Holden MD Mike Devereux has confirmed that the local launch for the Colorado pick-up will be delayed, following the catastrophic floods that hit Thailand in July.
We first reported the delay last month, but Devereux has now officially revealed the full extent of the problem, during his speech to media attending the local unveiling of the Holden Volt last week.
"We have a great truck, in the Colorado, coming," he said. "I was in Thailand, earlier in the month of November — actually as the flood wall was hitting Bangkok, so we actually did our... drive with dealers in Changmai, in the north.
"I've gotta tell you, as you're flying out of the airport at Bangkok... you know how the sun glistens off water...? Everywhere it was glistening sun. It was staggering, the devastation of those floods in that country.
"We were also impacted by it; some of our supply bases were impacted by the floods. Our plant is about 80 metres above ground, so it wasn't specifically impacted, where, for example, Honda's plant was...
"So there will be some delays with this vehicle; we originally thought we were going to launch it in Q1. It is likely that won't be Q1, because of the floods, but as soon as we get more information on a launch date for that we'll let you know.
"It's certainly a truck worth waiting for."
Holden will be chewing nails in the wait for the Colorado, since every day lost leaves the way open longer for new offerings in the VFACTS pick-up segments to make hay — among them Ford's locally-developed Ranger and the Mazda BT-50, plus the Volkswagen Amarok.
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