Yesterday, GM’s first Chevrolet Cruze for the United States market, rolled off the assembly line in Lordstown, Ohio. The car first made its debut at the last LA Auto Show, and has been GM’s second best seller overseas after their Silverado pickup trucks.

The Cruze is GM’s most significant new model introduced into the United States since last year’s bankruptcy. With the forty miles per gallon fuel consumption on the highway, they hope to break into the fuel efficient market that they gave up to imports thirty years ago. With an emphasis on safety, like ten air bags and traction control as standard equipment, they hope to make the Cruze stand out from all other models.

While the Cruze costs a little more than most of its competitors, G.M. argues that it provides a better value with extras like air-conditioning and power locks that are basics in high end models but extra on most compacts. That approach helps the Cruze generate more revenue and allows the car to be built profitably at a union plant in the United States. (Most competing compact cars are built at nonunion plants or in other countries.)

To build the Cruze, G.M. added a third shift at the Lordstown plant after being downsized to a single shift during the height of the recession. The plant now has about 4,500 workers, including 800 who transferred from elsewhere at G.M.