Let’s take stock of the current “compact” truck market in the in the United States.
The Ford Ranger – a solid truck but based on a comically old platform of nearly 30 years. Production is scheduled to end next year with the closure of the Twin Cities Assembly plant.
The Canyon and Colorado – The successors to the long running S-10/Sonoma pickup trucks. In my eyes, these trucks were a step backward from their predecesors. I remember talking to a GM sales rep when they trucks were unvieled as new models. He admited that the trucks were “less than we hoped they would be”.
Toyota Tacoma – Great truck but too expensive for it’s size. The higher end models easily rival the price of full size pickup so why go compact?
Nissan Frontier – Solid vehicle. Perhaps one of the few models that has not suffered from bloating of size or price.
Dodge Dakota – Like the Ford, an aging platform with poor sales, discontinued as of August 2011.
For some time, it seemed the compact pickup truck market was to be abandoned by all domestic manufactures but GM recently announced that it’s new global Chevy Colorado will be coming stateside. This could be a game changer. The truck you see below is already on sale in various markets around the globe and if all goes as planed will be available in the U.S. as 2013 model. Many questions still remain to be answered about the new Colorado with the biggest being the power plant. Will it be diesel powered? A 2.5 or 2.8 liter turbo diesel Duramax is just one option available to overseas buyers. It’s hard to say if a version of the two engines will make the jump with the truck. Chevy has already announced plans to add a diesel powered Cruze to the line up in the next two years so the corporate mindset appears to be ripe. Keep your fingers crossed!
Source & Image: GM
