The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is positioned to challenge the Asian brands that have long dominated the compact segment.

American automakers have never been fond of small cars, products that seldom, if ever, yielded serious profits.  Sure, there’ve been a couple valiant efforts, from General Motors a list that notably includes the controversial Chevrolet Vega, but often, Detroit’s offerings have been little more than reluctant afterthoughts.

That’s reflected in the sales and market share charts which have long been dominated by Japanese imports such as the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic.  But could the compact car segment by ripe for a revolution?  As a well-regarded media analyst recently suggested, we may soon see a time when the best small cars on the market come from Detroit.

While we’ll have to wait a bit to get behind the wheel of the U.S. version of Ford’s next-generation Focus, we did have some extended driving time in the new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze.  And what we experienced supports the idea that this new Chevy offering could displace its Japanese rivals as the benchmark to beat. (See Driving the Chevrolet Cruze – Mixing it up between the mid-size and compact segments.)

The stylish, soft-touch interior of the 2011 Chevy Cruze is a sharp contrast to the hard plastic used in many of the Asian offerings.

The 2011 Cruze is not only the most stylish offering in the compact segment, but one of the largest and most lavishly-equipped.  If Chevrolet can deliver its new compact sedan with competitive quality, it will offer the first serious challenge to Japan’s dominance in decades.  Whether potential buyers will respond is a separate matter.

The U.S. version of the Cruze is actually about a year late to market, delayed by the turmoil that surrounded General Motors plunge into bankruptcy last year.  The compact offering is already on sale in dozens of other markets and is already a strong contender in a number of them, including Europe.

Designers aimed to create "a grown-up, substantial vehicle" with the 2011 Cruze.

The new sedan is more than just an update of the old Chevy Cobalt.  It’s an entirely new product from the ground up.  The basic goal was to create a product that would be “seen as a grown-up, very substantial vehicle,” explains chief designer Michael Simcoe.

Using this 1.4-liter EcoTec engine, Chevrolet expects the 2011 Cruze Eco to deliver 40 mpg, when numbers are finalized.

Like many of the latest products coming to market, designers opted for a coupe-like shape to the roofline, something that gives the 2011 Cobalt a more mature and affluent feel.  Nose-on you’ll recognize the familiar Chevy crossbar with the brand’s bow tie in the center.  The headlamps curve into the fenders, as do the grille and fascia, downplaying the hefty front overhang required by a front-wheel-drive powertrain.

The strong feature line running from front fender to rear deck gives the new Cruze presence and accentuates the broad rear shoulders that, from a rear view add substance to the new model.  Whichever angle you approach the 2011 Chevy Cruze from it appears a bit larger and more upscale than you’d expect, a welcome change from the tinny-looking Cobalt.

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze nearly nudges into the midsize category.

But the real surprise comes when you climb inside.  Both front and back, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze proves pleasantly spacious.  And despite the coupe-like roof, there’s more than enough headroom for anyone not on an NBA roster, as my 6’6” co-driver discovered, to his relief.  There’s also a reasonable amount of front and even rear legroom in a model that could just nudge into the EPA’s midsize category based on interior space.

The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze uses an unusual Z-link rear suspension.

Domestic offerings have traditionally cut the most corners when it comes to interior design and materials.  With its new compact, Chevy has gone in precisely the opposite direction.  The 2011 Cruze features a surprisingly lavish and well-executed cabin.  There are a variety of different materials offered, depending on the level you opt for; our favorite is a sporty two-tone mesh that we first saw on a limited-edition Maserati, a few years ago.  All models of the Cruze feature textured metal surfaces and a very appealing instrument cluster with a trick, backlit chrome bezel.

Most surfaces are, meanwhile, soft to the touch.  That’s a sharp contrast to the compact segment’s dominant player, the Toyota Corolla.  Park them side-by-side and you realize just how dated the Japanese offering is.  And when you climb inside, Toyota’s popular compact proves surprisingly cheap, with endless hard plastic surfaces that look like they could’ve been designed for the bargain bin at K-Mart.

The base Chevrolet Cruze LS will come in at $16,995.

Our sources tell us that GM has put a significant amount of money into the upgraded interior.  Chuck Russell, the director of the Cruze program, won’t confirm a precise figure, but he admits that, “If we were going to get people to choose between Civic (or Corolla) and Cruze, being ‘as good as,’ wasn’t going to be good enough.”

That philosophy is apparent everywhere you look.  And that includes fuel economy, a serious factor for compact car buyers.  While federally-approved numbers haven’t been released yet, the target for the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco model is 40 mpg on the highway, a solidly impressive figure.  The $18,995 Eco model will deliver the same safety package as the rest of the line-up, which includes 10 airbags, StabiliTrak and standard OnStar.  But a number of steps have been taken to trim the weight of what is a relatively hefty sedan.

And the heart of the Eco is the 1.4-liter EcoTec Turbo engine, which makes 138 horsepower and 142 lb-ft of torque.  Despite its mileage numbers, the Cruze Eco is no stone pony.  It will launch from 0 to 60 in 10.0 seconds with the manual gearbox and 9.1 seconds with the automatic.  (The latter is expected to reduce highway mileage by a couple mpg.)

The EcoTec turbo will be used in about 70% of the Cruze models, if Chevy’s estimate holds, while a 1.8-liter I-4 will power thebase, $16,995 Cruze LS.  What’s particularly impressive about the 1.4-liter turbo is that torque comes on fast – hitting peak at just 1850 RPMs – and stays there almost until redline.

The 2011 Chevy Cruze adopts a new rack-mounted electric power steering system.  It’s far more responsive than earlier column-mounted EPS technology, and delivers a reasonably good feel for the road and not too much boost.

While the front end gets a fairly conventional MacPherson strut suspension, the rear of the Cruze adops a Z-link design that is not only solid and well-planted but eliminated the towers on a conventional, independent-rear suspension that can eat into trunk space.

Those who want a truly sporty ride from a compact sedan should probably consider the new 2011 Volkswagen Jetta.  But most everyone else will be more than pleased by the ’11 Cruze.  It delivers a marked improvement from the soft and sloppy ride of the current Corolla, with relatively modest body roll in even sharp corners.

Yet GM engineers have also done a good job targeting one of Corolla’s strengths.  Steps like the acoustic laminate windshield and multi-layer dash matting have resulted in a domestic sedan that is pleasantly quiet, even on rough roads and at highway speeds.

Nearly three decades ago, Chevrolet rolled out a new generation of small front-drive sedans that, said one executive, would “drive the Japanese back into the sea.”  It wasn’t the most politically correct comment.  And it certainly wasn’t accurate.  The Asians soon gained dominance in the compact segment and haven’t yielded since.

But if our first drive of the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is any indication, the battle is about to be renewed.  There are many American motorists who likely won’t even consider the Cruze, which is too bad.  It is a solid and impressive offering that is a sizable step above the best-selling compact on the market.