Auto Car | GMC Sierra All-Terrain Crew Cab 2006 | Ford may have given up on the Ranger here in the United States, but it looks like General Motors has big plans for the mid-size pickup market. According to PickupTrucks.com, The General is currently hard at work on the next-generation of both the Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon. The current generation Colorado/Canyon is slated to end production by mid-2012, and from what we hear, GM is likely to base the next-gen pickup on the GMI 700 body-on-frame global small truck platform. Those bones are set to get an unveil at this year’s Thailand International Motor Show in Bangkok.
PickupTrucks.com reports that GM had originally planned to dead-end Colorado and Canyon production altogether after this generation, but those plans seem to have changed. Even so, it looks like it’ll be at least two and a half years before the newest versions of the General Motors mid-size pickup shows up, which means there may be a bit of a gap in production between the time the old line dies and the new one gets up and running.
Many moons ago, Motor Trend reported that the funky GMC Granite concept from the 2010 Detroit Auto Show had been given the go for production. Immediately after, however, MT stated that while it strongly believed that the Granite would be produced, the publication had yet to receive an official green light from its sources within General Motors. That changes today, apparently.
Motor Trend is reporting yet again that the Granite has been confirmed for production, even going so far to say that the road-going car will keep the rear-hinged suicide door setup of the concept. This new confirmation reportedly comes from a “well-placed source” within the automaker, who also says that the Granite will be built on the same C-segment platform as the Chevrolet Volt, Cruze and Buick Verano.
When GM debuted the Granite concept, it used the same 138-horsepower 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four as the Cruze, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. This powerplant would certainly make sense for the production car, though MT suggests that even the automaker’s 177-horsepower 2.4-liter four from the Verano would be a good fit. Regardless, we’ll wait until GM issues an official statement before we start gearing up for the first drive.
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