No Regular Cab Offered - Colorado Canyon 2015

unit731 · December 22, 2013

No regular cab offered?

The 2015 Chevrolet Colorado is more than a midsize pickup, it's braggin' rights for GM, which now offers the only three-truck lineup in the business.

Chevy partisans are only too eager to point out that neither Ford nor Ram offer a smaller pickup, making the only alternatives to Colorado (and its yet-to-be unveiled platform mate, the GMC Canyon) the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. But Toyota and Nissan don't offer heavy duty trucks, making GM the only company to field midsize, full-size and heavy-duty pickup offerings.

“Our strategy is simple: meet the needs of the broadest possible customer base and let them choose precisely the right truck to meet their needs,” said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, last month at Colorado's L.A. Auto Show coming-out party.
The strategy seems sound, but the question is: Does the market want another small pickup, or is Colorado the answer to a question nobody asked?

While full-size pickups annually sell in the millions, with Ford's F-Series and Chevy's Silverado perennially the No. 1 and No. 2 best-selling vehicles in America, the small-truck segment is shrinking. Through October, the most recent figures available at press time, just 171,000 small pickups found homes in the U.S.

Not to worry, Reuss said. Colorado will conquest competitors and grow the category.
“It reinvents the midsize truck while reinvigorating the segment at the same time," he said.
Jeff Luke, executive engineer for GM Trucks, echoed the boss's confidence.
“We designed the Colorado to be the most versatile and most capable in its segment, bar none,” Luke said. “Not everyone needs full-size capability, but they still deserve the strength and true-truck attributes that come in larger models."

Among the "true-truck" attributes of Colorado, which is nearly two feet shorter and five inches narrower than a comparable Silverado, are best-in-class power and payload, plus towing muscle north of three tons, Luke said.

The base engine is a 2.5-liter, 193-hp I-4. A 3.6-liter, 302-hp V-6 is optional. Each buttons to a six-speed automatic. Look for a four-cylinder turbo diesel in Colorado's sophomore year.

Offered in Work Truck, LT and Z71 trims with all the expected 21st-century connectivity features available, Colorado comes only in extended- or crew-cab configurations, both offered with rear-wheel or four-wheel drive. It will be produced in Wentzville, which starts cranking them out in time for a spring arrival. No pricing yet, but around $20,000 to start is a good guess.

LINK