mobile-menu-icon
GM Authority

New Chevy Colorado Retains S-10 Name In Latin America

The all-new Chevy Colorado, which is due to arrive in the U.S. in about two years for production in Missouri, has been on sale in Latin America for the last several months. And while that’s nothing new, what may surprise you is the fact that the GMI700-based truck is leading a life of duplicity, wearing the Colorado nameplate in North America, Asia (Thailand), and Oceanina while sporting the S-10 name in Latin America and elsewhere.

The Latin American-market S-10 offers buyers a choice of two cab configurations — a single- and double-cab — as well as three trim levels — LS, LT, and LTZ. Two four-cylinder engines are on tap, the 2.4 liter “FlexPower” — good for 141 hp and 161. lb.-ft. of torque — and the 2.8 liter “Turbodiesel” that makes 180 horses and a respectable 325 lb.-ft. of twist. The 2.4 is only offered with a 5-speed manual transmission, but the turbo diesel can be had with a 6-speed automatic or the 5-speed manual.

In Brazil, the S-10 has a starting price of R$ 58,868 (Brazilian Real) — which converts to $32,000 using current exchange rates. It joins the the smaller car-based Montana, which has a starting price of R$ 32,546, or $17,695.

And even though the new Colorado is a distant reality for North America, our question is simple: should it retain the Colorado name or switch to S-10 when it becomes available in the U.S. and Canada in the next couple of years, as has been implied? After all, the S-Series had a long and rather successful past in North America, where it spanned two generations from 1982 to 2004 before getting replaced by the Colorado.

[nggallery id=423]

GM Authority Executive Editor with a passion for business strategy and fast cars.

Subscribe to GM Authority

For around-the-clock GM news coverage

We'll send you one email per day with the latest GM news. It's totally free.

Comments

  1. how do you like silverado 1000?

    Reply
    1. Thats’s an interesting name, JD. I wonder if it will lead to some confusion about the Silverado line, though.

      Reply
      1. The S-Series was in the USA at the same time as the Silverado for 22 years, 1982-2004. It was never confused. The Colorado started out with the same platform as the S-10 and was considered the 3rd generation just under a different name up here in the States. Now that they have grown larger they no longer retain the original S-Series platform but its like going into the 4th generation of S-Series with major design changes and improvement’s. They continued to call the truck the S-10 in Latin America because they are to far away from Colorado and it makes no sense, thus its remains the S-10 down their.

        Reply
  2. Look at picture “14”, I think the bed is way too low compared to the rest of the truck. The rest of it I like, and is that more Camaro inspired instrument gauges?

    Reply
    1. Yupp, Camaro-inspired it is! But I’m not seeing the “too low” part… to me, it looks beautiful yet rugged from any which way. And, of course, the single cab will never look as good as the quad.

      Reply
  3. I’m not really worried about the name right now, but the size. I know they already made the model, but in case it reaches a new generation by 2015, it should be smaller, like S10 size.

    The S10 was a compact truck, the Colorado is a Mid-Size truck (Silverado 1500 is Full Size). The Small truck market is in trouble right now. The Ford Ranger and Ram Dakota were discontinued due to losing sales to the Tacoma and Frontier. GM made a ballsy move choosing to stay in the market.

    I think the problem here is that the mid-sizes are way too close in price to the Full-Size brothers. It can be fixed by making the truck smaller, back to the S10 size. I would expect an S10 to start as low as $15,000, which would boost sales as well as help some small businesses who need cheap capability. (If that means anything to GM)

    Reply
    1. Well I agree with you about mid size being to close to full size, especially since the 3 full size trucks(we all know which three im talking about) are just so damn good. So no one is really going to buy an inferior product, which a mid size truck will be at first because it doesnt have decades of refinement and history behind it, just to save like two thousand dollars, but a compact truck has alot of value because itll have significantly better driving dynamics and fuel economy then the full size, without the unnecessary capability that alot of people dont need but they do need the room of a truck.

      But I think the price is too low, I would go even as far as to consider making the truck a standard extended cab, and make crew cab optional. Because people who want a small truck will probably use it as a daily driver and want the extra room. And then make the starting price close to 17k. And if its cheap enough so they could sell it at 15k, I would add more convenience features to make it more car like.

      Reply
      1. You would need to keep the single cab/short box configuration to keep the costs low for fleet sales. Look in the parking lot of any major auto-parts store. All of them use either a Ranger or a S10/Colorado in sc/sb 2wd form as a store-to-store parts runner. Its not just auto-parts chains either, cables companies, water/electric/utilities, local government, even a local pizza place runs a small fleet of Mazdas (equipped with propane stoves in the bed) to deliver pizzas. Point is, they all bought the cheapest truck available.

        Reply
        1. Good Point, then around 15k seems to make more sense.

          Reply
    2. I agree as well, they are making them too large now and the engines they are using really don’t have the matching power for that size truck. Plus they don’t even make a regular cab anymore. I think they should offer this truck in two sizes compact and midsize like they were when they first started making the Colorado. Or if they don’t want to offer a smaller size Colorado anymore, they should design a new compact and offer that as the new compact like the old S-Series. The S-Series was a great line and technically the first Colorado’s were the 3rd generation of the S-Series, now they are nothing like it anymore. They still call the Colorado the S-10 in Latin America (Places like South America) and on the s-10 down their, they offer a high terrain package on the Colorado which is comparable to the new Canyon Denali.

      Reply
  4. Colorado! S10 is a weeeek name.. Colorado is great name for a truck and fits well with Silverado.

    Reply
  5. But in any case if they give GMC a version (and here’s hoping they don’t) and if they call the Chevy S10, they’d better not call the badge engineered, nearly identical GMC S15!

    Reply
    1. I would like the Sonoma to return. Just do not ever associate S15 to it. If anything, Sonoma 15

      Reply
  6. The S-10 name is very familiar to the Latin American market. Chevrolet built a reputation on strong pickups for these countries and created continuity with the name built on that reputation. Per Latin American sources, the name Colorado doesn’t work because it is a color in Spanish.

    Who knows what we’ll call this in a year or so?

    Reply
    1. You’re right, Colorado means “Colored” — literally.

      Reply
  7. How about CAMARADO

    Reply
  8. Continue to call this model the Colorado and develop a smaller truck to be named “S-10”?

    Reply
  9. I don’t think it would matter much either way if it were Colorado vs S10. That said this is yet another example of GM investing in a really good nameplates and then for no real reason just tossing it aside. If the S10 moniker is revived maybe “Sport 10” or S10 should be the bad for the standard cab stripper models. And treat “Colorado” as the upper trim crew cabs and such.

    Either way it looks like an awesome truck.

    Reply
  10. Ford have the 100’s series (f-150) GM and Ram share the 1000’s (1500). I think GM should have its own, like Silverado series, Silverado 15, 25 etc. S-10, S-15, S-25 etc. for short. This way GM won’t compromise Silverado sales (since it’ll be Silverado series) and offer a small truck as consumer want’s it, instead of forcing for a full size because of sales issue. this way it’s a win win situation!

    Reply
  11. Ford can have the 100’s.
    Mopar can have the 1,000’s.
    GM can have the 10,000’s!

    Moar numbars, moar bettar!

    Reply
  12. Keep it named Colorado, bring over the 2.8 diesel, and I place my order!

    Reply
  13. Bump for Tim S. Gimme a diesel & bring back the “LUV” era!

    Reply
    1. getting tired of waiting, might go for the Ram 1500 Eco Diesel!

      Reply
  14. GM made a mistake when they stopped S10 production in 2004. Some body styles never get old. S10 was one of them. They brought back Camero. Why not S10? Same body 1998-2004.

    Reply

Leave a comment

Cancel