GMC Canyon benefits from Australian input
BY ROBBIE WALLIS | 25th May 2018
GM HOLDEN has revealed that left-hand-drive pick-up mules spotted testing by GoAuto on Victorian roads last month will not have any influence on the mechanically related Australian-market Colorado.
One example of the left-hand drive GMC Canyon pick-up was spotted near Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground, while another was found in south-east Melbourne suburb Glen Iris, but the work being done on these vehicles is exclusively for the North American and Chinese markets.
Speaking to GoAuto at a Colorado drive event this week, GM Holden vehicle development manager Jeremy Tassone said the test mules were a part of an international engineering program.
“We’ve got a heap of powertrain engineers, or global propulsion system engineers, working at the proving ground doing engine and transmission calibration for a lot of rear-wheel-drive products like Cadillacs and mid-size trucks as well – the American mid-size trucks,” he said.
“So, they’re working on a project for North America and China, and that car that you saw was doing calibration development for future model years of the mid-size truck.”
Given that the test vehicles sported petrol V6 powertrains under their bonnets, Mr Tassone said the engineering work wouldn’t affect Australian Colorados, but didn’t rule out the technology filtering down to future Holden models.
“They’re working predominantly on (petrol) V6 programs, which isn’t the right product for our market,” he said.
“Not to rule (it) out – maybe some of their work will be for a Holden variant in future years, but not for that specific vehicle.”
The petrol V6 underpinning North American pick-ups is a 3.6-litre unit, which GoAuto understands will be the sole powertrain choice for the upcoming Acadia seven-seat large SUV that is due to land in Australia before the end of the year.
Additionally, the pick-up test mules and the Acadia are both GMC products, with the SUV currently sold in North America by GMC.
However, the engineering work is unlikely to filter to the Acadia as the calibration is being done for rear-wheel-drive vehicles, while the North American Acadia is built on the front-drive C1XX platform, which is offered in front- and all-wheel configurations.
Holden’s Lang Lang facility is used as a global engineering hub for GM, in particular for powertrain calibration.
