New Holden Colorado concept unveiled

General Motors is showing that it really is a global company.

The next generation Holden Colorado crew-cab ute has been unveiled in concept form at this week's Buenos Aires motor show, two months after it revealed the extra-cab version of the same vehicle at the Bangkok motor show -- about 18 months before the all-new model is due in Australian showrooms.

Although the crew cab Colorado was unveiled in Argentina it is likely that Australia-bound versions of the Colorado will continue to be made in Thailand.

As with the new Ford Ranger, the Colorado will become a global model for GM and made at more than one location.

Ute sales are big in South America and that is why GM's division there has become the "home room" for that vehicle. (Volkswagen also makes the Amarok in Argentina). 

But Thailand -- in the centre of another region where body-on-frame utes are hugely popular -- will likely be the source factory for Australian models.

The show car is dubbed a concept but the bodywork is understood to be production-ready.

Imagine a Holden grille instead of the two-tier mouth and Chevy bowtie and you pretty much have a picture of how the new Colorado will look.

Showing that great minds think alike, the Colorado has a similar crease along the lower flanks of the doors as the new Ford Ranger.

The tail-light shape of the Ford and Holden are also similar.

There's no more detail on powertrain as yet; the crew-cab Colorado show car had the same 2.8 turbo diesel donk as the extra-cab concept shown in March.

The arrival of the new Colorado will be big news to Holden. The lifecycle of utes is typically twice as long as it is for regular passenger cars.

Although the vehicle got a freshen up when it switched from the Rodeo to Colorado nameplate and front-end appearance in 2008, the body and core structure of the vehicle are at least a decade old.

The next 18 months will be a busy period for body-on-frame workhorse utes.

Ford and Mazda are about to release all-new models (in September), and the top-selling Toyota HiLux is due for a facelift about the same time.

By late 2012 or early 2013 there will be a new Holden Colorado.

This means the four newest vehicles in the segment at present -- the VW Amarok, Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton -- will become the oldest in the segment.

All-new Hilux, Navara and Triton are not due until 2013-2014 at the earliest.

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