Chevrolet Cruze

Electric vehicles are giving automakers a boost — in marketing appeal. Although sales haven't exactly been electrifying, the vehicles are helping auto companies draw more shoppers to their showrooms, something that would not have happened without the curiosity over the new autos. "There is such a halo effect," said Oliver Hazimeh, an automotive industry consultant at PwC's PRTM Management Consulting. "These cars appeal to the cool tech-savvy consumer segment. " Just having those vehicles in the showroom can translate into sales of other models, Hazimeh said.

General Motors Co. had its most profitable quarter in more than a decade, posting $3.2 billion in earnings as it sold more cars in the U.S. But on Wall Street the blockbuster results were not enough to counter growing worries among investors that a shaky economic recovery and high gas prices could dampen sales. GM shares fell $1.02, or 3%, to close Thursday at $32.02. Analysts noted that a large share of the profits came from the sale of GM's stakes in parts supplier Delphi Automotive and Ally Financial, which netted $1.9 billion for the automaker.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze Base price: $16,995 Price as tested: $18,995 Powertrain: 1.4-liter, turbocharged, DOHC, inline four, four valves per cylinder, double continuously variable cam phase intake and exhaust, sequential multiport fuel injection Horsepower: 138 at 4,900 rpm Torque: 148 pound-feet at 1,850 rpm Curb weight: 3,102 pounds Fuel economy : 24 mpg highway/36 city Final thoughts:...

As the economy stumbles along in recovery, bargains continue to define the marketplace, whether it's dinner at McDonald's, refreshing a winter wardrobe at Target or buying an affordable car. Take the new Chevrolet Cruze, a compact sedan that advances the economically induced ideology of building fuel-efficient cars that customers might actually want. Like many compact and subcompact cars of late, the Cruze, which starts at $16,995, is equipped with features that haven't traditionally been available on budget cars.

General Motors Co. posted its third consecutive profitable quarter Wednesday and is on track to have its first full-year profit since 2004. The Detroit automaker's announcement of a $2-billion profit comes just days before its public offering Nov. 18. Bolstered by higher auto sales, GM reported that revenue rose 28% to $34.1 billion in the quarter. Earnings per share jumped $1.20, compared with a loss of 73 cents a share a year earlier, the company said. "We have just started doing a better job marketing our brands to consumers," GM Chief Executive Daniel F. Akerson said in a conference call with analysts.

Remember the "This isn't your father's Oldsmobile" advertising campaign? It was such a flop, General Motors Co. couldn't save the brand. The automaker's history is riddled with dead brands that couldn't attract enough younger buyers to stay alive. Pontiac was once GM's sporty performance division. But the last Pontiac rolled off the assembly line in November. Saturn, the division designed to win over a younger generation of buyers, sputtered and is shutting down this year. So why are GM executives so excited about Buick — the brand most likely to be left behind when mom and dad move to the senior living center?

Forget the supercars and green machines. At this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, the emphasis is on affordable small cars and minivans. The auto industry, trying to climb out of its worst sales slump in decades, wants the spotlight on vehicles it can sell -- now. Last month's tepid U.S. car sales only underscored the industry's need to focus on getting consumers to buy cars, instead of trying to impress the auto critics. So the big global debut at this year's L.A. show, which begins Friday and runs through Dec. 13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, is a redesigned Toyota minivan.

General Motors Corp. said Friday that it had picked two Michigan plants to build a small, fuel-efficient car that it will begin making in 2011. In doing so, GM will save the jobs of about 1,400 workers at an Orion Township, Mich., assembly plant and a Pontiac, Mich., sheet metal factory. But the news was probably a death knell for two other domestic plants that the automaker had been considering. One of those plants, in Spring Hill, Tenn., employs about 2,500 people.

General Motors Corp. will spend more than $500 million to build a new small car in Ohio as part of a campaign to replace slow-selling trucks with more fuel-efficient models. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner announced the investment in Lordstown, where GM will assemble the Chevrolet Cruze in 2010. The Cruze will replace the Chevy Cobalt.