General Motors is resurrecting the Chevrolet Trailblazer as a small crossover, padding the U.S. lineup at its biggest division with another crossover as more Americans abandon the traditional sedan.
The 2021 Trailblazer will slot between the subcompact Chevrolet Trax and compact Chevrolet Equinox, the company said Wednesday. The vehicle, which was unveiled last month in China, will go on sale in the U.S. in early 2020.The new Trailblazer takes heavy design cues from the Chevrolet Blazer, a familiar SUV nameplate GM revived last year as a midsize crossover. Like the 2019 Blazer, the Trailblazer will include an RS trim with standard two-tone roof.
GM last produced the Trailblazer for the U.S. with the 2009 model year. During the SUV craze of the early 2000s, TrailBlazer was a successful midsize SUV, offered in five- and seven-passenger versions. Chevrolet discontinued the TrailBlazer in 2008 amid rising gasoline prices that combined with disappointing fuel economy. It was replaced by the Traverse.
“The Trailblazer’s great design enables more personalization,” Steve Majoros, director of Chevrolet passenger car and crossover marketing, said in a statement. “Trailblazer is a continuation of the design language for Chevy’s crossover family and extends our momentum into one of the industry’s fastest-growing segments.”
Chevrolet did not announce pricing and other specifications for the vehicle. A company spokesman also declined to provide additional information about the Trailblazer.
The Trailblazer is expected to be built on the same platform as the 2020 Buick Encore GX, which GM earlier Wednesday confirmed would arrive in U.S. showrooms in early 2020. The compact Encore GX and 2021 Trailblazer will be imported from South Korea.
