Making Trax

[ocnblu]

Sigh... another cool vehicle we are deprived of here in the land of Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet...

 

 

 

[ocnblu]

[ocnblu]

4 guys in a car = bozos

[regfootball]

trax would be a great commuter. it's just a wee bit larger than an sx4, many people want small awd crossovers like this.

Equinox sales WOULD NOT be lost selling this here.

I do say though the styling should have had a few tweaks first before they might have brought it here.

I'm gonna try to look at an Encore soon. It would be nice if the Trax were available too. I need a commuter like that.

[Drew Dowdell]

the only problem I see with Trax as-is is that it uses the old Chevy face and not the new one.

[regfootball]

that is it's huge flaw right now. That horizontally split chevy grille in just a few short months looks many years old.

The front end on the new Traverse is so snazzy. That needs to propagate to the rest of the lineup pronto.

Interior is sort of sparse and cheap looking inside the trax though.

[ocnblu]

If given the chance, I would seriously look into a Trax after looking at the borderline unaffordable (for me right now) Encore.

My most expensive vehicle was the 2010 Colorado, at $28k MSRP. It was affordable at the time, but no more, I'm afraid, if I were looking at it today. The Encore at $27k is right there with it. Desirable, but unattainable (if I use my head and not my heart).

Trax would fit my current needs perfectly. It has a relatively lofty seating position, is practical and goodlooking, economical and affordable.

EDIT : I just went to the Chevy Canada site and priced out a Trax 1LT AWD... $26,990 with all weather mats and cargo tray as the only options. Translates to $27,071 USD. Not as "affordable" as I envisioned.

In other words, Buick Encore is not much more expensive than Chevrolet Trax, and it has a lot more equipment on it.

Edited February 3, 2013 by ocnblu

[PONTIAC06]

If given the chance, I would seriously look into a Trax after looking at the borderline unaffordable (for me right now) Encore.

My most expensive vehicle was the 2010 Colorado, at $28k MSRP. It was affordable at the time, but no more, I'm afraid, if I were looking at it today. The Encore at $27k is right there with it. Desirable, but unattainable (if I use my head and not my heart).

Trax would fit my current needs perfectly. It has a relatively lofty seating position, is practical and goodlooking, economical and affordable.

EDIT : I just went to the Chevy Canada site and priced out a Trax 1LT AWD... $26,990 with all weather mats and cargo tray as the only options. Translates to $27,071 USD. Not as "affordable" as I envisioned.

In other words, Buick Encore is not much more expensive than Chevrolet Trax, and it has a lot more equipment on it.

For some reason it seems like the prices in Canada are still higher than America despite the decrease in the dollars value...

The Encore bases at $26,895 in Canada, and here it's $24,200.

I bet if it were here, the Trax you spec'd out would actually be priced closer to 24 or 25k, but I see your point...especially considering all the things you do get on the Encore...

[Blake Noble]

Interior is sort of sparse and cheap looking inside the trax though.

Yeah speaking of that, I'm not going to lie here, GM needs to decide where in the hell they want to place the center stack vents in just about all of the low-end Gamma-platform cars. The Onix, the Trax, the Spin, and the Sonic (the only exceptions are the new Brasilian Cobalt and, oddly, the Spark) all have those ugly vertical storage bins on the sides of the center IP that looks like GM initially wanted to put HVAC vents there, but decided that it was either too expensive or simply looked too good.

Edited February 4, 2013 by black-knight

[regfootball]

Chevy moved 4,000 Captiva Sports last month, with no advertising, etc.

All four of GM's divisions, the largest seller was a crossover (excluding pickups). Equinox, Terrain, Enclave, SRX. Tells you where the shoppers are. But Chevy figures the Captiva won't siphon Equinox sales and that a Trax might steal Sonic, Cruze, and Equinox sales.

[Drew Dowdell]

Chevy moved 4,000 Captiva Sports last month, with no advertising, etc.

All four of GM's divisions, the largest seller was a crossover (excluding pickups). Equinox, Terrain, Enclave, SRX. Tells you where the shoppers are. But Chevy figures the Captiva won't siphon Equinox sales and that a Trax might steal Sonic, Cruze, and Equinox sales.

Does National and Avis need advertising from GM in order to be persuaded to buy Captivas?

[regfootball]

No, but that is exactly my point.

They probably are ok with selling 50 thou of those a year without trying and without it taking equinox sales in comparison to a trax which they see as a cannibalizing threat and would have to work hard at selling.

I myself dont think the trax cannibalizes the equinox as much as it would bring in more chevy buyers.

[Drew Dowdell]

Keep in mind that the Equinox is due to be replaced very soon. It has, at most, one model year left in its current form. It will be downsized slightly and lose weight significantly, probably also dropping the V6 entirely in favor of a series of 2.5, 1.6T, and 2.0T. Considering how such an Equinox will likely be priced and what the Trax is being priced at today, do you see the logic in Chevy's decision not to offer it here?

[Blake Noble]

Keep in mind that the Equinox is due to be replaced very soon. It has, at most, one model year left in its current form. It will be downsized slightly and lose weight significantly, probably also dropping the V6 entirely in favor of a series of 2.5, 1.6T, and 2.0T. Considering how such an Equinox will likely be priced and what the Trax is being priced at today, do you see the logic in Chevy's decision not to offer it here?

Actually there's sound logic in merging the Equinox and the Trax in the future.

[ocnblu]

Well, Chevrolet needs something in the current Equinox slot, what's that gonna be then?

Maybe I should just say eff it and go look at a CR-V, CX-5 or RAV4.

[ZL-1]

It sure looks nice in red and with the 18" wheels!

I think the diesel 4X4 could be an interesting choice...

Still haven't seen one here in Lisboa; then again, haven't driven past any Chevrolet dealers lately...

[Robert Hall]

Keep in mind that the Equinox is due to be replaced very soon. It has, at most, one model year left in its current form. It will be downsized slightly and lose weight significantly, probably also dropping the V6 entirely in favor of a series of 2.5, 1.6T, and 2.0T. Considering how such an Equinox will likely be priced and what the Trax is being priced at today, do you see the logic in Chevy's decision not to offer it here?

Actually there's sound logic in merging the Equinox and the Trax in the future.

Different size niches, though. Other makers have a range of CUVs from subcompact to compact to midsize to fullsize, so there is room for a Chevy compact and a midsize, or a subcompact, compact and midsize..

A small Chevy CUV to compete w/ the RaV4, CR-V, Juke, etc has been needed for sometime, the Equinox slots in more w/ the Edge, Highlander, Pilot, Murano, etc.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[G. David Felt]

This would sell big time here as Chevy has no subcompact AWD CUV. I know many people who would like this.

[Drew Dowdell]

Keep in mind that the Equinox is due to be replaced very soon. It has, at most, one model year left in its current form. It will be downsized slightly and lose weight significantly, probably also dropping the V6 entirely in favor of a series of 2.5, 1.6T, and 2.0T. Considering how such an Equinox will likely be priced and what the Trax is being priced at today, do you see the logic in Chevy's decision not to offer it here?

Actually there's sound logic in merging the Equinox and the Trax in the future.

Different size niches, though. Other makers have a range of CUVs from subcompact to compact to midsize to fullsize, so there is room for a Chevy compact and a midsize, or a subcompact, compact and midsize..

A small Chevy CUV to compete w/ the RaV4, CR-V, Juke, etc has been needed for sometime, the Equinox slots in more w/ the Edge, Highlander, Pilot, Murano, etc.

The current Equinox is a "tweener" by being only 2 row but being nearly as big as some 3-row CUVs. Chevy considers the Traverse to be the competitor to the Pilot and Highlander, not the Equinox. There is less than a $600 swing in base price between the Highlander, Pilot, Murano, Traverse, and Explorer.

The Equinox at $24k base is priced exactly against the RAV-4 and CR-V, but is 7" - 10" larger in each external dimension and 300lb to 400lb heavier. Down is the direction I expect the Equinox to go in size.

I'm not arguing against a small Chevy SUV, I'm just explaining why we won't see a Trax here with a base price of $22k when the Buick is only $2K more.

[regfootball]

Well, Chevrolet needs something in the current Equinox slot, what's that gonna be then?

Maybe I should just say eff it and go look at a CR-V, CX-5 or RAV4.

VOTED +1 on that! CX 5 is nifty! Not quick enough though really. The stick drives nice.

Let me just say this. In my time in purgatory hell (selling Suzukis) what I found was that there was a significant portion of the population that wants a small small sized crossover the likes of the SX4, Juke, Outlander Sport, Impreza, (Trax) encore etc. and does not want to be at the next size level (RAV, Escape, Rogue CRV, Sportage etc.).----sx4 failed in not being up to date and missing with not so good fuel economy numbers. But the people looking exactly for a small AWD getabout with GGM and cheap price is a HUGE unsatisfied segment. Key being small and cheap. Think VIBE or smaller.

And there are folks that want to be at the Edge, size wise. Larger and more buxom. with still only two rows.

Right now to me, the Equinox is a little bit of a tweener (not that it is space efficient mind you). But it is larger and heavier than a CRV even if its not more useful. It is not as large as an Edge which is where Chevy has a gap (nothing for those who think the traverse is too big and don't need the third row vs. those who think the Equinox is too small).

When I hear that the Equinox is getting smaller and less heavy I like the idea of it, but it can't lose much for interior space. More importantly is right now it feels luxurious and substantial in comparison to some of the others in the segment. It cannot and should in no way try to go down so far that it is smaller than the RAV CRV Escape, and Tucson / Sportage).

Part of me thinks the Equinox should get larger and would serve more people that way though also.

IMO the Trax is still clearly a size, weight, and price class below those just mentioned. IMO Trax and Equinox can coexist nicely and each make their own market splash. Encore and Trax don't need to compete for customers. Chevy can be cheap. Buick can have stuff and be spendy.

RIght now the Equinox is too expensive IMO for most of the configs they sell it at. There needs to be a small crossover that can be bought high teens and the entry that competes in the Equinox class needs to be frequently attainable in the low teens for the FWD.

think of all the Sonic sales that would be killed by a Trax that cost 1k more but had so much more interior space.

Edited February 5, 2013 by regfootball

[ocnblu]

I just sawr that the CX-5 is coming with the 2.5L SkyActiv engine from the new Mazda 6, with 185 hp and the same highway EPA estimate as the 2.0L... sounds pretty good to me.

[hyperv6]

I suspect Chevy has something else based on the Gamma Planned. The Trax is nice but old looking and if GM would intro it here after the Encore the cries of badge engineering will come from all angles.

The new smaller Nox is coming and I expect it will be much smaller and lighter. I do not expect it this small but I do expect it to match the Ford in size and mass. After that I would not be surprised to see something on the Gamma with a fresh face and it's own body to set itself away from the Buick.

Right now the Trax and Encore are just closer than what GM is wanting to do anymore. I think it would be fun to see a Gamma based vehicle that is a cross between a jeep and a Geo tracker. Make something a little more fun.

I know they should have made the Trax here and skipped the Encore but what is done is done and they have other plans.

Edited February 6, 2013 by hyperv6