Two years ago, we argued Chevrolet should tap the small pickup market before rivals dig in with a modern Chevy S-10. Perhaps such a truck is under consideration at General Motors, but Ford could beat it to the punch.
Automobile reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources, that Ford is seriously considering a Focus-based pickup to slot below the Ford Ranger. The truck would be a replacement for the former Ford Courier, which served South America until 2013. The Ranger replaced the tiny truck.
The truck could reach North America by 2022 and fits the Blue Oval’s strategy to cut traditional passenger cars out of its portfolio and move exclusively to trucks, crossovers, SUVs and other utility vehicles.
The unibody pickup would directly rival the Honda Ridgeline in the U.S., and not much else, but it could help Ford overtake GM. The latter sold more trucks overall in the first half of 2018, thanks to Chevy and GMC’s three-truck strategy: a mid-size pickup, full-size and heavy-duty truck.
Our hypothetical Chevy S-10 would also ride on a unibody platform and provide a true entry-level vehicle for those needing extra utility. These days, the Colorado is quite a massive truck. We imagine our S-10 as a true bare-bones work truck as the perfect solution for contractors without a need for high towing capabilities or large payloads. Though, we think it could also capture more of the “active” crowd, too.
Should GM consider such a truck? Or is the entire idea dead on arrival?
Comments
Very doable with factories in Mexico Brazil South Africa India Thailand and possibly Poland building a future S-10.
Poland?
They should consider the North American market when they redesign the Latin America Chevy Montana pickup truck.
Offer it with the Same engines as the Equinox, 1.5T gas, 2.0T gas, 1.6T diesel
Do it! Had ( 5) S10s in family. Wanted another but needed a vehicle after the old Colorado’s were cancelled. Settled for Silverado reg cab short box. Still too big for what I need. Loved my Sonoma 3-door with the Sport opton. (ZQ8)
We have held this discussion here before. GM already has their foot in this with the Montana and with a redesign make the next gen more acceptable to the American market.
But it comes down to numbers. I saw where more than one automaker is looking at the uni body truck market but to do it the vehicle would need to be a global platform much like the Colorado.
They have seen a major migration of customers from the CUV market to the mid size truck and they are wondering how many will come over to a smaller vehicle.
The smaller trucks are not like the full size where they can move 2 million truck a year. These are treated much more like cars and the profits are much closer to them too with the lower volumes.
Please do it. I love every S series truck I have owned.
Word of caution here to all that say just do it.
Odds are great if GM and most other MFGs enter this segment it would be a uni body truck based on a Fwd/AWD platform much like the Honda and Montana.
This would not be a S10 body on frame model.
I had both a S10 and Sonoma and loved both but the economics of today would prevent a all new smaller body on frame.
Even the original S10 shared many parts with the car line and a small Blazer and Astro van. Today there is no such product to share with.
Not trying to piss on the fire but we have to keep the economics in mind here.
No kidding. They’ve had little trucks like this before. Heck even VW had one. They’re great for hauling stuff that one normally wouldn’t want to put in the back of that little SUV/CUV thing they already have, and ruin the interior fabrics or such. That said I’d welcome such a vehicle. I wish Ford luck with it if they go for it.
Imagine a CUV based model with Blazer like styling.
Make it a truck not for traditional truck buyers but a truck for CUV buyers.
I’m ok with a small uni-body truck. As long as the specs are good, looks decent, and has a decent interior.
Holden VF Commodore Ute, erhm… no…wait….GM shut down Aussie manufacturing. Derp.
This would be the perfect opportunity for GM to bring a small Courier (no pun intended) Van to market to replace the late Astro. There is a growing market “the last mile” as it is referred for fuel efficient delivery vehicles. The large brick and mortars have realize it is more cost effective to ship to local distribution warehouses and then Farm off that last mile to the smaller delivery services or use there own local drivers.
Just now my next door neighbor had a package delivered, the vehicle was a Nissan NV cargo van. Another neighbor regularly receives groceries from Amazon Fresh. I myself am a Prime member and over half of my deliveries are made in the smaller vans, MV, Transit, Promaster, etc. or compact car.
One of my friends daughter delivers groceries as a full time job, he says she works allot of hours but earns decent money. Point is there are more delivery vehicles on the road today then there ever has been.
GM needs to get into this market and sharing a platform with a true small pick up could make it profitable.
Who knows, those big hardware stores could start delivering fertilizer, flowers, bricks and other such items locally, a small truck would be the perfect tool for the job.
Which Nissan NV? They normally have numbers, like NV 200, NV 300, NV 400 …
Not sure, didn’t run out and look, there is a growing market for small (day’s worth of local delivery’s) delivery vans.
If GM wanted to actually sell some Voltec powered vehicles, here is where they could do it. Drop the Volt hatchback and use the same Voltec power on a small pick-up and CUV? Highly unlikely to happen though, GM will say they can’t make enough profit unless they overprice such a vehicle due to expiring EV tax credits.
Only if it wasn’t FWD and only if it wasn’t foreign looking.
Build it on the Equinox or Traverse platforms. Both are available with AWD. I would lean toward the Equinox platform to keep is small enough as to not take too many sales away from the Colorado / Canyon.
Agreed, I’m sure that they will make some modifications to the front and rear for the US Market if it gets the Green light.
These are all great ideas, but what about a El Camino/Sprint AWD concept using the Malibu or Cruze as a base?
The thing I dislike most about cars is getting down into them, and then having to crawl up out of them. That low Malibu front end may look a little strange with a bed – and it has the same problems as cars do now.
Use the Camaro as a base. Make an El Camaro ZL1 that can do the Nurburgring in 8 minutes flat, 18 minutes with a full bed of manure.
Maybe Chevrolet could use the Equinox or new Blazer as the starting point for a new El Camino.
Give me this and i’ll be a good boy, at least until the pavement ends!
https://www.tuningnews.net/news/080109c/hummer-hx-concept-hr-04.jpg
There was talk that GM should go after Jeep, even if it were just to bring Jeep back into American hands. I think GM stated it would be cheaper to do it on there own.
I present to you what GM could call the ZX2! …bring it!
That could work – at least they are taller than most cars. But, unless they pay careful attention to what they are doing, GM will have a FWD Colorado sized utility vehicle.
YES , PLEASE BRING BACK A SMALLER TRUCK. SOON !
For most all of this century I was in the market for such a vehicle – now, well maybe a little late for me. But, I am sure this would resonate with almost anybody with room to park an extra vehicle.
Bring it on GM !
The key to this is it needs to look like a truck, sit higher than a car, ride like a car, handle like a car and have a extended cab and crew version.
You make it an El Camino with buckets you will sell about 12k units. Not that I would not to love to have another Sprint SP as I loved mine.
It needs to be part truck part CUV.
Not sure I’d it is possible but how about a converticab like the Avalanche on the crew to give a ton of bed room If needed. Uni body would work with that.
The bottom line is people want trucks and SUV models . They also will buy a car platform if it looks like a CUV. Case in point the Malibu and Nox are very similar but yet one sells much more volume. Because it has the SUV styling and greater utility.
Also be mindful this would also have to appeal to a global market for volume to get the buisness case approved.
A replacement S10 is the primary vehicle I’m waiting to return.
But this idea is a non-starter. Absolute no to any CUV basis. The Equinox doesn’t remind anyone of a truck. This doesn’t have to drive like a car. Look at the excitement from the new Suzuji Jimny. I realize a BoF can’t happen without international volume.
GM should get off their butts and take Chevy back into Europe. If the Brits pony up to save their Astra plant, deal for the Poland plant and tool to sell small solid axle military ‘jeeps’ to Europe.
Base a trail worthy small Blazer off that. Call it a Chevrolet Jimmy because GMC is too upscale now. Base an S10 off that (regular cab, short box please). Sell them internationally and not too many have to come here. I’ll be waiting with a salvage 4.3 from a newer Silverado.
Hell yeah!! Count me in!
GM could easily win over American buyers affections from both Ford and Dodge with minimum effort. They already have the groundwork for all of it with their Holden brand. Now yes I understand GM is going with the new Vehicle Strategic Set platforms but GM could easily take the new platforms and work out something like this
VSSR (vehicle strategic set-rear wheel drive) Camaro, Blazer, Maloo (El-Camino), Senator/GTS/GTSR/Clubsport (Impala) which would give GM that car-based truck they’re looking for and a vehicle that most people miss dearly. Have a base model 2.7L Turbo-4 pushing out 310hp/350lb-ft of torque, a hot 5.7L (the 5.3L bored over to 5.7L pushing 425hp/420tq, an updated 6.2L which really should really go to 396ci or 6.4L pushing out 495hp/500tq, the LT4 6.2L Pushing out 650hp and lastly the LT5 pushing 750hp which give more options that either Ford or GM with greater power outputs for the price with light weight, good performance reasonable pricing, etc. The Camaro could stand a larger trunk and better visability from the driver’s seat which would really help it fight with the Mustang better and make it more liveable. The blazer should be the Camaro of the SUV world just like the Durango is the Charger of the SUV world and it needs to have some high performance V8 variants to combat the R/T and SRT-392 Durango SUVs and maybe even a LT4 powered variant to battle the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
VSS-T (vehicle specific set-truck) Colorado, Traverse, Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban: Colorado & Traverse should be on the same chassis, Colorado should get a sports cat version as well as the off road ZR2 package with a hotter version of the new 2.7L turbo (somewhere in the neighborhood of 350hp/350tq) which should also be the base engine for the Silverado, Tahoe & Suburban with that kind of power output. drop the 5.3L for a 420hp 5.7L and put in a 495hp/500lb-ft torque 6.2L V8 and call it a day. There should seriously be an SS Silverado with the 650hp LT5 V8 under the hood (even tuned down to 550hp would be cool as well as a high horsepower ZR2 Silverado to compete with the upcoming Rebel TRX from Ram Trucks. on top of that should be the Silverado HD trucks with upgraded Duramax V8 diesel engines putting down 500hp and 1000lb-ft of torque some of them being off-road themed like the Ram Power Wagon. The Tahoe and Suburban need to move to the independent rear suspension setup however the Suburban needs a solid axle setup on the 2500HD chassis and frame with a full size Duramax.
Electric vehicles: FNR-X, Spark, Trax Volt & Jolt: These vehicles need complete makeovers and need to be able to go toe-to-toe with Tesla and win. FNR-X fully electric Camaro inspired Crossover with a minimum of 550hp for the main electric engine and 300hp for the rear with torque being at 520lb-ft and 300lb-ft respectively. The Volt needs to become a larger sedan to battle the Tesla Model S P100D with equal amounts of Horsepower and torque all at 500lb less weight with styling more like the Current corvette but in sedan form. The Jolt needs to rival the Tesla Model 3 but be better in every single way while the spark & Trax maintain their civil duties as electric commuter vehicles with great features and amenities.
I left out three cars, the Malibu, the Equinox and the Corvette, all for good reasons. The Corvette needs to move over to Cadillac with the C8 platform and fulfill its destiny as a rival to Ferrari and Lamborghini. This leaves the Malibu and the Equinox as my last two vehicles on the Chevrolet platform. These cars are very nice but GM has dropped the ball on them seriously. The Malibu needs to better compete with vehicles such as the Toyota Camry and the Nissan Maxima. Both of these cars are 300hp V6 cars and the Maxima touts its title of the 4 door sports car and wears that badge mightily while the Camry is a very hot normal everyday car, even the altima is a beautiful machine and the Malibu has the potential to be even more. Let’s break it down. The Malibu shares the same chassis as the Buick Regal GS. Which means a performance oriented All wheel drive system can work on the Malibu, just as a hatchback design would work with the sweeping body lines ending in an integrated spoiler on the decklid and the rear quarters panels. Slightly wider fenders and quarters would give the car a seductive coke-bottle shape while things such as a Magnetic ride suspension setup with different settings, selectable drive modes for the 9-speed automatic trans-axles, torque vectoring, electronic hybrid performance differentials, a 350hp/350tq 2.7L Turbo engine, active valve dual exhaust system, recaro seating, Bose stereo, Camaro inspired interior slightly more aggressive aerodynamics, a Corvette-style cowl heat extractor hood, and a few other things would make the Malibu stand out a lot from the Maxima and Camry and put it more in line with the new Kia Stinger and Genesis G70 sedan even though it’s a front wheel drive based entry. The equinox should be the Crossover version of the Malibu with more of an emphasis on being a slightly spirited daily commuter with the 275hp 2.0L turbo, a hybrid and a 350hp 2.7L Turbo to compete with the Ford Edge ST. These would be the two Chevrolet entries for the VSS-F (front wheel drive) platform.
With a line up like this, even with just the Chevrolet brand, GM would be competing with Ford, Dodge, Tesla, Kia/Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota with a lineup of vehicles that would challenge something in every segment.
A replacement S10 is the primary vehicle I’m waiting to return.
But this idea is a non-starter. Absolute no to any CUV basis. The Equinox doesn’t remind anyone of a truck. This doesn’t have to drive like a car. Look at the excitement from the new Suzuji Jimny. I realize a BoF can’t happen without international volume.
GM should get off their butts and take Chevy back into Europe. If the Brits pony up to save their Astra plant, deal for the Poland plant and tool to sell small solid axle military ‘jeeps’ to Europe.
Base a trail worthy small Blazer off that. Call it a Chevrolet Jimmy because GMC is too upscale now. Base an S10 off that (regular cab, short box please). Sell them internationally and not too many have to come here. I’ll be waiting with a salvage 4.3 from a newer Silverado.
Whoops. Please delete the duplicate post. Sorry.
A replacement S10 would be what want too but development cost would be difficult,
What would it share parts with?
The original was based on many G body and a body parts or modified from their parts. Today we have sponsors smaller platform to use. The Alpa is too expensive,
I have looked at this and find it difficult to fine a parts sharing platform to share cost.
Also based on the Colorado many buyers have also come from the CUV lines.
I agree the S10 is more appealing to me but.
GM sells a small pickup worldwide right now – has for many decades. The problem has been that these vehicles don’t meet US safety and gas mileage goals. Every year the standards in these other parts of the world are getting closer to US standards. There is a convergence coming. Maybe this will solve itself naturally. Anyway, as long as we are putting in our 2 cents, how about GM’s smallest diesel(137 hp, 240 lb/ft) right off the bat along with the 1.5 liter turbo gas engine (160 hp, 185 lb/ft). These two powertrains should bring in the interest – and if they fit the 2 liter turbo should fit as well.
The small pick up they offer is just not one the American market would like much. It is a small car with a bed.
Now if they replace this vehicle with a platform more suited for what people will accept for here.
Worldwide isn’t what it used to be for GM. But, they still make and sell this pickup in North and South America:)
Brazil: https://www.chevrolet.com.br/picapes/montana
Mexico: http://www.chevrolet.com.mx/tornado-2018-camioneta-pick-up
Maybe you picked up on me advocating an Alpha GMC crossover. They have to be planning RWD based crossovers with the VSS.
Personally, an S10 would be the primary vehicle. The second would be a splurge. A V8 Camaro would tempt me very much. But a small GMC alpha makes more sense. Either way, I wouldn’t consider double car payments. I’d have at least a 5 year gap in buying new.
If GM wants info on what people want. There it is. Not getting hopes up though, so I will more seriously consider competing companies products. Most of my other posts are more generic speculating, based on people I know and talk to.
I assumed that was what you were leading up to.
The reality what you state is what you want. I would not mind one either but we are in the minority.
There is a number of problems here.
#1 The Alpha would not be cheap. The Camaro already reflects that in the price.
#2 To make a limited market model like a Ute would be even more expensive. You may sell 12,000 units. That is all Pontiac expected to sell of the G8 sport truck.
#3 The utility is limited with a Ute and today it is all about utility. That is why most trucks have 4 doors today.
#4 The small truck segment is still a risk. Honda has made a dent but not enough of one to make this a no brainer yet. Do you risk a ton of money and not make the return? This is why I see this as a global project.
These are not my feelings these are things that were brought up in a story on the idea of small Uni Body trucks in the SAE Magazine. It is a magazine for the auto industry. They gave numbers in the story on what it would take to get a program like this functioning. The numbers were as high as the Colorado sales as I recall. They were numbers Honda had not reached with only their truck in the segment.
Hyundai is now bringing another truck and I think there is one other than Fords.
The reality is while everyone says they want a small truck the problem is that small truck is about 3-4 different kinds of truck vs. just one kind.
Automakers like Honda and Hyundai are looking to the CUV buyers to grow sales. They find the risk there acceptable. Also they share most of the underbody with an existing CUV. But there is no one looking to do a body on frame truck like the S10. I am sure fords may be based on one of their CUV models in uni body. They do have the platform for the Mustang coming that can support RWD but will they use it?
I have been very vocal on a small truck for a while and now that I read that story and saw real numbers of what it would take I have had a dose of reality hit me on this. It has left me less optimistic.
I was in love with the Denali Show truck GMC had about 12 plus years ago. It was built on a Zeta. It was great but the reality of how much it would have cost and how few they would have sold come into play. But I do note much of the styling made its way to my crew Canyon.
To be honest I love my Canyon. I thought it was big but now I am used to it and it is very nimble. The MPG is a solid 20 MPG around town one up from my Sonoma with 120 more HP and 4×4 over my old 2wd.
I wish I had a sure thing that would work but I don’t. The save way is what the others are doing the CUV conversion. Do you use a Terrain or Acadia? What will give the most utility and needed size.
Scott3, thank you for the thoughtful reply.
Good points. I have a Colorado and honestly I don’t see the point of going smaller. It handles well for a truck and can carry or pull a load. What would be the benefit of a smaller pickup? I suppose gas mileage, but GM has plans for that already.
American consumers have already flocked to big honkin’ road machines, sadly. Short of another oil crises, I just don’t see a return to small pickups and cars.
Bring back the El Camino! “party in front, work in back”
Build it on the Alpha platform, Camaro in front, pickup bed in back.
Since the Camaro’s front end already looks like a truck they’re halfway there.
Imagine, an El Camaro ZL1 1LE. It’ll do the Nurburgring in 7:16, or 14 flat with a full bed of topsoil.
Seriously, why do we need a pickup smaller than the Colorado? If you’re using the bed all the time then you want it to be large. If you don’t use it all the time, then you don’t need it. Just rent a pickup once or twice a year!
Even out here in the rural area I live in, there are so many pickups with pristine beds. They’re not tools, they’re fashion accessories.
I am waiting for a small truck from Chevy with good off road chops. Want to get out there without spending much on gas. Will buy if they ever make another s10 4wd
@jh, I agree, If GM can take the mechanics of the Last Generation S-10 Off Road version and bring it up to today’s standard which would bring it on line with the current ZR 2 or even the future ZH2 and at a price that would be a steal, that could truly be a winner for the potential Compact Segment, though I would also add….The appearance of the US version certainly would have to get beefed up based on the photo that was recently presented to the public of the current model in South America.
I would buy one right away …. fwd would be great in Canada
YES! I WHOULD BUY A SMALLER PICK UP !