Take a look at the pics for the upcoming Chevy Colorado and the GMC Canyon...

The GMC version is exactly the same as the Colorado, except with a different grille insert.

I though the clones were supposed to stop from GM?!

At least the full size trucks and the Envoy/Trailblazer have different front end treatments!

I know teh Canyon was not even supposed to happen, but the GMC dealers were complaining about not having an entry level pickup, so GMC added it's version to replace Sonoma sort of "Last Minute", but at least give it the proper attention. They even had to use chrome to fill the headlight area where the "Chevy Spear" goes across the headlamps!

(Best place I could find the two pics on the same page was Brandon's site... you have to scroll a little, but they are both there...)

www.gminsidenews.com

 

The Canyon almost was cancelled which is why I think it didn't recieve that much of a change. I personally see no pint in the GMC line...but thats just me..

 

On the flip side, I think the Colorado looks great (as far as trucks go)... especially in this ZR-2 version (which I think they are now calling Z71... , which I think is a bad move... just causes more confusion having "Z71" on even MORE trucks)

Anyone have more pictures of Colorado / Canyon from other angles or the interior?

 

I think GMC trucks are still around because to customer loyalty and to draw customers to other GM division, like Pontiac and Buick.

I agree with Brandon, tho, other than those 2 points I necer understood GMC trucks as a stand alone. Maybe waaay back GMCs were commercial trucks only

 

Well, GMC is pretty much controlled by Lynn Meyers and Pontiac anyway.... I guess they could dump the GMC name and put the Pontiac arrowhead on there... maybe do the twin grille theme here too...

 

They even left the new Chevy truck-styled headlights on the GMC! That's terrible. GMC exists because the truck market is still big and, believe it or not, there are some people out there who refuse to buy a Chevy truck over a GMC even though only the skin is different.

 

I have always wondered...if GMC is "Professional Grade" does that make Chevy "Amature Grade"?

 

Here in Winnipeg the dealership line-up is Chev/Olds and Pontiac/Buick/GMC, and one of each has Cadillac.

The GMC brand gives the Pontiac/Buick dealers a truck to sell. I also think the GMC vs. Chev truck sales ratio is much closer here than in the U.S.

It'll be interesting to see how the demise of Oldsmobile will affect dealer line-ups here.

The thread title question raises a good point .... and I have no idea how what I said relates to it

 

I agree that the Colorado and canyon are too similar, but it was even worse with the S10/S15 and Blazer/Jimmy back in the 80s.. virtually identical.

GMC is on the same lot as Pontiac and Cadillac here. I think it's a nice way of offering Pontiac/Cadillac buyers a truck option without resorting to Chevy because then their cars would clash and be laterally competitive with each other. I have no problem with GMC's existence. I see them as the pure truck brand. And they usually roll out innovations before Chevy ever gets them, i.e. Quadra-steer.

 

don't forget about the mid 90's Suburbans... I knew two people that bought identical suburbans... the chevy one was $50 cheaper.. i think the GMC one had a first aid kit..

 

GMC trucks are there purely to appease GMC dealers. If GM was smart, they would take GMC more upmarket instead of being just a slightly different Chevy. The truck market has matured and segmented to the point where this can actually work now.

Remember 30+ years ago Ford also had Mercury trucks, and Dodge had Fargo trucks. Back then the market couldn't support two brands of almost identical trucks, but in today's market, if given enough differentiation, I think GM could pull it off.

 

I disagree.

The Colorado is so ugly that whomever allowed that design should be brought up on terror charges, whereas the Canyon is only mildly nauseating.

 

Canyon was a last minute addition to the GMC lineup (no time to make a totally different front end) I bet they change the look of the truck in the next few years. With a smaller truck maybe GMC will make a new Syclone !!!

Why you ask is there still GMC trucks??? over 500,000 sales a year, that is why.

 

Just a passing thought:

Ford claims to have the best selling full-size truck for 26 consecutive years. Brand versus brand that may be true, but counting the Sierra / Silverado combined, I'm pretty sure they outsell the F-blank50's. If true, it would be ironic that GM's higher sales would have to be spread across 2 brands, but it's true you can churn out more that way.

 

For the last few years Chevy/GMC combined has outsold Ford, but this has only been since the re-design. But there's more to the story.

For example, in 2001 Ford claimed sales of over 900,000 f-series. However only 346,000 of those were the the 'regular' f-series; 390,000 were the SuperDuty (a completely different vehicle) and 170,000 were SuperCrews (again, a different vehicle). Meanwhile Chevy alone sold 465,000 regular Silverados (not the HD), so when it comes to normal trucks, Chevy alone, without GMC's help, outsold Ford.

Ford does the same with the Explorer. They like to say it's the best selling SUV on the planet, but they're cheating again by combining three separate vehicles into one nameplate: the new 4-door Explorer, the 2-door Sport model built of the old platform, and the SporTrac, also built off the old platform. To be equal, Chevy should combine the Trailblazer, the old 2-door Blazer, plus whatever sales the 4-door S10 generates.