I realize that talk is cheap, especially on the internet, but yes.

Basically, if it's on the US market when I'm out of college (Industrial Engineering @ UCF), I'm buying one.

However, I'm basically the UTE/El Camino target customer. I don't especially enjoy driving a truck around, and I absolutely hate having to borrow a truck when I have a few things to move from A to B, those "few things" never having an overall mass that requires a truck frame, but usually having a volume that requires a truck bed.

While I don't honestly expect it to sell in high numbers, like I mentioned before, based on the amount of trucks on the road everyday carrying/towing nothing, I'm willing to bet that it could be made functional enough so that enough people would consider a Ute/El Camino, thus keeping it from becoming the next SSR.

Not saying a "backhalved unibody" is a substitute for a work truck, I'm saying that there are plenty of truck owners that don't use their truck for much in the way of work.

 

You sure it would be 30K? Ute is cheaper than the Commodore and if the G8 is going to be round the 30K mark. Wouldn't the US UTE equivalent have the same price difference?

 

IF imported here, we can only speculate on price. But I really can't imagine a 6.0L version being much less than $30K.

I could be wrong, though.

 

Good rule of thumb: If a vehicle can be made profitably in Australia's low volume market (the entire country's population is no greater than that of the greater Los Angeles & surrounding area, under 20 million.... the US has 300 million), it can sell profitably here at a significantly lower price if sells at twice Australia's volume. I don't have Ute production numbers handy, but Utes are typically the lowest priced Aussie made vehicles, with Ute prices starting around US$20K. An LS1 6 speed without all the frills is about US$24.

As for this replacing the Colorado, that's like saying Cobalt will replace the Corvette. People in Australia who want pickup trucks buy a Toyota and Nissan the way we buy a Silverado or F-series.

GM sold 94,000 colorados last year. That's under 8,000 per month average. A new El Camino will probally sell about 10K annually. Typical Ute buyer is a single traditional male, into cars, has a bit of money and tends to see traditional pickup trucks as a bit... "country". Also, even though he admires the fact a Ute has a bed, just like those people here who buy AWD SUVs and never take it off road, he's unlikely to use the bed for anything more than moving things for a family member, a friend, or a girlfriend. Pretty much like the traditional El Camino buyer.

SSR comparisons keep cropping up, but again, it's a red herring. SSR was an extremely limited, high style, high price, Chevrolet version of a Prowler. It was created on a whim by a group of people who could fit around a card table. It was never planned to sell for more than a few years. It was targeted at people who collect rare vehicles and were Chevrolet fans. These things are going to appriciate, and only a fool would haul anything in them besides weekend dufflebags. However, the El Camino is more like a car that comes in a coupe made into a hatchback. It's a practical version of an existing car whose cost and engineering was part of an existing program, and cost an extra few pennies to make.

I know it's almost impossible for anyone to understand the purpose and market position of an El Camino after 30 years of Ford Rangers and Chevy S10s and Colorados just the same way that people after just 25 years of FWD think RWD means flaming death and carnage despite the 330 or so of 365 days of the year where streets are clear even in the worse winter. There's no doubt a market out there for a new El Camino.

Much of this reminds me of the perception that the public would thumb their noses at a rear drive big American sedan.... before the LX came out. Now GM and Ford are rushing to jump on the bandwagon. Isuspect the Ute will be the same way.


No. He said it would be very easy to do, and that some of the "adults" at GM were against it. This was about a year ago at Geneva when there was still opposition of spending money on the Holden VE Ute, and it hadn't been given the final green light.

 

Gross vehicle combined mass (GVWR here) for a Holden Ute with LS2 V8 is 3715kg (8190 lbs). Even the base V6 GCM is 3500kg (7716 lbs)

ALL ute models (including the V6) are certified to tow 1600kg (3,527 lbs), and it's probally pretty safe to say even a stripper Ute weighs more than the 2,473 lbs it would take to clear the cutoff.

I'd say that "probally" qualifies passing the 6000 pound tax writeoff hurdle, don't you?

http://www.holden.com.au/pdf/choosea...Z_SpecFeat.pdf

 

Um, I don't think tow capacity has anything to do with GVWR. GVWR is the weight of the vehicle plus it's "cargo" capacity (people, cargo, etc.). At approx. curb weight of 3,500 lbs, a Ute would have to have a people/cargo rating of 2,500 lbs to make the 6,000 lb GVWR.

 

Finally got a chance to look some things up, and I was wrong. You and Charlie win this round (enjoy it... it doesn't happen often ).

Gross Vehicle Mass (not Gross Combined Mass) is the Aussie equvalent. In this case, the 2365kg (5214 lbs) is still 785 lbs shy (GVM is 5017 with the SS version due mainly to suspension calibrated more for handling than hauling).

Interestingly (or perhaps, shockingly) the regular cab, Chevrolet Colorado with 2wd is just 4850! The highest GVW on a Colorado is 5300lbs

....a mere 85 pounds more than a standard issue, car based, Holden Ute!

 

I would consider a Crewman SS UTE.. _tentatively consider_.. I got the Avalanche originally cause I was thinking I would want to trailer my Camaro to the tracks..

However, change of plans, and I think all I would need to do is open trailer a motorcycle or two.


It would have to be a 4 door though, for practicality if it replaced the Avalanche.. The 4 doors would have a much shorter bed, so the bike would probably need to sit in a trailer.. 1600 lbs of towing is roughly 3500 lbs.. An open trailer holding two RR track bikes can't be more than 2000 lbs right?

Two or three adults weighing in at say 180 each, plus some equipment stashed in the bed, it technically should be able to haul and tow all that right? I'd imagine for a Crewman SS, the limiting factor not being the power, but the suspension and weight, and perhaps the transmission (don't think 6 speed car manuals were made for that kind of work)

 

I think bringing the Ute here is a good idea. The Elcamino sold very well for years, until the mid 80s. Plus El Camino died before the big truck boom hit, so who knows if it stuck around in different form (chassis) it might have saw a resurgence in the 90s. (remember all the El Camino concepts in the 90s)

Another thing is the Ute is considered the worlds fastest truck by Gunniess, and the new VE R8 will run 172 mph. That would be a nice image for Chevy, vs Dodge Ram SRT-10.

Sorry I didn't mean to re-open the controversy we had in a thread last summer of what a truck is and is not on the very subject of the Ute being the worlds fastest truck, I believe Guiom started the thread.

 

I don't believe they're planning on offering a Crewman (4-passenger) VE Ute, unless things have changed... guess we'll find out in September for sure...

 

I believe that to qualify for the deduction it has to be an actual truck. Many vehicles such as PT Cruisers and Magnums are classified as trucks for the purposes of the EPA and fuel economy, but different government agencies use different definitions. The IRS doesn't have the loopholes that let cars become trucks.

Also, I think that the 6000 pounds is the vehicle's own weight, not its GVWR. Very few vehicles manage that. That's why the H2 gained some interest in this area, since its curb weight is over 6000 pounds but the Tahoe (for example) is not.

 

The "small business" deduction is for a 6,000 lbs GVWR. I've paid my accountants good money to tell me so. Up until a couple of years ago, you could deduct up to $100,000 - all in the first year, if you wanted. Now I think that is limited to $25,000 - with the remainder of the purchase price to be depreciated normally over 5 years.

I almost bought a TB SS instead of my CTS, simply to take advantage of that loophole.

 

Well, I don't pay income tax in the US so I guess you can take my comments with a grain of salt. But I do recall that the H2 gained some popularity because its curb weight was over 6000lb. If it was the GVWR that mattered, Tahoes et.al. have have GVWRs over 3 tons for a long time, so why was the H2 noteworthy?

I just did a quick check on the IRS's website and this is what came up

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...137022,00.html

Or maybe I'm just reading the wrong section, but everywhere on that page mentions 6000 pounds unloaded weight.

 

You are correct, the Ute would be limited to $25,000 Section 179 first year business deduction... still pretty decent. I used this deduction a few years ago on my 2004 Silverado and saved a bundle on my taxes (I am self-employed and the Chevy is my "business vehicle"). It will be a few more years before I can claim this again; maybe about the time these Utes become available(?). I had a 1982 El Camino SS back in the eighties; it was one of the most comfortable vehicles I have ever owned and was a very useful vehicle. I was flying competition pattern RC airplanes at the time and it worked great for transporting two planes and support stuff to contests. I think there are plenty of folks that would like to own a performance vehicle that could double as a weekend plant/fertilizer/mower/etc. hauler.

 

Tahoes are included. There is a complete list somewhere of all that apply. Essentially, if you open the door, and the vehicle has a factory GVWR of 6K or more stamped in the door jam - that vehicle applies.