abandoned the hatchback, having kept the Golf hatch in its line without interruption through today.
But more automakers are now betting that the hatchback market is ready to grow. In addition to the Chevy Cruze, Honda is said to be planning to return a Civic hatchback to the U.S. market next year. Both will compete with, and perhaps be inspired by, the Ford Focus hatchback, which accounts for about 40 percent of Focus sales.
Despite forecasts of increased hatchback sales, it is still expected that the real growth in the small vehicle market will continue to be found in crossovers. While you might be able to fit that avocado-green ‘fridge into the hatch of your new Cruze, it will fit even more readily into your Trax or Equinox.