The production Chevrolet Cruze was launched in 2008 as a global compact car produced by General Motors. When Chevrolet sought a successor to the Lacetti for its WTCC programme, the Cruze was chosen as the basis for the next generation of touring car hardware. RML (Ray Mallock Ltd), the British motorsport engineering company that had constructed the Lacetti racers, took on the build and development of the Cruze for competition. The relationship between Chevrolet and RML gave the programme a continuity of expertise that proved decisive in its early success.
The Chevrolet Cruze made its World Touring Car Championship debut in 2009, initially powered by a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine. In its first season the car took six race victories, signalling that a major force had arrived in the series. Chevrolet and RML used the following off-season to introduce a new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, which took effect for the 2010 season.
Chevrolet won the manufacturers' championship in 2010, with Yvan Muller claiming the drivers' title. In 2011, the dominance intensified: Muller retained the drivers' championship, and Chevrolet's drivers finished first, second, and third in the standings, with Muller ahead of teammates Rob Huff and Alain Menu. The manufacturers' crown went to Chevrolet for a second consecutive year. In 2012, Chevrolet secured a third successive manufacturers' title, and the drivers again finished in a one-two-three formation, this time with Huff becoming champion ahead of Menu and Muller.
At the end of 2012, Chevrolet announced it would not field a factory team for the 2013 WTCC season. RML, as the original constructor of the Cruze racers, continued to compete independently, supplying cars to several customer teams including Bamboo Engineering, NIKA Racing, and Tuenti Racing Team. Despite the absence of factory funding, the Cruze remained competitive against works entries from newcomers Honda and Lada. Yvan Muller, racing with a customer-backed effort, won his fourth WTCC drivers' title in 2013, further underscoring the strength of the package. James Nash won the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy for independent entries that year, ahead of fellow Cruze drivers Alex MacDowall and Michel Nykjaer.
RML continued developing the Cruze into the new TC1 regulations for the 2014 season, which brought increased power outputs and more pronounced aerodynamics. The updated TC1 Cruze was supplied to several teams, including ROAL Motorsport with Tom Chilton, Bamboo Engineering, and Campos Racing with Hugo Valente.
The Cruze also contested the British Touring Car Championship. The BTCC variant used the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine from the original WTCC specification. Jason Plato won the BTCC drivers' championship with Chevrolet in 2010, and finished third the following year. Chevrolet withdrew its BTCC factory commitment at the end of 2011 to concentrate resources on the WTCC programme.
The Cruze made further appearances in the BTCC in 2013 through independent teams, including Tech-Speed Motorsport. However, the older Super 2000 specification cars found it increasingly difficult to match the pace of the new Next Generation Touring Car entries, and the S2000-specification Cruze made its final BTCC appearance that year.
The Cruze was also successful in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, which it won in 2011 through NIKA Racing operating under the banner of Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden, with Rickard Rydell driving. In 2012, Rydell and teammate Michel Nykjaer finished second and third. The car also competed in South American championships: the first-generation Cruze debuted in Argentine TC 2000 in 2011, with Agustin Canapino winning the 2016 and 2021 titles in the series.
The Chevrolet Cruze's WTCC record — four manufacturers' championships across 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, with three consecutive drivers' titles for Chevrolet-affiliated entries — places it among the most successful touring cars of the Super 2000 era. The programme demonstrated how a well-resourced constructor partnership, combining an American manufacturer's brand with British engineering expertise from RML, could produce a car capable of extended dominance in the world's leading touring car series.