Colorado Shoreline May Be GM's Smartest Truck Trim In Years

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
3/15/2016

When General Motors introduced the all-new Chevy Colorado, an interesting trend was quickly noticed by GM bean counters. Although the Colorado, like pretty much every truck from every manufacturer, was always shown in rural areas in advertisements, the Colorado's largest sales market - by far, was not a rural area. It was Los Angeles California. Back in early 2015, GM’s Tony Johnson, marketing manager for the Colorado, explained it, saying, “L.A. was a big target for the Colorado, where people can use the utility of a pickup, but don’t necessarily have the space for a full-sized truck. The in-roads we’ve made there are proof that it is the right fit for that market.” Currently, the city of LA is not just the largest mid-size pickup market in the U.S., it is as large as the next two biggest markets combined.

GM is wisely creating a new Colorado trim aimed at that market. Whether this new trim called the Colorado Shoreline will hit its target is not yet certain, but it is refreshing to see GM adapting its products to try to meet its customers' needs rather than yet another more extreme off-road trim designed for deep forest slogging on logging trails. Those trucks have their place, and customers love them. After all, 40% of all mid-size truck buyers (GM And Toyota alike) opt for some form of off-road upgrade at the time of purchase. What is sometimes forgotten is that 60% don't. Back in 2015 when researching a related story I closely looked at every GM media image available for the Colorado. There were 29 images of the Colorado blasting through woods. Not a single image from GM showed the Colorado in an urban or shoreline setting.

 

The new 2016 Colorado Shoreline will start with extended cab models in LT trim, with both two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive versions available. GM says that it is giving the trucks the colors its customers in LA have been selecting. That means bright exterior colors. The three choices will be Silver Ice Metallic, Summit White, Laser Blue, or Red Hot. Offsetting that bright main color will be with blacked-out trim, black door handles, mirrors and beltline and minimal chrome accents. The exterior will also be slightly adapted to the choices that buyers have been asking for in urban markets. The Shoreline gets a body color front grill, black 18-inch wheels, a spray-in bedliner, all-weather floor liners, and one-year of Sirius XM radio subscription.

 

“The Shoreline is a great example of our strategy to offer unique trucks designed for very specific customers,” said Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet truck marketing director. “These trucks have clearly resonated with customers, as last year our special edition trucks sold in one-third the time, and to younger, more affluent buyers than the industry average.” The new Colorado Shoreline joins the Realtree, Special Ops, Z71 Midnight Edition, and Trail Boss as part of the 2016 Colorado line this spring.

 

Image note: Second Image is not a Shoreline Edition.

[Daryl LBZ]

They should be nice looking trucks, just nothing ground breaking.

[fiero2m4]

So from the article - "will be with blacked-out trim, black door handles, mirrors and beltline and minimal chrome accents." and "Shoreline gets a body color front grill, black 18-inch wheels"

 

So why is the picture of the gray crew cab clearly not sporting any of this? I guess it doesn't go with the story. Sorry if this seems overly critical, but it makes the topic look incomplete if people come here to read the details and the images are the wrong stock image from somewhere else. Perhaps this is solely GM-Trucks.com reporting about the new Shoreline trim and not a full, official GM press release?

 

Just wondering...

[Rogue_Wolf]

If this truck is aimed at the urban market, 5.3l v8 would have been a neat option. Some horsepower and noise in a small truck package would be an attractive option to a Mustang or a Camaro. Given the climate of the top selling market, it seems a no-brainer

[Formulabruce]

This is Good,but not new for GM....

Remember?....

"Gentleman Jim"

"Bonanza"

"High Sierra"

Scottsdale"

"Syclone"

"Sprint"

"Topkick"

Caballero"

"GMC Indy"

"SS"

"Beau James"

"Cameo"

"Big 10"

"Jimmy"

"Heavy Chevy"

"Sierra Classic"

"Typhoon"

"Sprint"

SO, Bring it on, Love it!!

[Jacqson]

If this truck is aimed at the urban market, 5.3l v8 would have been a neat option. Some horsepower and noise in a small truck package would be an attractive option to a Mustang or a Camaro. Given the climate of the top selling market, it seems a no-brainer

 

Interesting idea but I don't know if you would really need to add a 5.3 and IMHO I doubt you would have that many urban guys who would want one enough for GM to justify building them. The 3.6L that comes in the Colorado has 305HP which is not too bad. I went for a test drive the other day in a 2WD and the truck moves pretty quick with that 3.6L.

[Gorehamj]

Hi 08 SBirch WT. GM only had a single image of the new Colorado Shoreline. The truck has not yet been shown, so we could not get any of our own images. It is the one at the top. I offered the second image as a comparison. I put a note at the bottom to help explain that it is not a new Shoreline.

[barry G]

This is Good,but not new for GM....

Remember?....

"Gentleman Jim"

"Bonanza"

"High Sierra"

Scottsdale"

"Syclone"

"Sprint"

"Topkick"

Caballero"

"GMC Indy"

"SS"

"Beau James"

"Cameo"

"Big 10"

"Jimmy"

"Heavy Chevy"

"Sierra Classic"

"Typhoon"

"Sprint"

SO, Bring it on, Love it!!

 

cheyenne

and..

 

what was a 1979 heavy half wth power windows dual color body, metal trim everywhere, a/c...

I'll have to sit and think on that one.

 

the dark colors seem to get offroad.

my region has a shoreline too, and hates white, red, and california anything.

 

glad they got that sorted out.