Chevrolet Cars In Thailand, Why So Many Now ? Suddenly I See Chevrolet Cars Everywhere !

[WarpSpeed]

Quote from the Top Gear home Page about the Chevrolet Cruze "cheap car, cheaply made" kind of says it all. Be careful when buying cars from a company in ressesion ods are they are trying to save a lot on production costs

I agree with the conclusion, but the reason 'ressesion' has IMO nothing to do with this. I would even say one of the reasons they had problems during the 'ressesion' was the 'cheaply made' part of the opinion on the Cruze.

Not likely, the Cruise has come out post 'ressesion' and is one good reason they're making a solid come back.. But I've seen the Cruise and was quite impressed it seemed far more solid and well made then did anything else in it's class for similar money.

My comment was about GM in general, not specific the Cruze.

Ok fairy enough then, I'll get me coat ... But mentioning the Cruze specfically was a bit misleading.. I'd agree with that assessment pre 'ressesion' as I also shared it, the prices didn't reflect it though, but not since..

[stevenl]

My comment was about GM in general, not specific the Cruze.

Ok fairy enough then, I'll get me coat ... But mentioning the Cruze specfically was a bit misleading.. I'd agree with that assessment pre 'ressesion' as I also shared it, the prices didn't reflect it though, but not since..

Agree, the sentence in which I mentioned the Cruze was not very clear.

[WarpSpeed]

Actually I mentioned "in it's class" and that's a bit misleading too as I think it's somewhat between classes with it's pricing and package there really is not too much that it matches up with IMO, kind of stands alone except maybe the Focus and then I'd be going with the Focus but wait for a diesel.. I missed out on a 2 year old, low mileage 5 speed diesel for just taking over like 550,000 payments several months back and I'm kicking myself now, but had no control over the loss it was here and then it was gone ..

[anon210]

General comment: in the province, I saw a lot of Chevrolets (Captiva, mainly, not so many pickups and even less Trailblazers)... So, it would seem that out of BKK, Chevrolet is doing some inroads. Probably because it being an American car (and a SUV at that!), it carries more face?

[IMHO]

That doesn't sound right to me.

Does the Chevy and Isuzu truck have the same chassis, engine and rubbing gear. ?

Dunno what rubbing gear is, but

Both D-Max and Colorado have the same chassis and basic running gear, the same body from the A pillar back, and same interior.

The differences are front end styling, rear tail lamp design, engines, gearboxes, transfer case, diff (LSD models) and minor packaging details (e.g. stereo, interior/exterior colors, rear bumper and rollover bar design etc).

The previous gen shared all of the above plus engines, transfer cases and gearboxes, but not the diff (Chev don't share their LSD).. If you have a good look under an older Colorado, you'll see they didn't even bother to get the 3rd party sourced parts GM branded - most parts have Isuzu stamped all over them still

Both have been made in the exact same GM Thailand factory since 2004.

you mean same goes with the Trailblazer and the future replacement of MU7?

who owns which part?

just asking.

The next MU-7 is still some time away, but there's been no suggestions it'll share anything specifically developed for the Trailblazer - i.e. it'll be built using the same chassis platform (GMI700/RT7), but all body and chassis mods are expected to be done in-house by Isuzu.

As for who does what, Isuzu developed the chassis for the current-gen, but outside of the differences listed earlier, the rest of shared dev work was done by GM Brazil.

Just a quick update - rumor has it the next-gen MU-7 will have a reveal at the Motor Expo (29th of Nov to 10th Dec 2012 @ Impact Challenger), and will likely be released mid-late 2013 with deliveries starting late 2013/early 2014.

[thailoht]

Just a quick update - rumor has it the next-gen MU-7 will have a reveal at the Motor Expo (29th of Nov to 10th Dec 2012 @ Impact Challenger), and will likely be released mid-late 2013 with deliveries starting late 2013/early 2014.

I will definitely be following the updates on this SUV!

What I like most about the MU-7 is its strong performing Isuzu 3.0L diesel and the spacious and living room-like comfort of its interior. So it will be interesting to see which engine power plant drives the next generation MU-7 and also what technical upgrades it gets.

What is the opinion of the performance of the 2.8L Duramax engine power plant?

[IMHO]

What is the opinion of the performance of the 2.8L Duramax engine power plant?

IMHO, not as quiet as the Ford 3.2L, and definitely not as quiet as the Toyota 3.0L, but still better on this front than others. Power-wise, the paper specs don't seem to translate as I'd expected/hoped - I'd rate it pretty much equal to the Toyota & Isuzu 3.0L engines, with the Ford 3.2L the clear winner here - that order might change if heavily loaded though (my drives have had only 1-2 people on board). It's a little more fuel efficient than the Toyota 3.0L, about the same as the Ford 3.2L, but the Isuzu 3.0L remains the best here.

In short, it's not the best but definitely well up there. Not enough time to understand how it's going to stack up from a reliability standpoint., but no major or recurring issues are being reported...