- GM displayed the concept of a new Chevy Colorado last week at the Frankfurt auto show.
- Although that truck is scheduled to be built in Thailand for the Asian market, all signs point to GM launching it in the U.S. as well.
- The new UAW labor contract states that a new midsize truck program will be added to GM's Wentzville, Missouri, assembly plant.
DETROIT — Midsize pickup trucks — they used to be called "compact" before they got too big for that to make sense — were presumed left for dead by the Detroit Three, but a variety of moves in the past week indicate that General Motors isn't carving any headstones after all.
GM hasn't said anything definitive lately about the fate of the midsize Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon nameplates, seeing how their assembly plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, is scheduled to close in mid-2012. But GM doesn't have to, as it has now all but said a new midsize pickup is coming. And it'll be no emerging-market leftover. It looks magnificent and will be built in the U.S.
It's no coincidence that just prior to agreeing with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union on a tentative new labor contract, GM showed a concept version of a new midsize pickup at last week's 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show soon to be built in Thailand.
There aren't a half-dozen pickups in all of Germany, so some wondered what the Colorado Rally Concept was doing in Frankfurt. But when details of the new GM-UAW labor contract emerged, it became clearer: The Colorado Rally is the trial balloon for the next-generation Colorado/Canyon in the U.S. The UAW's summary of the contract provisions said matter-of-factly that GM's commitments to new products to be built in the U.S. include (at its Wentzville, Missouri, assembly plant), "full shift added and new midsize truck program."
If anyone needed more confirmation GM intends to build and sell a next-generation midsize pickup in the U.S., the company doubled down on its clues when it issued a press release with a Bangkok dateline this week boasting that "Chevrolet's highly anticipated new-generation Colorado has been put through final testing in Thailand as General Motors prepares to produce the midsize pickup in its Rayong assembly plant." Press releases about GM products being introduced in Thailand typically are not the stuff of U.S. media relations.
Chevrolet provided no details about the Colorado Rally concept save that it is powered by one of GM's new turbodiesel four-cylinder engines. Diesel power is one factor that could vastly improve the fuel-economy portion of midsize pickups' current problem, but diesel-engine cost makes the new diesel engine family an unlikely option for U.S. consumption, although GM has found a way to make the new diesel engine family cost-effective for the Asia-market Colorado.
Inside Line says: Our biggest concern is the size of the new pickup. Most analysts and commenters across a wide range of online forums seem to agree that the segment needs to return to a smaller footprint, more basic equipment and prices distinctly less than full-size trucks.
Add A Comment »
etanretla says:
10:21 AM, 09/26/2011
my take - a midsize pickup needs to be very practical...lots of storage space, easy to clean materials, 6 cylinders but no more than a 3 liter engine, does at least 21 mpg combined hwy/city, and fully equipped at less than $25k.../
cz_75 says:
07:02 AM, 09/26/2011
"That car model doesn't look like someone who'd drive a pickup."
Maybe he and his BF use it to go antiquing on the weekends or camp out on Fire Island?
cz_75 says:
06:57 AM, 09/26/2011
"Why would the Ranger be the better choice?"
Than this new GM truck? I don't know if it will be, but GM's midsize trucks have almost always been worse than Ford's. My point was that GM needs a diesel and without it, there are likely better offerings from any of several other manufacturers. If Ford can bring their world spec Ranger here, equipped with a diesel, then GM ought to watch out if they won't bring diesel powertrains.
viss1 says:
05:19 AM, 09/26/2011
Hopefully by "midsize" they mean no bigger than the Colorado.
miamifan1 says:
06:24 PM, 09/25/2011
in these times of high fuel prices and consumers downsizing their vehicles willingly, its time ford and gm return to the compact pickup arena.
much like with the minivan market, i just cant understand how ford and gm are willing to sit out whole market segments. compact pickups are waiting to make a comeback. just make new, economical, and desirable trucks. viable alternatives to the great-selling tacoma. i see how well the transit connect has done. thats an example of how bigger is not necessarily better for all work truck buyers.
surely 30mpg is easily attainable if you make a small pickup with a 6spd and good modern v6. 35mpg with any 4 cyl engine. and where are the hybrid pickups? im surprised the CAFE standards havent pushed ford and gm to act accordingly.
last ranger ford sold well mustve been the ranger splash. that nice package had desirability in spades. even non-worktruck buyers were getting them.
the_big_al says:
01:28 PM, 09/25/2011
I'd buy this... although I said the same thing about the Colorado/Canyon too. And then I drove one. At that time I was driving an S-10 and my initial thought was "they're replacing the S-10 with this???" The Colorado and Canyon look good, I'll grant them that. Now that they have an actual motor in them as an option they are passable, but the interior of the thing was designed by someone in the bean counter's bean counting department.
The truck has been short-changed it's entire life cycle with barely any updates at all. I sat in a 2011 the other day and was hardly impressed. Ironically enough I now own a 2004 Colorado although more by default than anything else. I will admit that it is a capable truck and now that I've been driving it, it has proven to be more solid than my S-10, but I can definitely see where the cost cutting measures have been taken. I still don't think I would go out and buy one, unless it was a 4x4 crew cab model with the 5.3 V8.
If GM can produce a truck anything close to what it is proposing here, it just might be able to give the Taco a run for it's money. The Tacoma in my opinion is a bloated, over-done vehicle that is trying to hard to be something it isn't (which is a full-size truck). I have never like the Frontier and it's styling (same for the Tacoma for that matter) and the Dakota is just plain ugly. The Ranger as well is so archaic, I'm surprised it's still selling. It's platform was just as old as the S-10's when it was phased out and it's STILL selling. That baffles me. Although if I had to go out and buy a "mid-size" truck today and I could only choose from mid-sizers, I think I would honestly buy a Colorado, as much as I don't really like them. I like the other choices even less.
So here is hoping that GM will actually produce a competitive "mid-size" truck. It just might find a buyer in me who doesn't quite need a full size. I'd buy one in a crewcab guise with cloth buckets, the biggest motor available and a manual transmission. I don't need anything else fancy except a good stereo with iPod connectivity. I don't need navigation, power seats, leather, Onstar (although that's unavoidable), dohicky this and a dohicky for that. I just want to tow when I need to (6000# rating would suffice for me) and haul yard debris to the dump and go mountain biking on the weekend. And I don't need it to be gussied up with plastic trim and fenders and overwrought styling. (This concept is cutting it close, but I cut it slack for that. GM learned it's lesson I think after the first generation Avalanche. I doubt a production would come so equipped)
sil3nc3r says:
11:55 AM, 09/25/2011
EEK! What IS that? Oh wow. Lutz hasn't even been gone that long yet...
rayzor says:
09:28 AM, 09/25/2011
Yes! If this truck looks as good as what's shown here, safe, fun to drive, good fuel econ, and reliable, I'll ditch my 2011 Taco for one...In a heart beat! USA will rule the midsize truck market once again and Ford needs to join in...
schmedward says:
07:55 AM, 09/25/2011
The stance of our domestic car companies on compact pickups has confused me for a very long time. Why is it that they allow the Tacoma to be the very best sport compact pickup available, for ever it seems? The Ranger is supposedly gone due to Ford's desire to sell more F150s, the Dakota has been way too ugly and too "midsized" for far too long and the the Colorado / Canyon never really captured sales enthusiasm. Listen to and watch the guys in their foreign built compact pickups and see the mass numbers of Tacoma customs driving the roads!
Don't bother with a Regular Cab price leader, make 4X4 something that everyone wants and do domething about producing a great new engine with torque and good mileage. Make off-road and durable / usable work variants, build an awesome brand of OEM produced options and accessories that last and look great - and as for quality, look to the Tacoma and Frontier for inspiration - they last and they hold their value!
PS - The average American male looking to buy a compact pickup is not 5'9" and 150 pounds...
csubowtie says:
11:42 AM, 09/24/2011
This is some of the best news I've heard since the the introduction of the Corvette ZR1. I've got plenty of GM card bucks, and an aging S-10 ZR2 that I wouldn't mind updating. GM just needs to remember that in this segment a lot of purchases will be driven by hardware. I would like to see a manual tranny available with all engines, and the revival of a ZR2 suspension/drivetrain package. Here's my thoughts on trim: 3 Levels of interior, 1) bench seat, rubber floors, manual everything, no goodies, this would be a fleet kind of model. 2) Base consumer, with cloth buckets, carpet, a few goodies like stereo upgrade, cruze control, manual everything with power optional. 3) Fully loaded, Cruze style, for people who don't need a $60k fullsize, but still want a nice truck.
I'll take mine with the off-road suspension, that 2) trim, with a manual and the biggest engine available (gas or diesel would be a tough call, I would have to drive them). Sell me that truck for about $22-24k.