In what could be the shortest press release in GM history, the automaker announced that the , which recently debuted in Thialand, will spawn an global SUV called the TrailBlazer (again). There was no official word about whether the U.S. will get the small SUV —and it is being called an SUV, not a crossover — but it would make sense.
With the huge investment in the Wentzville, Mo., plant to accommodate the coming Colorado — and we also assume the GMC Canyon — it is highly unlikely GM wouldn't try to defray some of the investment costs by including the production of a similarly engineered vehicle. With so much questioning about whether a market exists for a small pickup in the saturated full-size U.S. market, hedging bets by including another type of vehicle off the same production line makes good cost-effective sense.
These shots were given to us some time ago, and they show a pretty good idea about the size and strategy of the vehicles. Figure the new SUV to slot between the Chevrolet Equinox (GMC Terrain) and Traverse (GMC Acadia).
Clearly, the new Colorado platform can be easily modified to accomodate a smaller wheelbase, so it stands to reason it might be just as easy to offer a longer wheelbase, possibly with a heavy-duty payload package and a longer bed — maybe even offering something like the Colorado Rally concept vehicle we saw earlier this year. We can only hope.
There are no specification details yet, but from these shots, it looks like the SUV will have a live rear axle, trailing arms and most likely coil springs. No word about why the pickup truck needed the tow-strap help. Nor do we have any details on powertrain choices, but we'll likely hear about the new Chevy Silverado powertrains before we hear about U.S. powertrains for the new Colorado and its SUV sibling.
