GM "Teases" New Small Pickups

TRAVERSE CITY -- (WWJ) It's not much, but General Motors is giving those attending the Management Briefing Seminars a glimpse at what it's next generation small pickups may look like.

The Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon were taken out of production last year. They will be reborn next year as all new, very different, vehicles.

"The Colorado will be positioned as a sport truck, if you like, in the sport truck side of the segment," said GM Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann. "The Canyon will live squarely up to the GMC brand promise of professional grade."

While full size pickup sales are very strong, compact pickup sales have been lagging. Ford dropped the Ranger. And Chrysler's compact pickup is also being redone.

Ammann feels there is still life in the segment, if it's done differently.

"This is a segment that used to be a very big portion of the overall truck market," he said. "It has diminished over the years partly because, in our view, there hasn't been the kind of offering in the segment that customers were really looking for."

Ammann giving very few details on the new trucks. He did say they will be on the market sometime next year.

"What we're looking to do with this truck, as we do with all of our vehicles is to bring something to market that really redefines the segment—as a winning vehicle in every respect—in terms of meeting our exceeding the design and performance requirements of the customers."

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles
Twitter: @jefferygilbert