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Chevy Trax engineer says GMC version possible

The Buick Encore is doing so well and its platform-mate the Chevrolet Trax has such good reviewer vibes going for it already, that a GMC version hasn't been ruled out. During the recent press launch, Automotive News asked lead engineer Al Manzor if the Trax could wear a GMC-branded suit, to which Manzor replied, "I think that is certainly possible." That's a long way from telling us anything about the probability of a GMC version of the Trax, and a legion of questions would need to be answered before it could happen. How would a GMC version be priced to leave room for the $26,465 GMC Terrain but not eat into sales of the $20,995 Trax or the $24,035 Encore? Or would that matter? Could it primarily be considered to encourage a new faction of The Yukon Set at the compact end, GMC buyers being famously committed to the marque? And of course, would there be a Denali version? It'll probably be a long while before we have any kind of answers, but if you want to see it happen, the door to your campaign of persuasion is at least ajar.

GM recalling nearly 4,000 vehicles over airbag concerns

Four different General Motors vehicles from the 2012 model year are being recalled over a potential airbag issue. The driver's side airbag shorting bar in the 2012 Buick Verano and 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, Cruze and Sonic might make contact with the airbag terminals, even during a crash. If so, the airbag won't deploy when it should, possibly increasing injury to the driver.
The recall is expected to begin on February 13 for the 3,896 units that might be affected. GM will notify owners who can then take their vehicles to dealers to have the airbag coil replaced. A bulletin from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration below has more info.

2015 Chevrolet Trax

After the obligatory product presentation for the 2015 Trax, I caught up with Steve Majoros, Chevrolet's director of marketing for crossovers and cars, and asked him to elaborate on which markets his planners believe will be the hot starters for this tiny CUV. Without much hesitation, Majoros began to click off traditional sales havens for Subaru, namely, New England and the snowy bits of the East Coast, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest. That news might not surprise you, but it did me. Perhaps it's something as basic as the Trax's tall-hatchback looks, or the emphasis Chevrolet put on the urban driving cycle during my test in San Diego. But before my chat with Majoros, I'd considered this a crossover pointed at the Millennial city mouse more than his bumpkin cousin. But a closer look had me re-examining the granola cred of Chevy's smallest crossover. Having spent my fair share of time in New England and around New Englanders, I started by mentally listing the Trax's Subaru-like traits: practicality, thrift, all-weather ability and, well, just a dash of ugliness. (I suppose a hatchback needn't always be ugly to sell in Maine, or Boulder or Portland... but a 'distinctive' face doesn't seem to hurt.) After a day of driving through sunny San Diego and its surroundings, I can say that Trax makes an interesting case for itself against the standard bearers of the L.L. Bean set, but I'm less sure of its argument for young urbanites. The Trax looks a lot like an Equinox whose suit shrunk in the wash. Chevy's has downsized its own, rather conservative crossover styling to fit the proportions of the subcompact Trax; to my eyes, it looks a lot like an Equinox whose suit shrunk in the wash. That's fine for offering a cohesive look for the Chevy family of crossovers, but it seems out of step with the rest of the segment. If the Trax's current competitive set were the cast of a high school-based TV show, the Kia Soul would play the lovable nerd, the Nissan Juke perhaps the outsider musician and the Subaru XV Crosstrek the athletic outdoorsy kid. Chevy may see the Trax as the hipster chick wearing intentionally ironic mom jeans, but to me the styling is a little too on the nose; more like an actual grownup trying to hang with the kids. These mom jeans are genuine. Per my earlier point, that quasi-conservative look may be just fast enough for staid New Englanders, but I have a hard time seeing the bluff, big-Bowtied front end playing in Bushwick or Wicker Park.