Is This Chevy’s Hyundai Santa Cruz Small Pickup Fighter?
There are images of two different unibody Chevy small pickups popping up in MotorBiscuit’s feed that put teeth to the idea a Hyundai Santa Cruz fighter is coming soon. It was already confirmed earlier this year a replacement for the Chevy Montana/Tornado was coming in 2022. That’s the small unibody pickup GM makes in São Caetano do Sul, Brazil, and sold in Latin America and elsewhere.
Riding on the GEM platform the Montana replacement will use some Tracker components
Riding on the GEM platform this small pickup will share Chevy Tracker crossover components. But it will be different-looking enough to not resemble a Tracker. Those who have seen it say the front end looks similar to a Chinese TrailBlazer SUV.
Mechanically, it will be like the Tracker. That means the same 1.2-liter three-cylinder turbo engine, suspension, and brakes. But we’re hearing that the engine will be bumped up to produce more than the 133 hp it currently puts out in the Tracker.
This Chevy replacement will only be available as a four-door
While the Fiat Strada/Toro, its main competition, comes in both a two- and four-door version, this Chevy replacement will only be available as a four-door. Autos Segredos is saying that Brazil will be the first to get it toward the middle of 2022. It published these speculative images done by Kleber Silva whose work comes from the Behance website. They differ significantly from the second group of images.
These come from GM Authority, in case you didn’t notice their logo repeated endlessly in the background. They show the TrailBlazer-like front end with the LED running lights high on the fascia and the primary headlights located lower. Large wheels and limited body sculpting define the main body features. The blue pickup images show a jutting beltline and a fair amount of body sculpting.
GM may not initiate new segments, but once one forms it wants to conquer it
The official word from GM is that the Montana replacement will not come to the US. But we also know that with the buzz and speculation the Hyundai Santa Cruz has generated that the General won’t let Hyundai have the segment to itself. Especially when it has a very competitive model already being cranked out on the other side of the Panama Canal. GM may not initiate new segments, but once one is developing it wants to conquer it.
These unibody pickups are the next segment to see action, and Chevy will want a piece of it. We anticipate a larger engine, suspension tuned for US tastes, and mostly higher trim levels being sold here. We can’t wait to see this party get started beginning later this year.
