Although a specific model has yet to be announced, the Blazer is a candidate to replace the Captiva.
Wouldn’t be a small SUV sell better?
Sport-utility vehicles of the B-segment, aka sub-compact, class are now easy to sell explaining the success of the Honda BR-V and HR-V, Mazda CX-3, MG ZS and Toyota C-HR in Thailand.
Because of that, Chevrolet once contemplated in selling the Trax in the country, where archrival Ford is offering the Ecosport (still in pre-facelift form, though).
However, executives of Chevrolet Sales Thailand once told us that a business case for the Trax couldn’t be justified due to small margins and low predicted sales.
And it was only recently at the year-ending Motor Expo that company officials have spilled the beans to the Thai media by saying that a new SUV is coming next year.
No specific model has been revealed, although punters are now pointing to the all-new Blazer which has just been launched in Columbia as a replacement for the first-gen Captiva.
The outgoing Captiva has been built at General Motors’ Rayong factory for many years and has desperately been waiting for an all-new replacement after being in Thai showrooms for a decade.
But Chevrolet has already got the Trailblazer…
Both the Captiva and Trailblazer are seven-seat SUVs but are distinguished with different driving abilities.
The Captiva employed a car-like monocoque platform for enhanced on-road driving dynamics, while the Trailblazer is built off the Colorado’s pickup underpinnings for some off-road focus.
The Blazer is billed as a “crossover” which is why it superseded the Captiva in some global markets. In the US, the Blazer has 173hp 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and nine-speed automatic transmission to choose from.
This unit could be adapted to take E85 in Thailand should Chevrolet want the Blazer to attract a 5% discount in excise taxation.
This could potentially place the Blazer within the 1.3-1.6 million baht price range in Thailand where there are better margins than with the aforementioned Trax (900,000 to 1.1 million baht).
And with a five-seat layout, there would be more differentiation for the Blazer from the Trailblazer (it seems the Captiva badge is more apt in this country).
True. But this is CR-V territory…
True, this particular segment isn’t an easy battlefield because, apart from the Honda CR-V, there’s the Mazda CX-5, Nissan X-Trail and the pending MG HS.
When sales of the HS start next year, MG is expected to phase out production of the slightly smaller GS.
But because the Ford Escape/Kuga and Toyota RAV4 aren’t sold in Thailand, there’s still some breathing space left for Chevrolet. And yes, there’s even a sporty RS version of the Blazer to exploit, although those initials are already being used by Honda.
Mazda and Nissan are planning some updates in 2019 for their SUVs. The CX-5 is set to get a third engine choice in the guise of 2.5-litre petrol-turbo (from the CX-9 that’s not sold in Thailand), while the X-Trail will get a belated facelift (but remaining unique with a hybrid option).
