The refreshed 2017 Holden Colorado has been teased in Brazil overnight. It’ll be here later this year. Should you wait?
TO BE HONEST, we have no idea. The press release talks about “fresh styling”, a “more muscular bonnet”, “strong proportions” and “striking design”. There’s no mention of payload, power, torque, gearboxes, locking differentials, suspension or anything remotely technical. Kind of odd, as most ute owners don’t seem to complain their vehicles lack lines that are “angular and purposeful”.
Still, there are a few tiny pointers as to what may come. We do know that Apple Carplay/Android Auto will be standard across the range. This is not necessarily a step forwards as our recent test proved, although it is very much the way of the future.
Aside from the exterior redesign it also looks like General Motors engineers have reworked the interior, and according to Holden’s Vehicle Development Manager, Jeremy Tassone, “the 2017 Colorado was developed with key Australian engineering input to ensure the vehicle would meet the needs of a range of customers in different markets.”
A Holden spokesman also said that “With significant local engineering, this vehicle will be the most refined Colorado ever while maintaining all of the capability of the current model. When combined with a new design that balances elegance and strength, it will perfectly bridge the gap between weekday workhorse and weekend explorer.”
Customisation seems to be an important goal, with Holden saying “customers with a desire to personalize their vehicle will be able to choose from popular additions including safari bar, sports bar and optional alloy wheels, allowing customers to effectively recreate the well-received show car.”
Careful analysis of the dash shot shows that there’s a key in the ignition, so clearly keyless entry won’t be standard across the range worldwide (but possibly might be in Australia). There doesn’t appear to be an adaptive terrain system, and the 4WD system selector looks the same as the current model with 2H, 4H and 4Low. There’s no split-screen infotainment unit, but there is a dash display, and the dash storage compartment in the centre has gone.
Comment
After last year with the Ranger, Triton and Navara and HiLux updates 2016 was looking a little sparse. This new Colorado is likely to be the major ute update of 2016, as we expect the Mercedes-Benz ute to be 2017. The other major update due soon-ish, but we don’t know when, is the Amarok although it’s possible it too will arrive later this year.
But as we said in the intro, the news out of Holden at the moment just isn’t enough to help ute buyers, who are technically oriented, decide what to do. We hope Holden release some information on just what they mean about improved capability soon. Will we see coil springs in the rear? All wheel drive? Independent suspension (boo, hiss from those still in the previous century). Or will it be just another leaf-sprung ute following the same old platform cues pretty much everything else on the market is still tied to?
At first glance this is an exterior and interior refresh with the same mechanical running gear. But we could be wrong, and we’ll keep you posted on developments.
