Go to indigo and get the consumer reports buyers guide and/or the Lemon-aid car guide. Best $30 investment. Actual survey data on reliability rather than anecdotes.
Plus consider the honda brand (civic hatch, or the Fit).
QFT. Although after reading this thread I went and did a price compare between the Cruze and the Civic hatch and they are pretty similar. They are VERY competitively priced and the feature parity is nuts. Actually across like the 4 brands I would consider (GM, Honda, Hyundai and Mazda), the competition is insane. I was waiting until next winter to get a new car but now I might see if good deals pop up this summer, I am in the market for a hatchback/CUV.
Based on what I see, biggest difference is for this M/Y the Civic and Honda hatches have Android Auto/CarPlay standard, but Mazda and Hyundai look like they are lagging behind there. Otherwise it will come down to convenience features and personal taste. Personally I cant live with a car that doesnt have cruise control b/c I frequently go camping/hiking and those drives are like 2.5 hrs long. If you are a manual transmission driver like me, Mazda and Honda would be my two choices, if you need an auto then Hyundai and Chevy would be the other two.
I honestly did not realize the hatch arena had heated up this much, I might have to set aside a chunk of my tax return this year for a new car down payment.