Chevy offers a tease of the new TrailBlazer SUV.
A familiar name for U.S. motorists, but the Chevrolet TrailBlazer SUV debuting at the upcoming Dubai International Motor Show next month may not make it to American shores.
The midsize sport-utility vehicle shares its underpinnings with the completely redesigned midsized Colorado pickup that Chevy confirmed will be sold in the U.S. – starting early next year as a 2013 model. But, at least initially, the TrailBlazer based off the truck appears destined to just about anywhere Chevrolet sells SUVs but the States.
The new model uses a body-on-frame design that was developed by General Motors’ main Latina American product development center, GM do Brasil. The operation also developed the new Colorado, which launched in Thailand earlier this month. Thailand will also be the first to start welling the new SUV.
(Click Here for more on the new Colorado.)
Those two countries are among the world’s biggest markets for midsize pickups and truck-based sport-utility vehicles, though the introduction of the new TrailBlazer at the Dubai show underscores the demand for such products in the Mideast, as well.
Though the U.S. remains the dominant market for body-on-frame vehicles overall, Chevrolet planners apparently question whether the new TrailBlazer would be a fit here, spokesman Mike Albano telling TheDetroitBureau.com that, “at this point we have no plans to bring it to the U.S.,” though he offered a never-say-never caution that this could change.
Chevrolet has migrated to a global product development strategy. Engineering facilities in Brazil, China, Korea, Germany and Detroit each focus on the products most relevant to their local markets which can then be marketed in other parts of the world.
Meanwhile, by using common platforms – such as the one shared by Colorado and the new TrailBlazer – GM is betting it can cut production costs even while adding more products to the mix that are relevant to regional buyer demands.