Holden Colorado 7 SUV to debut in October

[Road_Warrior]

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2012...uv-sales-30831

GM Holden expects to almost double its relatively miniscule presence in Australia’s booming SUV sector with the addition of two all-new models over the next 12 months: the full-size Colorado 7 seven-seater and the five-seat Trax compact.

Both models have already been revealed globally and should make their simultaneous local debuts – alongside the similarly all-new Volt and Cruze Sportwagon - at the Australian International Motor Show on October 19, following the Colorado 7’s global launch earlier that month and the Trax’s world production premiere at September’s Paris Motor Show.

To be sold as the new Chevrolet Trailblazer in other markets, the new Colorado ute-based seven-seat wagon will be Holden’s first direct rival for rugged three-row off-roaders like Mitsubishi’s Triton-based Challenger, Nissan’s Navara-based Pathfinder and Toyota’s top-selling Prado since the Jackaroo disappeared in September 2004.

Unlike the diesel-only Challenger and Pathfinder, however, the Colorado 7 is expected to be available with both diesel and petrol engines, in the form of the new 2.8-litre Duramax four-cylinder turbodiesel that powers the majority of new Colorado ute models, as well as the Port Melbourne-made 3.6-litre petrol V6 that powers Colorado in the Middle East.

The twin-pronged engine strategy will represent the most formidable attack on Toyota’s segment-leading Prado, which is available with both petrol and diesel engines in both three- and five-door wagon bodies. Prado sales have boomed by almost 44 per cent this year, with 7707 sales accounting for a dominant 18.6 share of the mainstream large SUV segment.

GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux told motoring.com.au that the Colorado 7, which will be produced alongside its ute namesake in Thailand and is due in local showrooms by November, and Trax – due here in mid-2013 – will almost double Holden’s share of total SUV sales.

“Our SUV share is about seven per cent now, but with three SUVs it should be well into double digits,” he said, adding that Holden’s SUV share should eventually come into line with the brand’s overall market share, which currently stands at 10.5 per cent – down from 12.4 per cent at the same point last year.

To May this year, the mid-size Captiva 5 holds a 6.6 per cent share in its segment, while the larger Captiva 7 accounts for 10.1 per cent of all sub-$70,000 large SUVs sold.

Holden says the Colorado nameplate attracts more repeat buyers than any other model it sells (including the Commodore) and it hopes to leverage that loyalty with the all-new Colorado 7 – a name that Holden successfully lobbied to introduce here instead of adopting the vehicle’s international Trailblazer moniker.

Australians last year purchased more than 80,000 medium SUVs, so Holden should easily sell 10,000 Colorado 7s in 2013 – almost all of which will be incremental.

The Trax, meantime, will be Holden’s first genuine entrant in Australia’s largest and fastest-growing SUV entrant, positioned below the Captiva 5, which opens at $27,990.

“I think our biggest Achilles heel from a market share standpoint is that we haven’t had an SUV portfolio,” said Mr Devereux.

“The Colorado 7 is a true seven-seater, a big rugged SUV that is based on the Colorado. Importantly, the vehicle was styled from the beginning to be an SUV, so this isn’t an SUV that’s been made from a ute – it’s a real SUV.

“It obviously has all the off-road credentials. It’s something we used to have in our portfolio years and years ago and it’s something that will go very well in different areas of the country that we don’t currently sell SUVs into.

“Another fantastic SUV is the sub-Captiva-size SUV called the Trax. The Trax will be a great little urban SUV for a lot of folks, offering great class-leading technology. Small SUVs have grown 57 per cent over the past 12 months and we don’t have one to sell.

“We’re going to have a big SUV and we don’t have one of those (now) and we don’t have a small SUV and we’re going to have one of those too, so we’re going to be in the heart of target market for those types of vehicles.”

While its almost identical sister model from Opel, the Mokka, remains under consideration for Australian release, the Trax will arrive here around the same time as Holden’s new Malibu medium sedan, which will replace the unloved Epica six-cylinder.

“We really haven’t had a mid-size vehicle with a petrol four-cylinder engine for probably more than 10 years,” said Mr Devereux. “It’s been that long since we’ve had a real competitor for the Accord and Camry, so we’re very excited about that vehicle.”

Soooo Ford, where's the T6 SUV at? You've been very quiet on this front of late.