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Old 11-21-2013, 10:44 AM   #1
XDCX
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Default GM unveils 2015 Colorado Mid-size Pickup - Diesel in 2016

General Motors unveiled their 2015 Chevrolet Colorado in Los Angeles and detailed their strategy for the new pickup. While many headlines touted the availability of a diesel engine, the diesel engine will not be available in 2015 - buyers will have to wait for the 2016 models.

Here's a link to a report by USA Today which provides photographs and more information - click here

The USA Today article points out that all of the Detroit 3 once had a mid-size pickup and all of them have since been discontinued. While GM is convinced there's a market for the mid-size truck Ford is adamant that the market is no longer viable because buyers want full size trucks instead.

GM appears to have targeted the Toyota Tacoma based on specifications and pricing - that's a logical choice given that the Tacoma controls about two-thirds of the mid-size truck market.

My first impressions of the new Colorado are favorable and I think GM will do OK with the truck. That said, I remain convinced there's a huge untapped market for a low priced small-size pickup like the first generation Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi (Ram 50) trucks.
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Old 11-21-2013, 12:43 PM   #2
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I've never been a mid-sized pickup fan, but that is a good looking pickup.

The problem we found when selling the Colorado is the price point. Load one up with heated leather, Z71 Package and all the goodies and you were within a couple thousand of a similar equipped 1500. For $2-3k more most customers ended up with the 1500. The majority of our Colorado sales were to elderly people who had a hard time climbing in/out of a vehicle but still wanted a 4WD pickup. They were just the right height for easy entry, and bonus they were towable behind a motor home.

Build a truck that can compete and keep the pricing right and they may have a winner. I see they've already had one price increase on the new '14 Silverado, so maybe they are going to widen the gap that way.
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Old 11-21-2013, 01:33 PM   #3
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Default Think S10

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That said, I remain convinced there's a huge untapped market for a low priced small-size pickup like the first generation Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi (Ram 50) trucks.
I think GM could sell a 2003 style S10 all day long. My wife had an extended cab 2.2 5 speed, and it got in the high 30's on the highway, and in the mid 20's around town. Update the styling a little, put some modern days toys (bluetooth, My Link Radio, ect) sell it for $18k and you couldn't build enough.
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Old 11-21-2013, 06:01 PM   #4
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I'm not sold on the strategy of selling a full size pickup and a midsize pickup next to each other. I feel they are too close in terms of size and will probably steal sales from each other. However, I understand this new Colorado is really GM's truck sold overseas, so I guess it really wasn't that hard for them to sell here anyway. Still, I don't see where the new Silverado is all that dominant of a truck and I feel Ford's upcoming F-150 next year will give it all kinds of trouble. The last thing the Silverado needs is competition from the Colorado in the same showroom. I guess we'll see how it goes. Maybe GM will get lucky here.
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Old 11-21-2013, 06:11 PM   #5
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That said, I remain convinced there's a huge untapped market for a low priced small-size pickup like the first generation Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi (Ram 50) trucks.
I agree as well and I think this is how companies like Kia/Hyundai, Honda, VW, etc... can enter into the truck market. They don't need to build the biggest, most powerful trucks, but rather, they need to enter the small truck segment to get their feet wet, while also learning how to build trucks.

I have also thought that Honda, with its experience with ATVs, could make a nice, small pickup that has great off-road performance combined with real use for people that don't want or need a monster truck. Honda could then build from there; much like it did when it first entered the U.S. market with its small, economical cars.

I do have to wonder if we might see the rise of the small pickup again in this country. Right now, big 4X4 diesel trucks are the rage now, but I have to wonder when people might go back to small, "sporty" pickup trucks. Big 4X4 trucks were the rage in the 70s, but look what happened in the 80s. All of a sudden, the small "sporty" trucks became popular (especially with the Toyota truck in "Back to the Future". I have to wonder if that is the next progression of the truck.
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Old 11-22-2013, 07:53 AM   #6
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We sold lots of 4 cyl 5 spd Dakotas back in the early 90's. But, Chrysler couldn't stand the losing money on every pickup, I guess. So they took the 4cyl added equipment and raised the price to near Ram level and effectively killed it.
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Old 11-22-2013, 12:48 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by tnpartsguy View Post
I think GM could sell a 2003 style S10 all day long. My wife had an extended cab 2.2 5 speed, and it got in the high 30's on the highway, and in the mid 20's around town. Update the styling a little, put some modern days toys (bluetooth, My Link Radio, ect) sell it for $18k and you couldn't build enough.
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We sold lots of 4 cyl 5 spd Dakotas back in the early 90's. But, Chrysler couldn't stand the losing money on every pickup, I guess. So they took the 4cyl added equipment and raised the price to near Ram level and effectively killed it.
I totally agree on both counts.

I remember back in 1994 or 1995 when Chrysler switched from the K-Car based 2.5 liter to the Jeep based 2.5 liter in the Dodge Dakota. All of a sudden the Dodge Dakota was an excellent entry level vehicle that looked good, was priced right and the dealers could sell it in volume.

I still see some of those old 2.5 liter Dakotas with the manual transmission rolling through the auctions and it's not uncommon to see them rack up 150K - 200K miles. They were awesome trucks.

I'm convinced there are still buyers for these types of trucks but all of the OEMs have walked away from the market.
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Old 11-22-2013, 12:53 PM   #8
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I agree as well and I think this is how companies like Kia/Hyundai, Honda, VW, etc... can enter into the truck market. They don't need to build the biggest, most powerful trucks, but rather, they need to enter the small truck segment to get their feet wet, while also learning how to build trucks.
I totally agree that it would ne a "no-brainer" for Hyundai and KIA to enter the U.S. truck market with a Ram 50 type truck and then move upmarket from there. That was their strategy with cars and it would certainly work with trucks.

Additionally, since Chrysler/RAM no longer have an exclusive deal with Cummins as it relates to their smaller sized diesel engines it would be easy for Hyundai/KIA to join Nissan and offer Cummins power in a 1500 Series pickup and have immediate street-credibility.
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Old 11-22-2013, 12:55 PM   #9
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I was a proponent of the Dakota and fought for it during dealer council sessions and on countless road shows. I believed then, and still believe now that the only way to really increase our owner base is to have good quality entry level vehicles and stair step people through our model lineup. Chrysler, as a whole, have impressive models, especially at the top end. We have no way to influence consideration of these models except through expensive advertising. just my 2 cents
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Old 11-22-2013, 08:52 PM   #10
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I totally agree that it would ne a "no-brainer" for Hyundai and KIA to enter the U.S. truck market with a Ram 50 type truck and then move upmarket from there. That was their strategy with cars and it would certainly work with trucks.

Additionally, since Chrysler/RAM no longer have an exclusive deal with Cummins as it relates to their smaller sized diesel engines it would be easy for Hyundai/KIA to join Nissan and offer Cummins power in a 1500 Series pickup and have immediate street-credibility.
I agree with your comments about Hyundai/Kia. I don't understand why they haven't done this already. It is almost like they don't want to grow at all (i.e. no expansion plans, no trucks, etc...). Adding to that, I don't understand the hesitation taken by Toyota and Nissan to grow their full-size pick-up truck sales. Toyota came out with Lexus and gave the Germans a huge scare; I'm sure it could do it with a full-size trucks if it wanted to. Maybe it is the conservative nature of these companies, or maybe it's because they are huge global companies, and trucks or more a N. American thing than anywhere else. I just don't know.

I agree that somebody getting and using Cummins diesels will gain much needed street credibility in the truck market. So, other than Nissan, who will take that step?
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Old 11-25-2013, 01:28 PM   #11
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I was a proponent of the Dakota and fought for it during dealer council sessions and on countless road shows.
I remember when Auburn Hills killed off the regular cab version of the Dakota and then tried to figure out why sales dropped off. At the time Chrysler had just hired an exec from Ford to run the Sales Division and he turned out to be a real zero. (I can't remember his name at the moment but I remember that Daimler thought it was necessary to go outside of Chrysler to find new management talent - that decision didn't do much for employee morale.)

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I believed then, and still believe now that the only way to really increase our owner base is to have good quality entry level vehicles and stair step people through our model lineup. Chrysler, as a whole, have impressive models, especially at the top end. We have no way to influence consideration of these models except through expensive advertising. just my 2 cents
I totally agree and feel that Chrysler was at their strongest when they adopted this strategy. The Dakota, Neon and Minivan all offered excellent entry level packages that the dealers could order and inventory in volume.

I've been meaning to create a new thread about Sea-Doo's new ski - the 2014 Sea-Doo Spark. Sea-Doo's created a new ski that dealers can retail for $4,995 - that's a big departure from where the industry's been headed.

Over the past 10 years skis have been getting bigger, heavier, more expensive and less fuel efficient. Sea-Doo's given their dealers a new ski that should attract new buyers to the market at a price point that hasn't been available for years. I hope they hit a Home Run with their new ski.
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Old 11-25-2013, 01:42 PM   #12
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I agree with your comments about Hyundai/Kia. I don't understand why they haven't done this already. It is almost like they don't want to grow at all (i.e. no expansion plans, no trucks, etc...).
I agree. I'm sure Hyundai/KIA have a reason for not entering the U.S. pickup market but it's certainly not clear to me what that reason is. My only guess would be it's on their radar screen but they have limited resources and they're going after the easiest gains first. (I believe that Hyundai is making market share gains in Europe too - maybe they can only accommodate so much growth?)

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Adding to that, I don't understand the hesitation taken by Toyota and Nissan to grow their full-size pick-up truck sales. Toyota came out with Lexus and gave the Germans a huge scare; I'm sure it could do it with a full-size trucks if it wanted to. Maybe it is the conservative nature of these companies, or maybe it's because they are huge global companies, and trucks or more a N. American thing than anywhere else. I just don't know.
I think both Nissan and Toyota have been somewhat humbled that their initial full-size trucks didn't gain the market share they had hoped for. Toyota already has a new Tundra in production and Nissan's coming out with their new truck soon - I wouldn't count on either of these OEMs from backing away from the full-size truck market.


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I agree that somebody getting and using Cummins diesels will gain much needed street credibility in the truck market. So, other than Nissan, who will take that step?
It would seem to be a "no-brainer" for Toyota to do a deal with Cummins to further the image that the Tundra is a truck that was designed and built in the U.S. It would also seem to make sense for Cummins since Toyota could do enough volume to make the relationship compelling.

Thinking out of the box, what would prevent Ford from doing a deal with Cummins for the F-150? (Especially if Cummins and Ford believe that Marchionne will eventually dump the I6 Cummins in favor of a Fiat derivative in the future.)
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Old 11-26-2013, 08:52 AM   #13
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We still sell every used s10 we get.best part of the 14 silverado is the mpg well as fit and finish.starting to hear lots of issues with the eco v6 engine.
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Old 11-26-2013, 11:57 AM   #14
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starting to hear lots of issues with the eco v6 engine.
Are you referring to GM's EcoTec3 V6?

If so, maybe we should create a thread in AREA 51 to see if any of our other members are hearing about the same issues.
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Old 11-30-2013, 08:03 AM   #15
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Sorry issues with fords Eco boost engine with twin turbos
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