Quote:
Originally Posted by PressEnter[]
...it seems like TDI fans love their manuals. I think Chevy is making a mistake not offering it.
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I agree 100%
VW has never stopped selling diesels in North America (I think?), and has been the only company offering small diesel powered cars since the 80's. Just about everyone knows by now that if you want a diesel you go to a VW dealer... TDI has almost become its own "brand".
GM is entering new territory with the Cruze TD. I guarantee that the general public will remain oblivious to its existence unless GM fires up a huge $$$ marketing campaign. Hardly anyone walking into a GM dealership is going to be headed there to investigate the Cruze TD... I believe most of their sales are going to be from "up-selling" people who were already looking at a Cruze LTZ. That doesn't look good.
The people who WILL know about the Cruze TD are the ones on the internet reading the car blogs and hanging out in forums like this... the ENTHUSIASTS. All of the "free" advertising hype surrounding the launch of the car will be getting to the very people who GM is not targetting by not offering a MUCH cheaper model with a manual transmission, since a large percentage of the enthusiasts are the ones who would want a manual.
The impact of the enthusiast should not be overlooked. If it were not for the enthusiasts, the internet would be all but void of interesting car related stuff. The only thing on the internet would be company websites and stale car reviews watered down for the general public.