New Chevrolet Colorado Two Years Away for North America
Following the discontinuation of the Chevrolet Colorado, speculation quickly cropped up about the new Colorado that debuted at the Bangkok Motor Show last year.
Early on, many people assumed the truck would immediately succeed the recently discontinued generation as a 2013 model, but those assumptions are turning up false. In fact the new Colorado, pictured above, will take another two years to make its North American debut in 2014 as a 2015 model. While it might seem odd that the small truck is being delayed for this part of the world, there are good reasons for the decision.
GM probably couldn’t bring the new Colorado to market right away, even if it wanted to. Last November the company announced its plans to use the Wentzville, Mo. assembly plant to produce the truck, but preparing for that production is time consuming. While it may be possible to get the plant ready in time, it probably isn’t cost-effective.
Even if it were, the world-marketed Colorado isn’t designed for North Americans. Right now, it’s sold with a 2.8-liter diesel engine and is designed with worldwide customers in mind. The company used much of the same strategy in marketing and designing its Cruze, Spark and Sonic — first selling them globally only to redesign them for the U.S. It seems GM is going about the new Colorado in much the same way.
As is often true, it won’t come as a surprise to find different engine options for the North American Colorado than the version sold globally. Even still, it isn’t clear what to expect when the truck finally launches. According to GM Inside News, the company plans to offer its new 2.5-liter four cylinder or 3.6-liter V6, though there isn’t any word on a diesel variant Stateside.
[Source: GM Inside News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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for gm to bring the midsize pickups to the us market without a diesel option would be a huge mistake, and lost opportunity.
Hurry up and offer the 4 cylinder diesel in canada. I will then park my 4 cylinder car and buy one. Who can afford a big truck anyways. Big trucks big oil. HHHMMM.