2019 Chevy Blazer
05-10-19 | 11:26 AM
#241
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 12
From: Southeastern PA
Resurrecting (answering?) the debate of whether "Blazer" means K-5, S-10 or Trail?
https://jalopnik.com/the-chevrolet-t...ove-1834667520
https://jalopnik.com/the-chevrolet-t...ove-1834667520
With General Motors already flushing the Chevrolet Blazer name down the drain with a disappointing crossover, we should have seen the same sorry fate coming for the Chevy Trailblazer name, too, which will reportedly return as a compact crossover around the size of a Chevy Trax. When will it end?
Chevy has done an impressive job of taking some serious missteps with its heritage nameplates. The new Camaro was ugly and they had to fix it, and even then it’s being outsold by the ancient Dodge Challenger still anyway. Then it turned the Blazer SUV legacy into another over-styled mound of crossover.
And now it’s coming for the Trailblazer name. Autoblog, Motor Trend and GM Authority all report the nameplate will soon return to the U.S., either as a replacement to the awkward compact Chevy Trax, or as a new model sold between the Trax and the larger Equinox in the lineup.
This is disappointing because it’s yet another nameplate that used to be synonymous with the idea of truck-platform SUVs being relegated to the level of boring, anonymous modular architecture modernity.
The last time you could buy a Trailblazer in the U.S., it had one of the few remaining American inline-six engines. That’s interesting! The most interesting thing on this new Trailblazer will probably be stories about its wheels being stolen from the dealership parking lot.
Just to add insult to injury, Chevy has been selling a Colorado-pickup-based Trailblazer SUV in global markets like Russia and India since 2012. We even begged them to give us that version back in 2016. So is that what we’re getting with this new one? Nope.
It’s likely we’ll be getting some version of the Chinese-market Trailblazer, introduced at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year, which isn’t based on the Colorado and is very much just another crossover.
Autoblog also reports GM also recently trademarked the Chevrolet Trailblazer Activ name, suggesting we could at the very lease see a version of this new crossover with some cosmetic off-roading flair.
But when you have to specify an “Activ” trim on a car called the “Trailblazer,” it should be pretty clear that you’ve done something wrong.
Chevy has done an impressive job of taking some serious missteps with its heritage nameplates. The new Camaro was ugly and they had to fix it, and even then it’s being outsold by the ancient Dodge Challenger still anyway. Then it turned the Blazer SUV legacy into another over-styled mound of crossover.
And now it’s coming for the Trailblazer name. Autoblog, Motor Trend and GM Authority all report the nameplate will soon return to the U.S., either as a replacement to the awkward compact Chevy Trax, or as a new model sold between the Trax and the larger Equinox in the lineup.
This is disappointing because it’s yet another nameplate that used to be synonymous with the idea of truck-platform SUVs being relegated to the level of boring, anonymous modular architecture modernity.
The last time you could buy a Trailblazer in the U.S., it had one of the few remaining American inline-six engines. That’s interesting! The most interesting thing on this new Trailblazer will probably be stories about its wheels being stolen from the dealership parking lot.
Just to add insult to injury, Chevy has been selling a Colorado-pickup-based Trailblazer SUV in global markets like Russia and India since 2012. We even begged them to give us that version back in 2016. So is that what we’re getting with this new one? Nope.
It’s likely we’ll be getting some version of the Chinese-market Trailblazer, introduced at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year, which isn’t based on the Colorado and is very much just another crossover.
Autoblog also reports GM also recently trademarked the Chevrolet Trailblazer Activ name, suggesting we could at the very lease see a version of this new crossover with some cosmetic off-roading flair.
But when you have to specify an “Activ” trim on a car called the “Trailblazer,” it should be pretty clear that you’ve done something wrong.
05-10-19 | 01:42 PM
#242
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,717
Likes: 90
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Resurrecting (answering?) the debate of whether "Blazer" means K-5, S-10 or Trail?
https://jalopnik.com/the-chevrolet-t...ove-1834667520
https://jalopnik.com/the-chevrolet-t...ove-1834667520
05-10-19 | 02:10 PM
#244
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 12
From: Southeastern PA
05-10-19 | 04:28 PM
#246
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,717
Likes: 90
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
05-11-19 | 11:34 AM
#247
05-11-19 | 12:13 PM
#248
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,717
Likes: 90
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
gm is doing what the market wants.
Unfortunately, according to the Ford people at the D.C. show, the Bronco's introduction has been pushed back from 2020 to the 2021 model year, so it looks like we're going to have to wait at least a few extra months to see it. I've got it on my review list.
05-11-19 | 12:30 PM
#249
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 12
From: Southeastern PA
A Blazer is not supposed to be an Equinox.
With all due respect, before one bets the farm on saying that, let's at least wait and see what happens with the upcoming Ford Bronco, and how it sells (or doesn't sell). The Bronco, except for the four doors, with its RWD/AWD and body-on-frame construction, will be a much more traditional vehicle worthy of the Bronco name than the Blazer, which is just another crossover.
Unfortunately, according to the Ford people at the D.C. show, the Bronco's introduction has been pushed back from 2020 to the 2021 model year, so it looks like we're going to have to wait at least a few extra months to see it. I've got it on my review list.
With all due respect, before one bets the farm on saying that, let's at least wait and see what happens with the upcoming Ford Bronco, and how it sells (or doesn't sell). The Bronco, except for the four doors, with its RWD/AWD and body-on-frame construction, will be a much more traditional vehicle worthy of the Bronco name than the Blazer, which is just another crossover.
Unfortunately, according to the Ford people at the D.C. show, the Bronco's introduction has been pushed back from 2020 to the 2021 model year, so it looks like we're going to have to wait at least a few extra months to see it. I've got it on my review list.
I think the Equinox is super-cheap inside--and I see tons of them on the road. So I don't think that the Blazer is going to be held back by the same flaw. The only thing that makes the Blazer "not" an Equinox is rugged looks. Just like a Passport is not supposed to be a CR-V.
05-11-19 | 12:42 PM
#250
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,717
Likes: 90
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
The market in general doesn't care about RWD based body-on-frame platform. I'd challenge you to ask 100 SUV owners to ask them whether their car is RWD/FWD "based" (hint--they will mostly say "My car is AWD") or whether it is unibody/body on frame (they will probably say "Wha?"). The "market" wants a nice car--rides nice, nice interior, nice features, etc. The "market" in general is not made up of "car" people or enthusiasts.
I think the Equinox is super-cheap inside--and I see tons of them on the road. So I don't think that the Blazer is going to be held back by the same flaw.
05-11-19 | 01:28 PM
#251
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 12
From: Southeastern PA
You have absolutely no basis in fact to make this prediction; and I have a feeling you don't know many soccer moms who aren't empty-nesters. Some may care; but if Ford wants to sell a lot of them, then they will market to all sorts of customers. If it looks cool, people will want it. Just like all the Jeeps, 4-Runners, Escalades and Land Rovers in my neighborhood that never see rougher terrain than the dirt parking lot at the soccer field.
Last edited by tex2670; 05-11-19 at 03:33 PM.
05-11-19 | 03:49 PM
#252
Anyway, since the bronco is so far off (you said 2021 now), it’s kinda irrelevant for now.
The Blazer's interior (if you have seen it) is more or less a clone of the pony-car Camaro.
). At least the screen isn’t bolted on top. 
05-11-19 | 04:37 PM
#253
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,717
Likes: 90
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
No, I was not repeating a stereotype. Simply stating what a typical buyer-class is, for any specific vehicle, is not stereotyping. Stereotyping is associating a vehicle with the way people dress, think, act, talk, go about their lives, or about factors like age, income, or gender. That is markedly different from what I stated. I simply stated (probably correctly) that the new Bronco is likely to find a number of buyers from those who are attracted to Trail-Rated Jeeps, and, for whatever reason, would want something similar but with a different (domestic) nameplate. Or, it might attract some of those who owned two-door Broncos 25 years ago.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-11-19 at 05:04 PM.
05-11-19 | 05:46 PM
#255
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 2,300
Likes: 4
From: RightHere
So people are happy to talk all about tree-huggers driving Subarus, Priuses, and even Teslas. And the people who want speed limits enforced are raining on the speeder parade and on fun and are predicting doom/gloom of the internal combustion engine. Environmental rules are a conspiracy by environmental bureacrats who have an agenda.
And those lazy unionized workers who might have produced the Blazer. Well they were too lazy and too overpaid. Better use Mexican workers in a factory that hasn't ramped up to full speed so the Blazer is not selling well. Yep, hypocracy and stereotypes but only when soccer moms are referenced.
This gets people triggered into outrage? Over a GM marketing gimmick/sellout of a classic nameplate? Priceless.
And those lazy unionized workers who might have produced the Blazer. Well they were too lazy and too overpaid. Better use Mexican workers in a factory that hasn't ramped up to full speed so the Blazer is not selling well. Yep, hypocracy and stereotypes but only when soccer moms are referenced.
This gets people triggered into outrage? Over a GM marketing gimmick/sellout of a classic nameplate? Priceless.
Last edited by MattyG; 05-11-19 at 05:53 PM.