Breaking News: New Trailblazer/Envoy On Hold

[Perian]

Link: http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/060616/1303729.html?.v=1

Friday June 16, 3:10 pm ET

General Motors Corp. will not be building a new line of sport utility vehicles at the Moraine assembly plant, but will continue to make its current line of mid-size SUVs at the plant for an indefinite time.

The company has extended the lifecycle of the five-seat SUVs produced at the plant, said GM spokesman Dan Flores. The company still will have to follow through on previously announced plans to eliminate the plant's third shift. Workers at the plant were notified of the extension on Monday, Flores said.

IUE-CWA Local 798 President Brenda Hayden declined comment Friday.

The plant produces the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Isuzu Ascender and the Saab 9-7X.

[Perian]

More to come -

Apparently GM has put a stop on the development of the mid-size SUV line.

You can assume that this plants operational days are numbered.

[b4z]

In my mind body on frame midsize utility vehicles are non competitive in today's market.
Too much weight and not enough interior volume.

And this may sound like blasphemy, but I would like to see the next generation Tahoes be unit bodies also.

[69Firebird400]

This is probably not the worst idea for them. The midsize BOF SUV market is dying right now, so it would be foolish for GM to devote resources to a segment that may be irreversibly shrinking. I was going to suggest that they at least update the appearance of the GMT-360s a little bit so that someone trading in a 2002 for a 2007 doesn't think he's getting the same car. Also, interior improvements would also be more than welcome.

However, Ford basically did this to the Explorer, and it sure as heck didn't help that model's sales slide. Still, if they could update the real and perceived quality of the interior on these things reasonably easily (getting the perceived quality of the Trailblazer's and Envoy's interiors to where the 9-7x is right now would be a good start), they might stay on certain buyers' test drive lists...hopefully also reduce the rebates needed to keep the factory humming.

[WishIhadatruck]

I was just reading my Motortrend mag. the other night and they said based on the poor sales of the new Explorer Chevrolet was second guessing themselves on what to do with the Trailblazer and was going to give themselves a Saturn Outlook with a Chevrolet front and rear end in a couple of years. It seems like the GMC version has enough of the Outlook in it, I sure hope we don't end up with 3 that look too much alike.

[boblutzfan]

The mid-size truck based SUV is dead. The Trailblazer and Explorer crowd has begun the migration toward CUVs. Those folks who want to tow a boat or other trailer will continue to buy full size SUVs like the Tahoe.

Personally I think GM is smart to phase out this segment. The Lambda and GMT-900 platforms will be the basis of their SUV lines for the next five + years. The Lambda architecture offers better packaging and fuel efficiency than the Trailblazer and Envoy.

I know there are die hards out there who will curse this move by GM, but this is reality. If you had to choose where GM were to spend their developmental dollars (Zeta or a new mid-size SUV truck based platform) Zeta is the obvious choice here. There will no doubt be other vehicles that come from the Lambda architecture - a minivan or two, a Chevy CUV maybe more. This is not bad as it advances a very high tech platform and will be more competitive in the long run.

The only reason to buy an Envoy over an Acadia is for the tow capacity. The Yukon is a much better vehicle and gets similar gas mileage (maybe even better) to the V8 Envoy. The V6 Acadia will still have a decent tow rating for small jobs.

GM is making the right decision here.

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted by b4z

And this may sound like blasphemy, but I would like to see the next generation Tahoes be unit bodies also.

As long as they can still tow and go off road, why not? There is no reason you can't get past the stereotype. Who ever paid any attention to the Grand Cherokee always being a unit body? Mostly no one. If the Saturn Outlook was a little wider it wouldn't be much different in size to a Tahoe so it will steal some of those sales already.

[KingElvis]

When they turned the Blazer into a 4700lb, 270hp behemoth, they lost the compact market. Now it' s just a poor man's Tahoe. It's like the condition with Dodge, where they produce a large Ram, and a Dakota that weighs about as much as a full size pickup from the 1980s.

Now with the soft roader Equinox, they've gotten some of that back, although the Zr2 S-10 "hardcore" off road market hasn't been replaced. Seems like a big hole where someone could introduce a Jeep Wrangler style utility that has standard low range 4x4 and starts under $20G. Maybe they could call it..Blazer.

I had an "Xtreme" Blazer. It had it's faults (mostly a super stiff ride), but this had to be one of the best vehicles ever made for negotiating the urban landscape. It looked a lot bigger than it really was.

The other thing about the Trailblazer was that it didn't really share many parts with the Colorado, and had this great engine that GM can't put in anything else they make.

[megeebee]

Frankly, I've been wondering what GM would need with the Lamdas AND the TB/Envoy.

[yamahr1]

Well, that probably just took those vehicles out of contention for when we replace our 2005 Envoy XUV in '08. (We love the thing, but time marches on.) Unless maybe they do a full interior redo on the Trailblazer SS, which is pretty hot otherwise.

Actually right now I'm thinking something more like an Avalanche hybrid will be a leading contender. Or if we can back off a bit on the Utility part of the SUV equation, a Buick Enclave.

[boblutzfan]

What will become of the excellent award winning 4.2L I6? That is the only down side of this platform dieing. Maybe they can find a way to offer that as a base engine in the trucks.

[darndot]

I hate to see the TB/Envoy go. I am still not sold on the crossover market. As a TB owner I don't think I would buy a crossover, but time will only tell.

[Mikkoo]

Hopefully they will at the very least upgrade the plastic Tupperware interior
soon. Whether or not this vehicle will be discontinued down the line, it is suffering from not having an interior upgrade.

[mobyss]

You all seem to be forgetting the Hummer H3 - you know, a body-on-frame mid-sized SUV with real 4WD capability.

Let the Trailblazer, etc die off in a few years and concentrate on cars and "cross-overs". Anyone that needs a "real" SUV can buy a Tahoe. When they pair a DOD 4.8 V8 with the 6-speed we should see 18/24 mpg - better than any 6-cylinder Trailblazer ever did.

[boblutzfan]

Originally Posted by Mikkoo

Hopefully they will at the very least upgrade the plastic Tupperware interior
soon. Whether or not this vehicle will be discontinued down the line, it is suffering from not having an interior upgrade.

Why invest money in a new interior for a dead segment? Ford tried that with the Explorer and sales continued to fall.