An all-new pick-up that General Motors will sell in Asia, the Pacific Rim and Europe is set to commence production at the Rayong plant in Thailand.
The new model was previewed by the Chevrolet Colorado Show Truck, a concept that was revealed at the Bangkok motor show in March 2011. A production version of that vehicle will be manufactured at Rayong from October and will be available in crew cab and extended cab bodystyles. The plant is due to commence building the Colorado for Chevrolet Europe from 2012 as well as a Holden-badged model for Australia.
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As part of a US$300m investment at Rayong, the body shop has received new tooling and robotic lines, the paint shop has had a major tooling upgrade and a large robotic press line has been installed. According to GM, the new press line can produce seven panels per minute, or 2.3 million panels per year.
“This is GM Thailand’s largest-ever engineering and manufacturing program. It is proof of the outstanding skills and capability that exist in this country, and represents a firm commitment to our strategy of building where we sell”, according to GM Thailand Vice President of Manufacturing Kaher Kazeem.
The Rayong facility, which currently builds the Chevrolet Cruze and Captiva models can produce up to 180,000 vehicles per year at full capacity. GM Thailand also manufactures the all-new four-cylinder Duramax turbodiesel engines for use in the upcoming Colorado range at a separate facility in Rayong.
GM is yet to elaborate on the plans it may have to replace the US-made Chevrolet Colorado. The Shreveport plant which builds it, and its twin, the GMC Canyon, is scheduled to be shuttered in 2012. The new Thai-built Colorado is not related to the model of the same name which has been made at the Louisiana facility since 2003.
According to recent media reports, the Colorado and Canyon replacements for North America are expected to be manufactured at GM’s Wentzville plant. This follows the announcement by the United Auto Workers earlier this month that GM plans to invest US$380m and bring 1,850 new jobs to the Missouri plant as part of a proposed contact deal with the labour union. Plans call for the addition of a second shift to produce full-size vans and a midsize pick-up truck. Wentzville currently builds the aged Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans.
Author: Glenn Brooks
