New Chevy Montana Small Pickup Truck Launched for South America

The South American arm of Chevrolet has dropped info and pics on its new Montana ute/truck/thing, and from the looks of it, the US market has avoided a bomb. If memory serves me correctly, the closest thing we've had here was the Subaru Baja, and that ended in tears.

Based on South America's new Chevrolet Agile hatchback, the Montana - not to be confused with the Colorado, another state-themed waste of space - will arrive in January 2011 and offer our friends to the South (not you, Hugo!) the segment's most storage and 1.4 power. The ute has a potential payload of 758 kilograms in its 1,100 liter bed (1,180 without the cover).

The 1.4-liter engine makes 102 horsepower if fed alcohol and a mere 97 ponies when running on gasoline. With alcohol, the car will peak at 170 km/h and hit 100 km/h (62mph) in 12.1 seconds. As expected, running on gasoline adds a few extra ticks (12.3 to 100 km/h and a top speed of 168 km/h). So, this car is like Bender from Futurama: alcohol makes it stronger.

Dimensions are like this:4.51 meters long, 1.70 m wide and 1.58 m high. Inside the oddly-shaped cabin, a dual cabin layout and "embossed seat" technology are present. Apparently it's to make the interior slightly more aesthetically pleasing and comfortable.

As you can see, the Montana wears Chevy's new global face, behind which is a body only a mother could love. Other than that, the Montana will come in two trim levels for "work and fun": LS and Sport.

The base workhorse LS features the most cabin space in the segment at 164 liters behind the seats, has a side step, and rides on 14- or 15-inch wheels. On top of that, the Sport - which is more for daily use - adds standard 15's, black headlight housings, body color mirrors, and other "premium" touches like cruise control and dual airbags.

Other available features include blue backlighting for the gauges, digital temperature readouts, automatic headlights, CD/MP3/USB/iPod player and connections, and power windows and locks.

Any South American readers out there, please weigh in on this one. Do you like?

By Phil "I was working off a Google-translated press release" Alex

2010 Chevrolet Agile Official Photos: Fortunately, It's only for South America

Proving once again that for the most part, teaser sketches and concept studies have little if anything in common with the actual production model (cars like the Peugeot RCZ are the exception to the rule), General Motors revealed the first official photos of the 2010 Chevy Agile small car. Despite the promising sketches, the production version of the Agile looks like an Opel Corsa that suffered multiple plastic surgery procedures to make it look like a small Chevy crossover.

Luckily for us, the new Agile that was conceived in Brazil using GM's Viva platform is not the next North American or European market Chevy Aveo as the crossoverish hatch was developed for South American markets.

The Agile will be built at General Motors' Rosario plant in Argentina with series production set to begin this fall.

Chevrolet's official press release did not mention anything on the available powertrain options, but South American buyers can expect a range of four-cylinder engines.

Thanks for the tip Gustavo!

2010 Chevrolet Agile: Official Sketches of Ford Fiesta-Sized Supermini

These are the first official sketches of the all-new Chevrolet Agile, a Ford Fiesta-sized hatchback that was developed and designed entirely by GM's South American operations. Judging by the drawings, the Agile appears to be the road-going, five-door hatchback version of the Chevrolet GPiX crossover coupe concept study that was revealed at last year's Sao Paulo International Auto Show in Brazil.

During the presentation of the GPiX, Jaime Ardila, President of General Motors Brazil and Mercosur, had revealed that the concept study could spawn a series of small cars for the South American markets.

Production of the Agile is scheduled to begin this fall at the company's Rosario plant in Argentina with sales in South America pegged to start before the end of the year. GM said that the Agile is the first vehicle to make use of its new "Viva" platform that was originally developed for Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

While the American automaker did not release any technical specifications on the Agile, buyers should expect a wide range of 4-cylinder engines.

And yes, the thought that the Agile may form the base for Chevrolet's U.S. market small hatchback that will be built in Michigan in 2011, did cross our mind (the smaller Spark is also a possible candidate). However, GM has not made any announcements on the matter.