Chevrolet-Trailblazer

Chevrolet Trailblazer 2013 claims Middle East’s most popular SUV title?

It seems to be the season for making tall claims. General Motors put out a press release saying the Chevrolet Trailblazer is the “Middle East’s most popular SUV” without backing up this fib with any more details. That might be a bit hard to do in reality, with Toyota around, and with the real Trailblazer being discontinued since 2009.

GM has revived that badge for the all-new Thailand-built 2013 Chevrolet Trailblazer, completely unrelated to the old American-built one. It made its GCC debut this week in the UAE. Obviously we were not invited since they’ve banned us, but they’ve put out details about this new 4×4, which is basically a wagon version of the Colorado pickup truck, which again is related to the Isuzu D-Max pickup.

Chevrolet-Trailblazer

GM claims that the Trailblazer, which will only be sold in “emerging markets” as even the Americans don’t want it, is a “body-on-frame SUV with the ride comfort and efficiency of a crossover.” The pickup chassis is modified to have an independent rear suspension, so it loses some off-road cred compared to the Toyota Fortuner, but it does gain a 3.6-litre V6, detuned to make only 236 hp and 329 Nm of torque, mated to a 6-speed automatic and rated at a relatively-high 12.2 litres/100 km of combined fuel economy.

Other available features include the usual split-folding second-row and cramped third-row seats, CD stereo with USB and Bluetooth, rear a/c vents, 18-inch wheels, stability control, ABS, hill-start assist, parking sensors and six airbags.

Chevrolet-Trailblazer

The 2013 Chevrolet Trailblazer comes in LT and LTZ trim levels, which are priced from Dhs 114,000 for the two-wheel-drive model to Dhs 129,000 for the four-wheel-drive model in the UAE. Whether consumers want to pay that much for a Thai-built pickup-based wagon remains to be seen. Expect lots of positive reviews though, as the overnight launch event was held in a Ras-Al-Khaimah resort.

Check the latest Chevrolet Trailblazer prices in the UAE & KSA buyer guide.

Leave a Reply to Zao Cancel reply

*

Comments

  1. Author

    In case you’re wondering.

    https://shortest.link/7d4-

  2. Gloating is one thing! False claims is another! Epic Fail Chevrolet!

  3. Is it just me or does the rear looks like Fortuner from some angle?

  4. Looks more like a oversized Daihatsu Terios

  5. i know the old trailblazer but this hearing it first time.then how it be the most popular suv in middle east? lol……………..

  6. Are they crazy to exchange the legendary blazer with this rubbish?..looks bad..power bad..ancient interior…infact a shameful ride when the likes of Snta. Fe is around 🙂

  7. I agree with Marwan and think its really shameful that it doesn’t look as comfortable/sporty as the previous model.

  8. Hahahahahaha….

  9. Another one bites the dust. Now how many All- American Chevy’s avaiable?

  10. Although that the claims are false as i think, but people dont forget that Middle East includes other countries than UAE, maybe over 80% of the cars I see with Kuwait number plates here are trail blazers and also it is very popular in KSA and Iraq, and Mash, what you said is true, but take it easy on the car, you sound very angry for not being invited, let them go to hell, dont let that give the impression that you are biased or frustrated for what happened

    • Author

      If you spot even one biased inaccuracy in this article, let me know.

    • When i said biased i meant you are attacking the car while many other cars, you compared it to the Fortuner in the article and then you are giving many strong blows to the car in hidden references like “they’ve put out details about this new 4×4, which is basically a wagon version of the Colorado pickup truck, which again is related to the Isuzu D-Max pickup” and then “make only 236 hp and 329 Nm of torque” using “only here tells a lot. and then ” usual split-folding second-row and cramped third-row seats” using “usual” and cramped … all other competing cars are cramped …. and then “Whether consumers want to pay that much for a Thai-built pickup-based wagon remains to be seen” here you are hinting that the car will be of poor quality because it assembled in Thailand while the fortuner you mentioned yourself is also assembled there !!!!

    • Author

      Great, very perceptive of you.

  11. Someone is showing their bitterness.
    Why did they ban you?

    The car’s ugly. It’s an embarrassment compared to the old Trail Blazer. Cheap and girly. Fortuner-like and over priced too!

    • i guess you wouldn’t be bitter, yes? he should just take a punch on the chin like most gutless indians do here, and keep kissing their feet to make friends with them, right?

    • What is wrong with you people here, I’m not Indian but you keep mentioning them here and in the Pajero post too, do you have problem with them, we criticize few things but without being racist please, this is a nice country where all people are friendly and nice away from nationality or origin, so lets keep it that way

  12. these pick up based SUV’s are a good cheaper alternative for ppl who want a proper offroader and who doesnt have a big budget…it includes fortuner, pajero sport and xterra…

  13. i agree with samer…during my last visit to kuwait i was surprised to see lots of traiblazers and GMC envoys on road….rarely see prado and pajero in kuwait…

    • Author

      A quick scan of Dubizzle in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia does indeed show that there are more used Trailblazers and Envoys on sale than Prados and Land Cruisers. This definitely shows that the old Trailblazer/Envoy was popular in these countries (or rather, people just keep selling them off quicker while Toyotas are kept longer), although it is hard to claim the random “most popular SUV in M.E.” title when the car hasn’t been made in 3 years.

      In terms of GCC car markets, KSA is the biggest, followed by UAE. The rest are much smaller.

  14. Author

    Article updated based on information from AutoMiddleEast, that the base model for 114k is a 2WD model, and 129k is a 4WD model.

  15. looks lame… fail

  16. Wrong,Toyota land cruiser and Nissan patrol is the most popular SUV in the Middle East

  17. There is a strong American car presence in KSA.. I think Oman, Qatar and UAE are mostly stuck with Japanese cars compared to the rest of the middle east..

    There is a huge burden of proof by making this statement, I hope they can back it up with facts and figures.

    But this looks more like an ISUZU than a Chevy; perhaps its a good car but, when somebody tells me Trail Blazer, I expect a smaller version of a Tahoe or such.

  18. Ugly ugly ugly!
    Uglier than the Furtuner! but at least Furtuner is Japanese!
    How come they waited all these years to come up with such a funny & bad looking pick-up!!

  19. y did they banded u @Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury

  20. One of my Friend had it, and one morning while finishing reverse gearbox refused to go on Drive Mode. Give him a big pain of Gearbox failure. You can imagine the cost for the change of Gearbox…

    Never like on first sight, looks to me Big Brother of Daihatsu Terios. and this much money better to buy some durango, pajero even, santa fe etc now many options are there.

  21. Old car was was hideous, this new one is equally lame. Although this one has an interesting dash. Now lets be optimistic, that’s much better than your Hiace/Hilux dash on the Fortuner..lol

    • question is, how well they will hold up. Considering the upscale interior appointments of their latest models falling apart in a little short of 2 years time, does not seem good!

    • If a soft-touch dash is there, then its a slap in the face of them hiluxes and relevant trucks..

    • Author

      Somehow, I don’t think it’s a soft-touch dash, considering even the Traverse and Tahoe have paper-thin hard-plastic dashboards.

    • I agree with Mash in this point, not only the traverse and Tahoe, even the Acadia which is supposed to be more upscale has very cheap plastic bits inside, and this is nothing new for american cars to have cheap interiors, even for the taurus sho, I checked it the other day in the showroom, it is trimmed with stitched leather, but when you press it you will find that the leather is very thin and the plastic under is rock hard plastic.

  22. it will look better with a construction company logo on the side, them engineers will love this 🙂

    • Definitely they will love it even any other car they will love. Because at the this will purchased and maintained by the company.

      Same thing happen for Toyota Fortuner, in every car you will see white or yellow construction helmet at the back dashboard.

  23. This model is not so bad; the Blazer was always a medium quality car with an affordable price and it was never famous for its superior design.

    I don’t a reason for all this negativity about this car except maybe for the price increase; but all prices are going up these day………

  24. Looks like the result of a bad affair between a Chevrolet Captiva and the Daihatsu Terios.

    …this is just sad.

  25. What is this junk ???????????????????????

  26. That’s one ugly ass vehicle..

  27. oh boy, complete fail.

    looks an ugly chinese copy a la “great wall”..

  28. patented from toyota fortuner…i wonder if toyota will make a move to sue chevy…hmmm….

    4×4 is expensive with litte specs…i recommend hyundai 2013 santa fe…

  29. its look like copy of Daihatsu Bego, Terious kid and Toyota Rush which is being produced in Japan only rite now

  30. I just received my trailblazer last december 21 2013 & i enjoy breaking in. However i found out comparing the brochure because it is stated that with audio control fitted in steering wheel. also it wld b best if chevy cld installed more feature like GPS,backing sensor,dvd monitors.

    • Hi Julius,

      I am going to buy a new TB LTZ(2013 model). Could you please give your feedback about the performance of TB you have purchased recently. It will be helpful for me to decide.

  31. I bought the Trailblazer 2013 two weeks ago.
    All I can say is that I am very fristrated and feel bad.
    Till now I visited the service center behind Times Square 3 times because of a vibration issue although the car has done less than 1000 kms so far.

Browse archives

Share This