General Motors has sent out this teaser image of its next-generation mid-sized bakkie, the all-new Chevrolet Colorado, which is due to make its world debut in pre-production form at the Bangkok international motor show on March 25.
Which immediately starts alarm bells ringing because the picture looks nothing at all like the full-sized US-market Chev Colorado pick-up, or the leaked “renderings” we've seen of its successor. It does, however, bear a notable resemblance to a set of GM patent drawings for a mid-sized pick-up that were leaked in mid-2010.
Even more interesting is GM's choice of Southeast Asia for the new Colorado's global debut - almost as if it's aimed directly at the new Ford Ranger, which is also intended to make a strong impact in the Asia-Pacific region.
Thailand was chosen, says GM, because of the “popularity of pickup trucks and the growing importance of the Thai market to Chevrolet” - 43 percent of all vehicles sold in Thailand in 2010 were bakkies.
GM international marketing vice-president Susan Docherty said: “Trucks play a key role in most Southeast Asian markets. Nowhere is this more evident than in Thailand, where trucks such as 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.”
Docherty said the 2012 Chevrolet Colorado would go on sale in Thailand later in 2011 and promised more detail at the upcoming global premiere, but didn't say when - or if the new bakkie would be rolled out to other markets.
We're waiting on an answer from GMSA as to whether the Colorado will come to South Africa, although that's seen as unlikely as it would compete directly with the new Isuzu bakkie for which a production line is being set up in Port Elizabeth.