PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Aussies make Trax

The 2013 Holden Trax baby SUV is more than just a Chevrolet with a badge swap – it actually has a strong Aussie connection.

The design of the Trax, revealed late on the opening day of the Paris motor show, was developed under the direction of Australian Mike Simcoe when he was working at General Motors’ Warren design studio in Michigan.

It then transferred for completion to GM’s design studio in Seoul, Korea, which was then under the direction of American Ken Parkinson, who has Australian lineage.

“My ancestors emigrated from Australia to the US so I am kind-of Aussie. I just don’t have the accent down yet, but I’ll work on it,” Mr Parkinson joked.

Mr Parkinson, who is now executive director Chevrolet global design, revealed all this to motoring.com.au at the Trax reveal yesterday as he presented the five-seat, five-door Nissan Juke rival to the assembled media. Mr Simcoe is now back in Australia as executive director GM international operations design.

“We are stretching into every corner of our team and right now our team, including Fishermens Bend, is working on Chevrolets and some of those members worked on the Trax,” Mr Parkinson confirmed.

Mr Parkinson said several other Holden design staff worked on the Trax in Korea and USA.

He revealed the Trax design was the subject of a competitive pitch between the Warren and Seoul studios, which Warren won: “Mike (Simcoe) was leading the team when this theme was chosen and then it was handed over to the team in Korea for creative execution. I was running Korea at the time.”

Measuring 4248mm long, 1776mm wide and 1674 mm high, the Trax will be offered with turbo-petrol and turbodiesel engines. Although Holden is yet to confirm the lineup or pricing, a $25,000 entry has been mooted. It will come to Australia in the first quarter of 2013.

Engines on offer in Europe include a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol, 1.6-litre naturally-aspirated petrol and 1.7-litre turbodiesel.

Mated to a six-speed manual transmission, the 1.4-litre produces 103kW/200Nm and averages 6.5L/100km. The diesel delivers 96 kW and 300Nm and averages 4.5L/100km, while the fwd-only, manual-only 1.6-litre makes 85kW/155Nm and averages 6.5L/100km.

All manual transmission variants come with Start/Stop functionality. The turbo engines will also be offered with a six-speed automatic gearbox and an available all-wheel drive system.

The Trax’s luggage area can accommodate a maximum 1370 litres. In addition to a 60/40 split-fold rear seat, the front passenger seat can also be folded flat. A total of eight seating combinations can be selected.

The Trax will have six airbags standard along with ESC. In Europe, upper trims will feature Chevrolet MyLink. This is an infotainment system that aggregates content from smartphones onto the seven-inch, high resolution, full-color touchscreen display.

Chevrolet also kicked off its controversial sponsorship of Manchester United football club in Paris, revealing a Trax ‘concept’ daubed in the team’s red and white colours and player signatures. Former GM global marketing chief Joel Ewanick lost his job for not disclosing the full details of the $560 million deal to his superiors.

Ironically the car was revealed by Chevrolet’s European boss Susan Docherty, who was removed from the global marketing post in 2010 to make way for Ewanick.

Read more Paris Motor Show stories at motoring.com.au

See all the photos from the Paris Motor Show at motoring.com.au

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