With Chevrolet completely discontinuing production in Thailand, the question now is where will Chevy Philippines source their vehicles? Well, North America is the safe bet for high-value vehicles such as the Camaro, Corvette, Tahoe, and Suburban; but what about more mainstream ones?
Well, China looks like a safe bet. Chevrolet has a joint-venture there with SAIC (yes, the same group responsible for MG), and one of their newest products is this: the mid-sized Blazer SUV.
With an overall length of 4,999 mm, a width of 1,953 mm, and a height of 1,736 mm, the 7-seater Blazer seems like a shoo-in in the mid-sized SUV segment replacing the aging Trailblazer. Unlike the Trailblazer though, the Blazer isn’t a pickup-based SUV but rather a unibody crossover.
The Blazer adopts the newest Chevrolet design cues such as the dual-port X-shaped grille, sharp-split LED headlights, and Y-shaped LED taillights.
The same “sportscar-inspired” styling continues inside with the “flying-wing” dual cockpit design, 8-inch LCD digital gauges, and 10-inch floating center touchscreen. And like most SUVs in China, it has a large panoramic sunroof that measures over one square-meter in size.
Powering the Blazer is a turbocharged 2.0-liter Ecotec engine making 236 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque. Mated to a 9-speed automatic with idle start/stop tech, Chevrolet says it goes from 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds, while just sipping just 13.51 km/L.
An available all-wheel drive system can switch between front- to all-wheel drive in as little as 0.12 seconds, while also being able to split torque between left and right wheels.
If Chevrolet Philippines does decide to bring in the Blazer to replace the Trailblazer, expect it to retail at roughly the same price: P 1.86-million to P 2.36-million.
