Holden Colorado 152
Feann Torr10 Aug 2016
NEWS

Holden Colorado V6 possible

Potential exists for high-end Colorado ute to offer V6 petrol power

Toyota has long offered V6 petrol power in premium versions of its top-selling HiLux and Volkswagen will soon deliver the only V6 diesel in the one-tonne pick-up class as part of a midlife Amarok upgrade due here later this year.

Now Holden says that if there's demand, it would consider introducing a premium V6 petrol version of its newly-updated Colorado ute.

Like most of its competitors – including the four- and five-cylinder Ford Ranger -- the Colorado is currently a diesel-only ute, powered by a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel that will continue to deliver 147kW of power and a class-leading 500Nm of torque in the facelifted model to be released on September 1.

Holden Colorado 151 q2oh


But with a renewed emphasis on luxury, accessories and tailoring the new model to meet unique customer needs – not to mention low fuel prices – Holden isn't ruling out a petrol option for its re-engineered, new-look Colorado ute.

Mark Bernhard, GM Holden's managing director, told motoring.com.au we've already seen a "paradigm shift in the segment" that's improved the quality of utes significantly and that customers are increasingly wanting more diversity in their 'lifestyle' utes.

"You're starting to see, across the industry, there's this appetite particularly around accessories and things, and that's most likely going to extend into powertrains."

Bernhard stopped short of confirming any possible engine options, but the 3.6-litre V6 available in the Holden Commodore and the Chevrolet Colorado ute in the US is almost certainly on the short list.

In North America's Colorado, the GM V6 punches out 225kW and 365Nm, and would seamlessly slot under the bonnet of the Aussie model, which will also bring improved steering and suspension tune that promises more car-like handling.

GM's 'high feature' V6 is currently built in the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia – although Aussie production will cease in late 2017.

Holden Colorado 150 2yz3


GM Holden's boss explained that any powertrain additions have "got to be based on business cases, and how easy we can plug and play on powertrain combinations".

Though they sit on slightly different platforms, the new Holden Colorado already adopts a number of parts from the US-market ute of the same name, including a centrifugal pendulum absorber (CPA) torque convertor designed to improve powertrain refinement.

The most likely scenario would be for Holden to consider a high-end Colorado Z71 model with a petrol V6, but the company cautioned there would need to be sufficient customer demand for such a vehicle before production could be justified at GM's Thailand plant.

While popular Thai-built utes like the Ranger, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50 and Isuzu D-MAX all remain diesel-only, SR and SR5 versions of the HiLux are available with a 4.0-litre petrol V6 that pumps out 175kW and 376Nm.

The latter tops the HiLux dual-cab range at a cool $55,990 -- $2000 more than the top-shelf diesel-powered SR5 4x4 twin-cab – and both models are selling well in the fastest-growing sub-segment of Australia's huge ute market.

As the likes of Renault and Mercedes-Benz jump on the dual-cab ute bandwagon -- both using the Navara as their base – car-makers are increasingly looking for unique selling propositions to gain an edge in the lucrative segment.

Sean Poppitt, GM Holden's director of communications, concurred, saying: "There's clearly an appetite for high-end utes in this market."

Bernhard observed that the most popular engines in the local ute market remain turbo-diesel because of their stump-pulling torque, but said that could change.

"At the moment we see the biggest part of the segment is where we've got diesel powertrains at the moment. Does that change? Maybe.

"We're always looking at opportunities, we're never going to shut the door on an opportunity," he said.

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