It’s Official: Chevy Orlando Has Been Canceled
The US market will not see the seven passenger Chevy Orlando after all. GM has announced that this multi-purpose vehicle, based on the Cruze platform, will be sold in Europe, Asia and Canada, but not in the United States.
Line Up
Rumors had been flying that GM was looking to rejigger the Chevrolet line up especially as its expected-to-be popular Cruze compact hits the market in the next few months and the electric Volt comes on line in November. Chevrolet has been doing all of the heavy sales lifting for GM, carrying as much as 70 percent of the automaker’s share of US car sales.
Autoweek says that the reason for the Orlando’s cancellation has everything to do with what is already in the Chevrolet product portfolio as well as models to come. Chevrolet has been seeing strong demand for the Traverse and Equinox, two other crossover models. A third crossover line might end up siphoning sales from these models with Chevrolet satisfied that their current product mix offers enough choices for families.
Concept Model
First introduced as a concept at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, the Chevy Orlando has yet to go into production. When it does, it’ll be assigned to serve those other markets. But don’t think for a moment that the Orlando will stay away from the US market completely: with Ford expanding its own crossover line to welcome the European C-Max, GM could end up reversing itself down the line.
The Old GM might have gambled (and lost) with the Orlando’s debut, but the New GM is being much more cautious.
Chevrolet Korea
Speaking of Chevrolet, GM announced last week that the Chevrolet brand will be introduced to the South Korean market in 2011. GM Daewoo will be in charge of marketing Chevrolet, a brand that has been enjoying success in a number of Asian markets of late including China.
One of the first models to be sold in South Korea will be the Camaro, a model many Koreans are familiar with thanks in part to its role in the Transformer movie.
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