GM ready for new Colorado

Unlike past Colorado models, which were based on Isuzu’s popular D-Max pickup, the new Colorado has been developed from the ground up by Chevrolet engineers.
The Rayong plant, which has undergone a US$300 million (Bt9.3 billion)  transformation, including retooling of the entire vehicle-assembly line, recently completed final build checks on pre-production models.
When it begins rolling off the production line next month, the all-new Colorado will include crew-cab and extended-cab variants powered by GM’s new fuel-efficient, four-cylinder Duramax diesel engines, also built at the Rayong facility.
GM Thailand and Southeast Asia’s vice president for manufacturing Kaher Kazem said the plant refurbishment and production of the Colorado were GM Thailand’s biggest-ever engineering and manufacturing program. 
“It is proof of the outstanding skills and capability that exists in this country, and is a firm commitment to build [vehicles] where we sell.” he said. “It has been a long journey, but it’s incredibly rewarding in every way to see the hard work and commitment of our team resulting in the production of a world-class vehicle.
“The Colorado programme demonstrates that our manufacturing operations have the ability to meet the needs of the Thai and Global markets now and well into the future. This is a truck of which Thailand will be proud,” he said.
GM Thailand has added a new robotic automated large press line to its plant and upgraded the automation on an existing press line. The new press line can produce seven panels per minute, or 2.3 million panels per year. Laser scanning technology has also been adopted to ensure precise build quality.
“All new tooling and robotic automated lines have been added to the body shop. The paint shop received a major upgrade to existing tooling and automated spray robots,” Kazem said.
The plant’s general assembly area has been completely changed to accommodate a new lean material-delivery system, a new dynamic vehicle tester, new tooling and checking equipment and a new vehicle test track.
There are currently 3,400 employee’s at GM’s Rayong plant. At full capacity, the facility can produce up to 180,000 vehicles per year.
GM Thailand also produces the Chevrolet Cruze and Captiva SUV models at its Rayong plant, as well as the four-cylinder Duramax turbo-diesel engines for use in the Colorado pickups.