The most important new car General Motors is building is not the Chevy Volt. Though the high-tech, plug-in hybrid Volt wins media coverage worldwide, it's not yet clear when that car will reach production - or whether anyone will be able to afford one if it does. The car that might save GM is actually the 2011 Chevy Cruze. A new compact car that is very close to production, the Cruze could well be GM's answer to the popular Honda Civic - a well-made, reliable, fun-to-drive small car that's attractive and fits within the budget for millions of Americans. The Cruze may even be the most fuel-efficient small car on the market in a year or so.

Those ideas, however, are all based on conjecture. No one outside of GM has driven the Cruze.

Until now. Motor Trend has published the first test drive of Chevy's next small car. They were invited to preview a European version of the Cruze, which was close to the U.S.-bound edition, but has engines that won't be sold here. The verdict? Mixed.

Visually, MT writes, the Cruze "has a surprising hint of BMW 5 Series about it. It's a more interesting shape than the Corolla, for sure." Inside, they found the appointments "reasonably fresh and nicely executed." On the road, it "rolls little and handles tidily." However, the two engine choices MT was allowed to test were both "unacceptably harsh," with "a dull drone to them, and have flat spots and seem unwilling to rev even to their modest red-lines."

GM promises an entirely new engine -- a turbocharged four-cylinder with direct injection, for the U.S. market. After trying the Euro models, MT writes, "We await it keenly, especially as GM is promising city gas mileage in the high 30mpg range."

"Is the Cruze good enough to take the fight to Honda and Toyota here in America?" MT asks. "Right now GM can hardly see beyond the end of the week, let alone next year, but assuming the corporation survives, the basic soundness of the Cruze is beyond doubt." But if the U.S.-bound engine anything like the two Euro models, they write, "then GM will have failed us. Again."

Of course, any new small car introduced into this economy also needs to be affordable if it hopes to sell. GM has finally given us a clue on the pricing of the Cruze. Jalopnik reports, "The Chevy Cruze wlll hit Europe an entire year before going on sale in the US. Yesterday, GM announced UK pricing on the car. It'll start at a reasonable £11,545 ($15,770)."

Autoblog, however, cautions that "prices in the UK typically don't translate well to U.S. dollars," but notes that the announced price, "the base Cruze would put it in the same price class as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla."

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