Auto News 5

The key to the Cruze, for better or worse, is its size. Like most General Motors vehicles, it's simply bigger and heavier than everything else in the segment, and it feels bulkier still thanks to the high doorsills. The first time I parallel parked the Cruze, I was sure I was just about to hit the car behind me when in truth I had several feet to spare. The girth also makes it hard to notice how well the car handles. In fact, the Cruze goes around a corner as well as anything else in the segment. Steering is a bit numb -- also in keeping with the segment -- but is accurate. Despite its unimpressive power rating, the 1.4-liter turbo does an impressive job moving around the Cruze's 3000 pounds, although it's hampered somewhat by the six-speed automatic's insistence on finding the highest gear possible at all times.

CURRENT MILES: 21,626
MONTHS IN FLEET: 9

Auto sales are up 17% versus last year and are cruising along at a 12.6-million-unit annualized sales rate, same as in December. The good news is, this is much better than the last two years. The bad news is that it's still much worse than we had been doing before the big crash.

New York bureau chief Jamie Kitman recently sat down with Dany Bahar to discuss the Lotus's new direction. It got a little ugly.