If we were to make a list of things we’d never imagine reporting on, General Motors re-applying for the Chevrolet Tracker trademark would be somewhere at the top, probably next to Pontiac and Hummer coming back. But as we breathe, here we are today, with the filing dating of May 10, 2013.
At the very least, GM intends to do something with the Tracker name. It could simply mean that there’s a concept car coming, or it could point to a new sport utility vehicle, as the filing does state that the name is for “motor land vehicles, namely, sport utility vehicles, engines therefor and structural parts thereof.”
A sub-Equinox crossover/SUV (Trax)? Or some sort of niche off-road vehicle that would rival the Jeep Wrangler? We honestly have no idea at the moment, but we’re sure to find out.
To note, General Motors elected to name the Chevrolet Trax the Chevrolet Tracker in Russia and the CIS, since the name Trax is slang for the act of reproduction (to put it mildly) in Russian.
Comments
GM does not “intend” to do something with the “Tracker” name, but GM is actually USING the name.
Tracker is the name for the Chevrolet Trax in South America and in the Russian Federation (and probably all or most CIS countries).
Trax is the Chevrolet brother of the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka (Buick Encore in China and also North America).
It doesn’t matter about the name of a car that isn’t being sold outside of the United States. That’s why this USPTO filing is significant.
Well, registering the tradmark for the USofA protects the name Tracker being used south of the border, and prevents confusing the customers by what might be meant by “Tracker”. And since the USofA rules the world, a patent ruling in that country has a lot of weight, especially in what they always considered their backyard.
Besides, the Chevrolet Trax is marketed in Canada as Chevrolet Trax, and also in Mexico.
But maybe GM is thinking of aligning the name internationally as Tracker and dropping the name Trax altogether. Who knows…
I like the idea of aligning the nameplate globally as Tracker, and moving away from Trax. The nameplate is still young enough for GM to be able to swap a new (albeit similar name) without causing mass confusion and necessitating a huge marketing campaign to prove that the former is now the latter.
However, I should note that to secure a trademark with the USPTO, an applicant must prove that it will use or is using the applied-for name in a real-world product or service… In other words, it can’t be a future “plan” to use the applied-for name.
Moreover, an applicant can prolong the amount of time it has to prove to the USPTO that it is using the applied-for name in a real-world product or service by a total of six periods, each lasting six months. This should give us a timeline of GM’s plans of swapping Trax for Tracker… if that’s indeed what is happening here.
My wishful thinking: Maybe we’ll get the Trax here but called Tracker.
@Paul I hope you’re right 🙂
or put the tracker as a compact SUV and Equinox as midsize?
Pretty much. At present, the Rav4, Escape, and CR-V have nothing to worry about from GM.
BECAUSE WHY THE HECK NOT
I’ll always welcome back the Tracker. I know GM isn’t just filing the trademark to protect the Tracker name, despite its deep and storied history, so I’m sure this will become a car. My gut says American version of the tracker (hopefully with new sheetmetal), while my heart says a smaller rock crawler than the Wrangler.
I hope the new Tracker, is one mean traxer.
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