GM’s highly-successful GM Uzbekistan unit has ceased manufacturing the Chevrolet Captiva SUV. That much is according to an official statement form GM Uzbekistan released on September 10th.
Strategic Change
According to an official statement from GM Uzbekistan, the discontinuation is the result of a strategic change to update the model range.
“The assembly of Chevrolet Captiva at production facilities in Uzbekistan has ceased in accordance with the General Motors Corporation’s global strategy to update the model range,” reads the statement.
Existing Orders
GM Uzbekistan has stopped taking orders for the Captiva, but will fulfill orders placed prior to the discontinuation.
The automaker said that it will deliver existing orders to customers before the end of 2018.
About Chevy Captiva
The Captiva was manufactured at GM Uzbekistan’s plant in Tashkent alongside the current-generation Malibu.
The Theta-based model was originally developed by GM Korea, where it was initially sold as the Daewoo Winstorm. The vehicle was introduced in the Uzbek market 11 years ago. Full-scale assembly commenced in October 2007, and the model was subsequently refreshed twice during its lifecycle – first in September 2011 and then in February 2017.
Outside of Uzbekistan, the Captiva was sold in Korea, Russia and CIS regions, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The Captiva was not made available in North America as a result of direct overlap with the Chevy Equinox. Interestingly enough, the first two generations of the Captiva and Equinox shared the same Theta platform, but both models were created as separate vehicles programs and brought to market in total independence of one another.
The GM Authority Take
GM’s official reason for discontinuing the Captiva in Uzbekistan (to update the global model range), along with the automaker’s activities in other international markets, could suggest that a replacement is on the way.
Late last year, General Motors launched the third-generation Chevy Equinox in Australia and New Zealand as the Holden Equinox. The model replaced the Captiva in those markets. Then, just a few months ago, GM launched the Chevy Equinox in Korea, where the compact crossover replaces the Captiva.
Given the pattern of the Equinox replacing the Captiva in various international markets, there is reason to believe that The General will replace the Captiva with the Equinox in Uzbekistan, and that discontinuing Captiva production is the first step to doing that.
Russian-market Chevrolet Niva LE
Global Chevrolet Trax/Tracker (2017 model year)
However, a different replacement for the Captiva might be better suited for the Uzbek market than for Korea and Australia. Two potential candidates include the Chevrolet Trax/Tracker and the Russian-market Chevrolet Niva.
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