LORDSTOWN, Ohio - The diesel Cruze made in the Valley at General Motor's Lordstown Plant has the green light to hit showroom floors this summer.

The Cruze already accelerated to the top of it's class, setting the benchmark for the best highway fuel economy of any non-hybrid car in America, at 46 miles per gallon.

"Basically from an efficiency standpoint, with the 46 miles per gallon and the size of our fuel tank, you'll have the ability to go 700 miles before a fill-up. To put that into some relative terms at highway speeds that could be ten hours of continuous operation before a fill-up," said Gary Altman, GM's Chief engineer.

The Chevrolet Cruze Diesel has more torque and horsepower than it's closest competitor according to GM's Chief Engineer of the Small Car Division and can go from 0 to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds.

And for General Motors, offering a diesel is about giving car buyers more options.

"It does give them another option. It's putting the customer at the forefront ... And I think that's what you're seeing with the new General Motors Company," said communications manager for GM Lordstown Tom Mock.

An industry analyst says there's no question that Lordstown is delivering an excellent product and there is a market for the new diesel model. But in terms of sales, David Cole, Chairman Emeritus with the Center for Auto Research said he's unsure if people will be willing to pay the cost of diesel fuel.

"Even with the improved fuel economy in the diesel that's a question. And that's one of the reasons we have not seen a much more aggressive shift to diesel engines here. There's a lot of uncertainty in terms of the market," said Cole.

The latest variation of the Cruze is helping to fuel the future of GM Lordstown by keeping thousands in the Valley working for years to come and providing customers with more GM products to choose from.