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Fourth Trademark Filing For Groove Is Proof Positive Of Future GM Model

In October, GM Authority was first to report that General Motors filed to trademark the Groove name in Uruguay. A week later, we then reported that The General also filed to trademark for the name in two more markets – Mexico and Costa Rica. And now, we have discovered that the Detroit-based automaker has filed to register the Groove name in the Nation of Brunei – the fourth market where it has done so. The filing serves as proof positive that a future GM model called Groove is coming.

The filing for the Groove name in Brunei is noteworthy, given that this is the first time GM has filed to trademark the name outside of a market in Latin America. In fact, Brunei is located on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, just northeast of Indonesia. The small country is surrounded by Malaysia and the South China Sea. Hence, this represents the first filing for the Groove name in Asia, seemingly suggesting that the product with the Groove name will make its way to select Asian markets.

Country Filing Date Serial Number Goods & Services
Uruguay Oct 10, 2019 508826 Automobiles
Mexico Oct 10, 2019 0119852275019 Automobiles
Costa Rica Oct 14, 2019 2019-009387 Automobiles

It’s currently unclear which future GM vehicle will end up wearing the Groove name. The last time the name surfaced in a noteworthy way was roughly a decade ago, when GM introduced a Chevrolet Groove concept car in 2007. The show car was in the form of a compact hatchback with a high roof, upright body lines and flared wheel wells. It was introduced alongside two other Chevrolet minicar concepts – the Beat and the Trax.

The Beat made it to production as the Spark, the Trax came to fruition as the Trax/Tracker, but the Groove was never green-lit. Instead, it was shelved and its design repurposed for the GMC Granite Concept, which never made it to production, as well as the Chevrolet Orlando MPV, which was sold in many markets except for the United States.

General Motors has yet to file for the Groove name in the United States or Canada as of this writing, which leads us to conclude that whatever future GM vehicle will wear the Groove name is not destined for the two north-most markets of the North American continent.

All-new, second-generation Chevrolet Onix sedan and hatchback on GEM platform

Over the past few years, GM has intensified its efforts to improve its operations in select developing markets, particularly South America, while withdrawing or pulling back from others, such as India, Southeast Asia and Africa. The automaker’s current strategy involves creating various low-cost models on a single, purpose-developed architecture known as the GEM platform.

An acronym for Global Emerging Markets, the GEM platform aims to unify GM’s offerings in developing markets from disparate nameplates and platforms. The first fruits of the GEM undertaking have been the second-generation Chevrolet Onix and Chevrolet Tracker (along with the second-gen Buick Encore exclusively for China).

Current, first-generation Chevrolet Spin

At this point, we believe that the Groove name will end up gracing the replacement for the current Chevrolet Spin, an MPV capable of seating seven passengers. Though we are aware that GM is currently developing the model on the GEM platform, it’s unclear whether the replacement will wind up wearing the Spin name, or whether the vehicle will end up wearing a different identifier – such as Groove.

We’ll keep hunting for more info on GM’s plans for the Groove name, so be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more GM trademark news, Chevrolet news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.

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

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Comments

  1. This is excellent IMO, what people don’t get (with the exception of mainly Toyota) is by selling in 2-3rd world nations many who live there and their families will see Chevy on those roads. Some may immigrant to the US and instead of hitting the Japanese dealers they’ll go to GM dealers also, Ford and FCA currently isn’t in this position.

    Reply
    1. Ford has a much bigger global presence than GM. Many moving to the USA from Africa or Southeast Asia get a Ford or Toyota because it is sold in their country.

      Reply
  2. @Guestt

    Sounds great, however that’s fugly……

    3rd world I get it, just not in America,

    ??? hope all have a productive day….

    Reply
    1. What’s fugly? A concept designed over a decade ago and not brought to production? Yeah… you really “get it”.

      Reply
  3. If they make it an EV, they should call it, “GROOVE-E.

    Yeah, I went there!

    Reply

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