Chevrolet says the Colorado pickup will come to the United States

Chevrolet announced today that a version of the Colorado pickup truck launched in Thailand last week will make its way over to the United States. Few other details are available, but Chevrolet has stated that the current Colorado, which is now one of General Motors' most outdated platforms, will continue to be built through June of 2012, leading us to believe that the new generation of Colorado will drop here for the 2013 model year.

General Motors has declined to comment on whether there will be a GMC variant to replace the current Canyon truck that shares platforms with the Colorado, but the new Colorado will serve as a basis for a global platform for midsize trucks. General Motors has also been quiet about drivetrain options, only giving us details on the drivetrains offered in Thailand, including 2.5L and 2.8L turbo-diesel engines and two-wheel-drive and four-wheel drive. We do know that the new platform will retain a traditional body-on-frame structure rather than the more modern unibody design.

The new Colorado was actually developed in Brazil, however "Chevrolet Colorado chief engineer Roberto Rempel and his team lived in Thailand during the Colorado's development," according to General Motors global vehicle line exec Brad Merkel. "A similar development process will precede the launch of the truck in the US market," he said.

Chevrolet has not stated where the new Colorado will be built. However, the UAW recently announced that General Motors plans to manufacture a new, mid-size pickup truck at its plant in Wentzville, Missouri as part of the 4-year contract that General Motors singed with the union last month. So we're pretty confident that's where the new Colorado, and perhaps Canyon will be built.