GM and Isuzu end ute collaboration, Holden Colorado to move upmarket
Late last week General Motors and Isuzu announced the two companies will be not be jointly developing their next-generation utes, which are currently sold in Australia as the Holden Colorado and Isuzu D-Max.
In a media statement released to the media, including Reuters, GM said: "Both GM and Isuzu agree that due to unique requirements for each company, joint development of the next-generation midsize pick-up truck for [global] markets is no longer the optimal model for this project".
Above: Facelifted Holden Colorado.
An unnamed GM executive told the agency, "It doesn't make sense for us trying to copy the business strategy of the Japanese rivals in Southeast Asia".
Instead, the American automaker will target the next-generation Colorado and Trailblazer at the higher end of the south-east Asia's ute and SUV markets.
Above: Isuzu D-Max.
An Isuzu spokesman told the news agency that the reason for the split is that "the direction each company wanted to take [for its global utes] was changing".
The spokesman said that Isuzu will continue to pitch its D-Max ute as a workhorse vehicle for key markets, including Australia, Asia and the Middle East.
Last week's announcement formally ends the relationship between GM and Isuzu in the ute market that dates back to the 1970s. For much of its life, a version of Isuzu's ute has been sold in Australia by Holden.
Above: Mazda BT-50.
This latest news follows on from an agreement inked two weeks ago between Isuzu and Mazda, where the two Japanese car companies will work together on their next-generation utes.
It's likely that this tie-up will mean the end of Mazda's long-running partnership with Ford in the ute market. The current BT-50 - along with the B-Series before it - shares many components with the Ford Ranger.
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