Chevy’s new 2018 Cruze hatchback diesel could be the first non-hybrid vehicle to achieve a fuel economy rating of 50 mpg on the highway.

GM officials revealed earlier this week that the Cruze hatchback will come with an optional 1.6-liter turbodiesel engine for the 2018 model year and it’ll be paired with either a nine-speed automatic transmission or a six-speed manual gearbox.

The automaker already sells a similar diesel vehicle in Britain called the Vauxhall Astra and that car received a European Union highway rating of 85 mpg, but this doesn’t take into account the 20% difference between the British imperial gallon and the U.S. gallon.

In real-world tests performed by European magazines, the Astra diesel managed to get an average of 55 mpg (45.8mpg U.S. gallon) with a six-speed manual gearbox. According to Automotive News, the nine-speed automatic transmission is expected to squeeze even more mileage from the diesel engine with a U.S. rating of 50 mpg. That kind of figure is usually achieved by hybrid cars. In fact, the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid only has a highway rating of 46 mpg, making the Cruze diesel hatchback even more fuel efficient than a hybrid.

Hatchback sales have been growing, but the VW Dieselgate scandal could affect Cruze hatchback diesel sales. We won’t know if the fuel economy rating is enough to overcome that until the Cruze hit showroom floors.

Chevy will need to heavily advertise this fact with the diesel variant because people may be hesitant towards diesel vehicles thanks to the VW scandal.

A lot of people are hesitant towards the diesel sector because of that VW scandal. Really ruined some relationships lol BUT 50mpg on the highway is pretty darn great !

How do you guys know that people are hesitating on diesels as a whole because of that? Because if that was really the case then diesel trucks wouldn't be selling in the numbers they are currently, they're selling with enough volume to the point spotting one on the road isn't hard. Then you have a number of car makers investing millions into diesels.

If you read articles online or watch news channels they pretty much outline that. European diesel sales have drastically dropped, along with the US market, which in comparison is smaller than the European sector but nonetheless. Forbes had a pretty decent article on it, I'll see if I can find it again.

Well considering the drop in sales is short term and the new diesel vehicles on the market are here to stay for 6-7+ years, what's happening right now is not a good sample size of buyer sentiment, and surely if the drop was that big of a concern companies won't be investing millions into it.

There are regions banning diesel vehicles... I think that's pretty extreme ?

When its becoming an environmental problem then you need to start pulling out the regulations, so that's just a normal consequence. Much like the coming carbon taxes, etc. Look into what's happening in the EU.

They enjoyed diesels long enough, now its our turn.