Quick, what’s coming to pretty much everywhere in the world, except for the United States? If you answered “Chevy Trax“, then you’re correct — as GM’s Australian arm has officially confirmed that it will market the subcompact crossover as the Holden Trax.
While Holden didn’t provide any more details about the vehicle than what was already known, it did say that the small SUV segment has grown 57.3 percent year to date compared to the same time period last year, thereby underlining the importance of this vehicle in the over 140 markets worldwide.
To recap, the Trax will share the Gamma Plus platform shared with the Buick Encore/Opel Mokka and will be “what the Chevy Cruze is to the Buick Verano“, according to GM Authority sources. The vehicle will make its world debut at the Paris Motor Show in September (as a Chevrolet), with more details expected as the launch nears. Stay tuned to GM Authority for the latest GM News.
The GM Authority Take
The fact that the Trax will make its way to Australia but not to the United States is an outright enigma at this point. Think about it: Holden offers the Captiva 5 and 7 — the former being an updated version of the Opel Antara/second-gen Saturn Vue; and it will now offer the Trax below the Captiva 5, making for a nearly perfect stair-step crossover lineup. By contrast, Chevy does not even offer a compact crossover in the States — with the Equinox being the smallest CUV offered by The Bow Tie brand. What gives?
Comments
It looks nice
I think GM wants to see what the market will be for the Buick Encore. If that sells well, then I think they will consider it. It was also too bad they pulled the plug on the Buick Regal Wagon as well. They seem to have some good ideas, but then back out of them. I would have bought the wagon, especially if they made it an all-whell drive like the Subaru Outback.
Wait, there’s a Buick Regal wagon? And I can’t get one???!!!??? I would definitely consider buying if available.
There isn’t a Regal wagon per se, but there were certainly spy shots of a few prototypes:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/09/buick-regal-wagon-reportedly-dead/
It’s essentially the Opel Insignia Sport Tourer.
I’m wondering if it has the same stupid armrest found in the Sonic and Encore. Would be nice to have some shots of the interior. If this ever comes to the U.S. they’ll probably remove the roof rack. I’ll move up in size to get the rack, right Mr. Reuss?
To me, the strategy of forcing Americans into larger vehicles when some want a smaller, well-designed vehicle is just an outrage. This could not be more blatant. The U.S. government should sell its stake immediately, and never do something like that again.
This sort of behavior makes me all the more comfortable with the thought of buying foreign (probably Mazda). I feel for the American worker, but I’m not going to buy a car that I don’t want just to help the employment situation. It’s Ironic that many small car buyers are forced to give up utility/function or buy from Germany/Japan. Guess the Marshal Plan is still in effect.
The North American market (aside from a few that always seem to frequent auto blogs and discussion boards) does not support sub-comact vehicle. With our wide open roads, abundant parking and large driveways, people just prefer larger vehicles. None of the sub-compact vehicles in the US do very well.
I think it is a great idea for GM to bring in the Encore to test the waters and then if it is successful, build it here. This was done with the Regal and worked out great!
Absolutely true…
Bring it here, or I will be cross shopping other manufacturers and or a used Captive from an Enterprise lot…
I agree with Jeff. Buick has never had anything like the Encore for sale here in the US. It looks very different from other Buicks, and of course is a compact crossover, something they have NEVER sold. If Buick can bring the Encore here and have it sell well, then I think the Chevy will probably come too.
Calm down folks. It’s not unusual for GM to delay the arrival of the Chevrolet version of new types of vehicles. They did it with the Traverse. This is so the other brands can gain some ground before the bread-and-butter (read that as cheaper) Chevrolet models role in and steal the sales.
But then I saw somewhere that the next Equinox will be a size smaller than the current one so I guess that’s why they’re not bringing the Trax over?? I don’t know if it’s true that the next Equinox will be a size smaller and it’s not gonna be on the Theta platform and gonna be on the new platform.
And where did you see that the nox will shrink for the next generation? That would certainly be interesting…
The reason the Trax isn’t coming here is primarily the success of the Equinox: GM doesn’t want to take share away from it, and believes the Trax will do just that.
But if you can dig up where you read about the next-gen Equinox, that would be awesome.
http://www.*******.com/forums/f70/next-equinox-blocking-chevy-trax-u-s-111333/
Well I think we are lucky, the equinox is nicer than anything else in any other country. And we get the best version of the Mokka, the Encore!
I don’t know man… I’d take the 7-passenge Captiva over the Equinox any day!
Why the goofy whip antenna? Can’t they just stick the classier color-matched shark fin on everything they make? Looks cheap.
What makes the Captiva better than the Equinox? Other than, of course, the sixth and seventh passengers?
I’m a fan of the interior, which has a different layout than the Equinox and the styling. And, of course, the added passenger capacity.