PUTC has
been hearing from various sources for several months now that the upcoming
midsize pickup from Chevrolet will be called the Colorado. What has made
this rumor so difficult to believe is that many automotive publications
have been calling the upcoming SUV from Volkswagen the same name.
Since General
Motors PR personnel will not discuss the names of future products, PickupTruck.com
spoke with Volkswagen PR Manager Tony Fouladpour during the 2001 North
American International Auto Show about the Colorado name. Fouladpour confirmed
that the Volkswagen SUV will not be called the Colorado and that General
Motors had asked VW to stop referring to their SUV by that name. Fouladpour
did not reveal the true name of Volkswagen's SUV.
To add further
credibility to this speculation, a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office database reveals that General Motors does indeed own the rights
to the Colorado name under trademark number 75915373.
The name
change is similar to the change Chevrolet made when it created the new
midsize TrailBlazer SUV, leaving the compact SUV segment to the venerable
Blazer brand.
