![]() Either way it’s now found a place in North America’s collective heart and into its garages, so it’s likable enough.Īlong with that corporate bowtie nose the Trax gets large wrap-over headlamps, while my LTZ version gets finished off with circularįogs featuring chrome and matte-black bezels plus a wide matte-black front lip spoiler with attractive satin-silver metallic garnish at centre. However you want to see it, nobody will argue that it’s sleek, but then again it couldn’t be considered fat either, it’s just too small for that. Its overall height is considerable and length not so much this being the only time I can remember having tall and short enter the same thought, but there you have it. It’s certainly not a detractor, the little Trax wearing Chevy’s tough truck-like chrome-rimmed bisected grille well, but every time I see it go by from profile the word “stubby” comes to mind. I can give you a number of reasons why I think it’s successful, but I’m not going to include styling as its topmost attribute. That’s a deluge of new rivals for buyers to mix their way through, but nevertheless the Trax remains in the number one sales spot. Mini’s Cooper Countryman soon followed, but its the coming model year that’s seeing such exponential growth in this segment, with 2016 MY competitors now including the Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3, Jeep The category initiator was Nissan’s unorthodox Juke, followed by Mitsubishi’s comparatively conventional RVR, and then the Trax (along with its Buick Encore platform-mate, albeit these two are very different vehicles, especially inside). The Trax wasn’t first into the subcompact SUV class, but it can certainly be called an early adopter plus a successful one thanks to segment-leading sales. Its YTD sales in the US aren’t quite as strong per capita at 43,051 units, but considering the Spark only managed 27,839 sales during this same nine-month period it’s pretty clear that GM’s US division chose the wrong Korean model to import. Yes, the Trax has done well in Canada with 7,013 sold in calendar year 2013 and 8,533ĭown the road last year, while its YTD 2015 sales are still fairly good at 5,845 deliveries as of September’s close. Despite the name, the concept Trax had little if anything in common with the Gamma II platform-based road-going model, but Chevy kept the catchy name and is now hoping it’ll stick in the US as well as it’s been accepted here. The Beat won and soon became the third-generation Daewoo Spark with few revisions, a version of which has been sold in the US and Canada with a bowtie on its grille since the summer of 2012. So being first with a small vehicle like the Trax is hardly new, but it’s still pretty cool considering all the hoopla GM made whenĭebuting its then-new Beat, Groove and Trax concepts at the New York auto show in 2007, holding an online vote during the event via a designated website to decide which design would get built and which ones got the axe. I’ve probably missed a few, but you get the idea.ĭespite this lengthy list GM has by far been the leader in offering exclusive rides to we Canadians with small car nameplates like Optra, Optra5 and Orlando from Chevrolet, Tracker from GMC, Wave and Pursuit from Pontiac, plus the ES, GT, Sunfire and Sunrunner from Asüna (Canada’s version of Geo), Optima from Passport, all hailing from the General’s relationship with and eventual ownership of South Korean brand Daewoo, now known as GMDAT. There are many similar Canada-only and Canada-first small car stories such as the Acura EL and CSX (now the ILX which is available in the US), Mercedes-Benz B-Class (still a no go), Toyota Echo Hatchback (Yaris hatch predecessor) and first-generation Prius, Nissan Xtrail (Rogue predecessor), Suzuki Swift+ (same as the Chevy Aveo and Pontiac Wave/G3), plus the Volkswagen City GolfĪnd City Jetta (reworked older generation models sold exclusively to Canadian entry-level buyers), while older models that never made it stateside include the Ford Cortina and Hyundai Pony, plus the Lada Signet, Samara and Niva. We received Smart’s ForTwo four years ahead of the US, and more recently Nissan launched its sub-$10k Micra here, although there are no plans to sell it south of the border despite Nissan USA hosting a journalist ride and drive program for it. It’s not like we don’t have a history of such practices. ![]() Why safe? The move made sense due to Canada’s greater acceptance of small rolling stock, and the Trax is certainly diminutive for a CUV, slotting into the subcompact SUV category. North of the 49th a couple of years ahead of Chevy’s largest and most important market allowed it to gain some traction in a safe environment. Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press There aren’t many domestic branded vehicles that get their first run in Canada before heading to the US, but launching the Trax
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