It will end up being called the <U>Chevrolet</U> Cruze wagon, and the once-planned replacement for the Chevy <U>Cobalt</U> may be bowing earlier in Europe than it is in the United States, but the new car is expected to help consumers--and General Motors--deal with the wildest market swing in automotive history.

What We Know About the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Wagon

It\'s no secret that the U.S. vehicle market is undergoing a swift, seismic shift. With unstable gas prices and gloomy economic conditions that seem to get worse by the day, nervous consumers are no longer just deserting big <U>pickups</U> and <U>SUVs</U>, now even thrifty cars and more-economical crossover SUVs aren\'t selling as well as they had been. It\'s the biggest market upheaval since the Great Depression.

Automakers everywhere are scrambling to keep up, none more than General Motors. With GM suffering steep sales and revenue declines, the planned replacement for Chevrolet\'s Cobalt <U>compact car</U> could prove critical to the company\'s bottom line, and even its overall health. Cruze debuted in the fall of 2008 at the Paris Motor Show, and should go on sale in Europe by March 2009, likely as a 2010 model.