CHEVROLET TRAX/TRACKER

The Chevrolet Tracker under this name arrived in autumn 1988 in Canada, while in the USA it was known as Geo Tracker, and as such in Canada as well by 1992. It was basically a rebadged Suzuki Escudo (part-time) 4wd off-roader that had arrived in Japan in May 1988, and was exported as Suzuki Vitara. This North American Tracker was built in Canada from April 1989 till 1998 (some 350,000). Canada also built Suzuki Sidekick variants until 1996 for distribution in North America. For 1998, the last model year for this generation, the Geo brand was abandoned, and the vehicle was sold as Chevrolet Tracker in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Different from elsewhere, there arrived also a rear-wheel-drive Tracker by 1991 model year. In Ecuador, this generation was built as Chevrolet Vitara until 2013.

The second generation rebodied Chevrolet Tracker was sold from 1999 model year, produced in Canada (300,000) from 1998 till 2004, again next to the Suzuki, now called (Grand) Vitara (75,000). It had arrived in Japan in November 1997, again as Suzuki Escudo. From March 2001, Brazil also sold the Chevrolet Tracker, built in Argentina until 2008, with exports to Mexico. In Ecuador this generation was built till 2016 as Chevrolet Grand Vitara. The larger unibody Chevrolet Equinox succeeded on the Tracker in North America by 2005 and was built in Canada next to the Suzuki XL7 with a different body, on the front-wheel-drive Theta platform with available permanent four-wheel-drive. In late 2001 the Saturn Vue had already squeezed in on the shorter Theta platform, competing with the Tracker.

So, there was no Chevrolet Tracker variant of the third generation Suzuki Escudo that arrived in May 2005 in Japan, and was exported to Latin America as Chevrolet Grand Vitara SZ, now with full-time four-wheel-drive, or rear-wheel-drive. In March 2006, GM had minimized its interest in Suzuki, switching to Daewoo-based models, and left in 2008. The second-generation Saturn Vue, an Opel (Antara)-bodied Daewoo Winstorm/Chevrolet Captiva, built in Mexico, arrived by 2008 model year on the same platform as the first Vue and was positioned under the Equinox.

So, after these loosened ties with Suzuki, and after GM’s decision not to buy Fiat, the Suzuki SX4 (or Fiat Sedici), released in December 2005 in Japan, and since September 2006 in USA, came too late to receive a GM sibling. Its hatch variant with available four-wheel-drive probably inspired GM Korea to develop the Trax ‘through 60 months of vehicle engineering’.

Chevrolet Trax (G1UC) Mexico: November 2012, Korea: February 2013, China: April 2014, USA: December 2014

The Trax debuted at the September 2012 Paris Motor Show, but within a year after its release in Europe in May 2013, it was decided to withdraw Korean Chevrolets from the European market, because of in-house competition with Opel. From Mexican production, the first Traxes arrived late 2012 in Mexico and Canada. USA sales started only at the end of 2014, after production in South Korea for Europe had ceased (and Mokkas were built in Spain), joining the Buick Encore sibling, without seeming to affect its sales, or the sales of the much larger and better selling Equinox. It was a worthy but late successor to the Tracker that was deleted more than ten years before. The Trax scored high in sales within the subcompact crossover segment, rising from zero to 5% in the overall US market during the 2010s.

In South Korea, the Trax created a new segment, soon to be recognized by the competition, though the internal U200 designation succeeded on the U100 Rezzo (MPV), in the export known as Tacuma.

In both USA and Canada, Trax sales by 2017 became lower than those of the Buick Encore, following the availability of a stronger engine with direct injection in the Buick. This engine was then also used in the Tracker for Brazil, where only front-wheel-drive models were sold. China had installed its own SGM-developed 1.4 turbo engine, and here the earlier introduced Buick Encore kept outselling the much less expensive Chevrolet Trax, in good Chinese manner.

By 2019, the Trax sold better than the Encore in the United States, but in Canada Trax sales remained much lower. US Trax sales increased year by year since 2014 and rose in 2019 with 30% to a record 117,000. Over a third is four-wheel-drive. China sales stopped in March 2019, expecting the release of the Chinese-developed Tracker in June.

The Trax is said to have been Korea’s No.1 export car model from 2016 to 2018, and is exceeding 200,000 exported units in 2019 for the sixth consecutive year, but this includes the Buick Encore sibling to North America, and the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka X to Europe, of which production stopped in March 2019, also in Spain. USA/Canada also received Traxes from Mexico up to mid-2019. Production in Korea ceased in November 2022, after the Opel SGE 1.4 direct injection engine was installed in early 2021.

platform:

Gamma II

Chevrolet Trax/Tracker

1350

engines:

Opel

Opel/SAIC

Opel

rear suspension:

compound crank, coils

SUV

Family 0

SGM

SGE

Family I

MDE

ex Isuzu

wheelbase (cm):

255.5

4 cyl.

length from (cm):

424.8

DOHC

width (cm):

177.6

cc:

1364'

1372

1399

1598

1796

1598

1686

injection

dir. inj.

injection

dir. inj.

turbo

diesel

South Korea

13-22

Chevrolet Trax

13-20

21-22

15-22

fwd

103

114

140

155

135

Europe

13-14

Chevrolet Trax

13-14

fwd/awd

fwd

fwd/awd

6M/6A

103

140

115

130

awd 6M

export

13-20

Chevrolet Tracker

13-20

fwd/awd

6M/6A

5M/6A

103

140

awd 6M

awd 6A

Australia

13-20

Holden Trax

14-20

13-20

fwd

5M/6A

103

140

6A -17

China

14-19

Chevrolet Trax (Chuangku)

14-19

suffix 16-

330T

fwd/awd

6M/6A

103-105

140

awd 6A

Mexico

12-20

Chevrolet Trax

13-15

12-20

fwd

5M/6A

103

138

140

5M -15

Canada

12-22

Chevrolet Trax

12-21

21-22

USA

14-22

fwd/awd

6M/6A

103

114

138

155

6M -14

awd 6A

Brazil

13-20

Chevrolet Tracker

17-20

13-16

fwd

110-113

103-106

150-153

140-144

' Korean-built engines quote 1362cc

Chevrolet Tracker (JBUC) China: June 2019, Brazil: March 2020

The successor to the Trax was developed in China, together with the new Buick Encore, on the GEM platform, weighing 150 kg less, in China with front-wheel-drive only and using a 3-cylinder 1-litre turbo SGM/SAIC E-Tec engine or the 3-cylinder 1.3-litre E-Turbo engine, which was introduced in autumn 2018 in the Korean Malibu. Fuel consumption for the basic manual model improved with a quarter. By December 2020, only automatics remained, and export of the 1-litre model to Uzbekistan started (as Tracker 2), and in July 2021 to the Philippines. In 2021, about one out of every five units stayed in China, where the share of the 1-litre was one out of every five as well. In May 2022, the Tracker RS arrived in China with the 1.5 turbo engine that debuted in the Verano Pro in September 2021. Uzbekistan started assembling the Chinese Tracker in July 2022 (the former generation from South Korea was assembled from 2019), with the locally produced 1.2-liter CSS Prime 3-cylinder turbo engine. Retail sales in China were about 6,400 in 2022, and 4,000 in 2023.

This generation is the first to be manufactured in Brazil and sold from March 2020, and isn’t equipped here with a direct injection engine, different from the previous generation in this country. The engines are so-called CSS (Cylinder Set Strategy) Prime engines. In 2019, 16,300 units of the Tracker were sold in Brazil, and in 2020 almost 50,000 were sold. It is priced 15% below the previous generation. The Tracker also replaced the Trax in Mexico, that stopped production here in 2019, taking advantage of the new free trade agreement between the two countries. Production in Argentina started in October 2022.

A Tracker RS came in Brazil in April 2023, and in Mexico in June 2023 with the usual 1.2 Prime engine.

platform:	GEM	Chevrolet Tracker (JBUC)	1205	kg	engines:	SGM	GM	GM	GM	SGM
rear suspension:		compound crank, coils				E-Tec	E-Turbo	Prime	Prime	'8th gen.'
		wheelbase (cm):	257			3 cyl.	3 cyl.	3 cyl.	3 cyl.	4 cyl.
		length from (cm):	427			DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC	DOHC
		width (cm):	179.1		cc:	999	1341	999	1199	1498
						dir. inj.	dir. inj.	inject.	inject.	dir. inj.
						turbo	turbo	turbo	turbo	turbo

China	19-	Chevrolet Tracker (Chuangku)				19-22	19-22			22-
						325T	335T			RS
						fwd	fwd			fwd
						6M/6A	CVT			CVT
					net kW	85	116			135	net kW
					net hp	116	158			184	net hp
					l/100 km	5.1/5.5	5.7
						*6M -20*	*20: 5.6*

Latin America	20-	Chevrolet Tracker						20-	20-
								fwd	fwd
								6M/6A	5M/6A
					net kW			85	97		net kW
					net hp			116	132		net hp
								6M -21

Uzbekistan	20-	Chevrolet Tracker				20-22			22-
						fwd			fwd
						6A			6A
					gross kW	92			97		net kW
					gross hp	125			132		net hp
						import			assembl

Philippines	21-	Chevrolet Tracker				21-
						fwd
						6A
					net kW	85
					net hp	116
						import

Chevrolet Trailblazer (9BYC) China: August 2019 – September 2022, USA: April 2020

The larger Trailblazer was designed in South Korea on the basis of the Chevrolet FNR ‘Find New Road’ -X concept on the 264 cm (Vehicle Set Strategy) VSS platform and is built there for the local market and for export to North America (next to the Buick Encore GX) by early 2020. Chinese-market models are built in China, and with 5,460 wholesale units sold in 2019 slightly less than the Buick Encore GX. 1,658 actually were delivered to the customers, rejecting three-cylinder engines. The 1.2-litre Prime engine has an oil-immersed timing belt, to be replaced after 240,000 km.

On the Activ and RS trims of the Trailblazer, the roof can be ordered in a color (white, red or bronze, the latter in North America only and until September 2021), different from the rest of the body. As of the second half of 2021, the 1.2 engine has been discontinued in Korea due to low demand. The red roof model was skipped in Korea at the July 2023 facelift, when 19-inch wheels became available.

In China in 2020, 15% were four-wheel-drives, reduced to 6% in 2021, when only 770 Trailblazers were sold. By September 2022, by which point nearly 600 had left the factory, the Chinese Trailblazer was replaced by the Seeker.

platform:	VSS-F	Chevrolet Trailblazer (9BYC)	1335	kg	engines:	GM	GM
rear suspension:		compound crank, coils				Prime	E-Turbo
		awd: Watt's linkage				3 cyl.	3 cyl.
		wheelbase (cm):	264			DOHC	DOHC
		length from (cm):	444.1		cc:	1199	1341	cc
		width (cm):	180.8			dir. inj.	dir. inj.
						turbo	turbo

China	19-22	*Chevrolet Trailblazer (Chuang Jie)*					19-22
							20T
							fwd/awd
							CVT/9A
					kW		116	kW
					hp		158	hp

South Korea	20-	Chevrolet Trailblazer				20-21	20-
						fwd	fwd/awd
						CVT	CVT/9A
					kW	102	115	kW
					hp	139	156	hp

USA/CDN	20-	Chevrolet Trailblazer				20-	20-
						fwd	fwd/awd
						CVT	CVT/9A
					kW	102	116	kW
					hp	137	155	hp

Since 2013, Brazil is building a different Chevrolet Trailblazer for Latin America, similar to the one built in Thailand since 2012, based on the Colorado truck, and marketed until 2020 in South East Asia, the Middle East, South Africa (until 2017), and in Australia and New Zealand as Holden Trailblazer. GM withdraws from South East Asia, selling its Thai plant to Great Wall. GM also sold its manufacturing facilities in Vietnam to local auto company VinFast in 2019. In late 2019, the distributor in Indonesia terminated the contract with GM, effective from March 2020.

Chevrolet Seeker/Trax (9BQC) China: September 2022, Korea, USA: April 2023

As the successor to the Trailblazer in China, the Seeker made its debut in Shanghai on July 28, 2022, and was marketed as a compact SUV from September. It stands on the VSS-F platform with a 270 cm wheelbase, compound crankshaft rear suspension and equipped with the 132 kW 1.5 dual fast cam phasers turbocharged engine with direct injection. RS models are on 18-inch wheels.

The Chinese name is “Xing mai luo". Compare this to “Ke mai luo" for the Camaro. In 2022, 7,295 units left the factory, of which 2,250 were sold in that year, and 5,900 in 2023.

It arrived in April 2023 in North America and South Korea as the Chevrolet Trax, Korean-built, with the Prime 1.2 engine, and matched with a ‘proven’ six-speed automatic transmission, rather than the continuously variable transmission (CVT), as used in the Trailblazer.

platform:	VSS-F	Chevrolet Seeker (9BQC)	1410	kg	engine:	GM	SGM
rear suspension:		compound crank, coils	hatch			Prime	'8th gen.'
						3 cyl.	4 cyl.
		wheelbase (cm):	270			DOHC	DOHC
		length from (cm):	453.7		cc:	1199	1498
		width (cm):	182.3			dir. inj.	dir. inj.
						turbo	turbo

China	22-	Chevrolet Seeker
							22-
							fwd
							CVT
					net kW		132
					net hp		179
					l/100 km		6.58~6.54	WLTC

USA/CDN/MEX	23-	Chevrolet Trax				23-
						fwd
						6A
					kW	102
					hp	137

KOR	23-	Chevrolet Trax				23-
						fwd
						6A
					kW	102
					hp	139

Net output data are approximate.

with thanks to wikipedia pages, gmauthority

For recent specifications on Chevrolet cars built in China, see:
On a Global Mission: The Automobiles of General Motors International

Trax vs Encore

Trax/Encore look over

Trax/Encore engines

Far East Auto Literature

26 March, 2024