Thai tastes reflected in new pickup
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Design engineers observed Thai pickup use, road conditions
Although the new Chevrolet Colorado was developed by a team of General Motors’ engineers in Brazil, members of the design team came to live in Thailand to make sure they understood what customers in this country wanted, when it came to a pickup.
During their time here, the designers observed how Thais used their vehicles and the driving conditions they experienced, said GM’s global vehicle line executive for midsized trucks, Brad Merkel.
Earlier, when the Colorado was first being developed in 2006, Chevrolet joined with Isuzu, which was then developing its D-Max.
“That allowed us to save dramatically on engineering costs, but we have parted ways and we have continued on the basis of a truck of our own,” he said.
The previous Colorado was co-developed with Isuzu, which was for many years the market leader in Thailand. Although Chevrolet tried to point out the large number of differences between the two trucks, many consumers still regarded the Colorado, which used an Isuzu engine, as a derivative of the Japanese pickup.
Although the 2.8-litre engine of the new Colorado has been taken over from the previous model, the 2.5-litre engine has been totally designed and built by Chevrolet.
“The exterior design is now truly Chevrolet, and the dual cockpit interior is also 100-per-cent Chevrolet,” Merkel said. “The joint engineering is only in the architecture of the trucks. This is very different from the previous model.”
Although the Colorado was designed in Brazil, a large part of the engineering was carried out in the United States, Italy, Germany and Thailand.
“We have engineers who live in major markets in order to modify the truck to suit the tastes of local buyers. We not only build the vehicles where we sell them, but we also engineer the vehicles there as well,” Merkel said.
There will be several production sites for the Colorado around the world. Those made in Thailand will be exported to 64 countries.
Merkel said that GM had gone through an important restructuring phase, and was now ready to challenge the world’s top auto-makers once again.
“We’re now an auto company once again, and not a bank. And we are not making any compromises when it comes to products,” he said. “We used to have limitations, but today we can offer everything.”
Chevrolet Colorado highlights
GM Thailand’s largest-ever engineering and manufacturing programme.
Total global programme costs were US$2 billion (Bt61.73 billion), including $500 million to prepare for production at GM Thailand’s Rayong plant.
More than 2.5 million kilometres were driven during programme development.
The Colorado was developed across five continents for sales in more than 60 markets.
More markets and production sites yet to be announced.
