Xjyuk

I have an automatic Chevy Cruze 2013 and when I stop on an upward slope for a stop sign or red light, I need to press the brake pedal to ensure the car doesn't roll backward, if I lift the foot off the throttle with the shifter in Drive.

However, I noticed that a Honda Civic 2015 will stay in place even if I don't press the brake pedal, while the foot is off the throttle.

Is the way the Civic works by design? And if so, does it mean there is something wrong with the Chevy? Are there any standards regarding this scenario?

It's probably either a hill hold system, or the hill is so slight in inclination that your torque converter keeps you in place.

Either way, it's by design. The torque converter is the component that ensures your car will creep forwards on level ground when you release the brake but don't press the throttle. This works for hills that are not steep.

For steep hills, there may be a hill hold system that continues to apply the brakes until you press the throttle enough to start moving the car.

My 2016 Toyota RAV4 hybrid doesn't have a torque converter, but the electric motors emulate a torque converter vehicle so it will creep forwards when on level ground.

There is a hill hold system too in my 2016 Toyota RAV4 hybrid: it applies the brakes until you press the throttle enough.

Anyway, I wouldn't rely on either of the systems holding the car perfectly standstill when stopped for extended periods. For extended periods, you should lightly press the brake. The hill hold system is merely intended to allow you enough time to move your foot from the brake pedal to the throttle.

Honda calls their system Hill Start Assist. Sensors in the car can judge if your vehicle is on a hill and will continue to engage the brakes after you've released the pedal until you press on the gas and the forward momentum starts. It very well may be there by design on the Civic, but is not a given. You'd have to check with Honda to see if any given vehicle has the Hill Start Assist.

Not all manufacturers or even models of vehicles have Hill Start Assist (or whatever the manufacturer wants to call it). My 2018 Silverado has it (though I don't know what it's called for my truck) as well as hill descent assist, which uses engine braking to control the speed of my truck while going down a grade. This helps prevent the vehicle's brakes from getting over taxed and fading/failing. My truck lets me know when it's in hill start assist mode, but I have to manually select the hill descent mode.

Bottom line here is, not all vehicles come with it. To my knowledge there's no Federal standards or regulations for hill assist, at least here in the US. There may be something local to the locality you live in, but I really doubt it. To me, this is just an additional feature which you'd have to look for when purchasing a vehicle. IOW: I doubt there's anything wrong with you Chevy.