Chevy Colorado driving past competition in midsize segment

Chevrolet Colorado is leading pickups of all sizes in spending the least amount of time on dealer lots in the first quarter while winning customers from other brands.

Customers purchased 19,126 Colorados from January to March, when General Motors’ Wentzville, Mo., assembly plant added a third shift to keep up with demand.

Sales have been particularly strong in California and Texas – traditional hot spots for the Colorado’s primary competitors: Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. More than one in two Colorado customers – 53 percent – are new to Chevrolet.

“Chevrolet Colorado was designed as a go-anywhere vehicle, and it is making big tracks in the midsize truck segment,” said Tony Johnson, Colorado marketing manager.

Colorado is the 2015 Motor Trend Truck of the Year and Cars.com’s Best Pickup Truck of 2015; judges praised its game-changing combination of power, capability and right-size configuration. At 305 horsepower, the 2WD Colorado with the available V-6 engine provides the segment’s most horsepower, highest available trailering rating (7,000 pounds) and higher payload rating (1,590 pounds). When equipped with the four-cylinder engine, Colorado has the best fuel economy of any gas pickup with EPA-estimated highway fuel economy of 27 mpg (2WD model).

Colorado unique box delete package, which allows business owners and fleet managers to customize the back end of the truck with specialty bodies for countless uses.

“For work or recreation, there’s a Colorado to get the job done with the latest technology, greater efficiency and more capability,” Johnson adds.

Colorado’s top 10 markets by retail sales:

• Los Angeles
• New York
• Dallas-Ft. Worth
• Chicago
• Houston
• Detroit
• Philadelphia
• St. Louis
• Atlanta
• Boston/Manchester