Chevrolet gives a glimpse of next Colorado

GENERAL Motors has released a teaser photo of the next-generation Colorado utility before its public debut at the Bangkok International Motor Show on March 25.

Shown in Chevrolet guise in the image released in Detroit, the Thai-built pickup will arrive in Australia under Holden badges in the first-quarter of 2012 as a replacement for the ageing Isuzu D-Max-based Holden Colorado, which dates back to the 2003 MkIII Rodeo.

The architecture for the latest model is again a collaboration between GM and Isuzu, but GoAuto understands the two models will have greater differentiation this time around.

The GM variant is expected to spawn an SUV that will also be sold as a Holden model to go head to head with a similar-style vehicle currently being developed by Ford Australia from its T6 Ranger platform.

GM has confirmed the Colorado will go on sale in Thailand before the end of this year before being rolled out to global markets.

United States reports say the vehicle will also be sold in North America, where a bigger pick-up based on the same GMT 345 platform has carried the Colorado name since 2004. It is unclear if the new vehicle will directly replace the slow-selling US Colorado and its GMC stablemate, the Canyon.

From top: Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Volkswagen Amarok.

For Australia, expect the one-tonner to get a Holden grille in place of the Chev bow tie, but most of the other features are expected to be similar to the Chevrolet version that will, like the current model, be made in a separate GM plant to the Isuzu D-Max in Thailand’s Rayong province.

GM International Operations vice president of sales, marketing and aftersales Susan Docherty said Bangkok had been chosen to host the Colorado’s debut due to the popularity of such vehicles in the South-East Asian nation where light trucks accounted for 43 per cent of the market in 2010.

“Trucks play a key role in most Southeast Asian markets,” she said. “Nowhere is this more evident than in Thailand, where trucks like the Colorado are ingrained in the local lifestyle.

“Thailand was a natural place to give the public a first glimpse of our all-new Colorado.”

The current Colorado has been the third most popular 4X4 ute in Australia in 2011, carving out a market share of 11.6 per cent, according to VFACTS. Sales of 1757 units in January and February mean it trails only the Nissan Navara and the Toyota HiLux.

Holden senior product communications manager Jonathan Rose told GoAuto that the Bangkok show would mark the beginning of the reveal process for the range.

“There is a new Colorado range on the horizon”, he said. “The Chevrolet show car to be premiered in Bangkok marks the first phase in the reveal process for the new range.

“We will make more announcements around Colorado in Australia in due course."The next-generation Holden one-tonner will face a raft of new rivals when it arrives next year, including the locally-designed Ford Ranger and its Mazda BT-50 twin, the recently released Volkswagen Amarok and an upgraded HiLux.

Nissan and Mitsubishi are also set to follow the lead of GM/Isuzu and Ford/Mazda with a proposed joint development of the next-generation Navara and Triton models, due to start production in Thailand in 2014.

Most of Australia’s top-selling one-tonners are Thai-built along with the Colorado, including the Toyota HiLux, Mazda BT-50, Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton.

Thailand is seen as an increasingly desirable place from which to import cars since the free-trade agreement struck with Australia in 2005. Thailand was second to Japan as a Australia’s biggest source of vehicles in 2010.