Four months after the world debut of the all-new Chevrolet Groove in South America last October, Chevy’s new small crossover has just been officially announced in the Middle East. General Motors confirmed that the new Chevrolet Groove will arrive in Southwest Asian countries later this year, complementing the Bow Tie brand’s strong utility portfolio in the region.
Middle East is the second region on the planet where the arrival of the Chevrolet Groove has been officially announced, as it’s currently sold in some South American markets such as Chile and Peru. The small crossover will eventually be Chevrolet‘s new entry-level utility in some 40 emerging countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and other specific regions.
“The Chevrolet Groove is a fun, sporty crossover, delivering on the performance, design and reliability that Chevrolet’s customers have come to expect,” said Chief Marketing Officer at GM Middle East, Kelly MacDonald, in a statement. “Chevrolet already offers one of the most diverse and desirable SUV line-ups in the Middle East, and the Chevrolet Groove further expands our offering, attracting a younger driver who is looking for a dependable, tech-savvy and well-designed car to suit their lifestyle,” she added.
Based on the successful Baojun 510 that’s unique to the Chinese market, the all-new Chevrolet Groove is the second utility that GM and its China-based joint venture SAIC-GM-Wuling have developed to expand the manufacturer’s offering in underdeveloped countries. The first was the second-generation Chevrolet Captiva, based on the Baojun 530, which today is remarkably successful in the Middle East countries.
Smaller than the Captiva, the Chevrolet Groove aims to attract younger customers looking for their first crossover while introducing them to the Chevrolet’s portfolio of utility vehicles. Although it has a simple and rational approach to keeping costs down, the Groove boasts a modern appearance adapted to the brand’s design language and a good level of technological features.
The new Chevrolet Groove will be available in all Middle East markets beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021, when full details on its trim levels and final configuration for the region will be revealed. With the Groove, GM Middle East hopes to repeat the success story Captiva is writing with local customers and make the small crossover the best-selling model in its segment.
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Comments
GM was supposed to significantly reduce global platforms with the goal of VFF architecture and GEM achieving scale & reducing price.
China keeps adding to the list of platforms with this plus whatever under pins with new Monza (that was originally designed for Buick, I believe).
Maybe sourcing these vehicles from China is cheaper but it, nonetheless, effects economies of scale. And with GEM coming to America we see USgm still lacking discipline.
The platform used in this Chevrolet Groove is the same as that used in the previous generation of the Trax/Tracker.
I do not believe that Monza was originally developed for Buick, because the platform used is a modified and simplified version of the D2XX, to position the model below.
In some markets it is very common for companies to use an older platform in new models as a way to contain costs.