2021 Chevy Colorado revealed with fresh new looks
No mechanical changes, but Chevy's midsize pickup truck takes a few cues from big brother Silverado.
We saw the 2021 Chevrolet Colorado last October bow in ZR2 form, but the Bowtie brand waited until now to show off what the standard pickup will look like with its fresh face. The good news is the truck still pulls off its looks quite well after all these years.
Chevy on Thursday revealed photos of the standard Colorado, which show off its new face and its tweaked tailgate. As we saw with the 2021 Colorado ZR2, the front clip's grille grows wider, though the split grille itself remains. It's a very light refresh, but it's just enough to keep the Colorado looking up-to-date, especially alongside the totally redone Chevy Silverado sitting at dealers.
The rear of the Colorado also ditches the traditional Chevy badge to mimic the Silverado's tailgate. Now, the rear spells out "Chevrolet" with the name stamped into tailgate. Matt Noone, Chevy trucks exterior design director, said the decision came after the brand saw success with the look that bowed on the latest Silverado. Of course, this design was norm for Chevy trucks years ago, too.
The taller grille is meant to make the Colorado look wider, but the look benefits the front air dam as well. The fresh looks carve out the air dam for better aerodynamics and to increase the truck's approach angle. The air dam's redesign also allows drivers to remove it completely if they want.
Since this is a light refresh, Chevy didn't dive into the pickup's mechanicals. Thus, a 2.5-liter inline-four, 3.6-liter V6 and 2.8-liter turbodiesel engine all remain on the menu. Truck shoppers looking for something new will find an optional one-inch lift kit for the 2021 Colorado however and there are three new colors to pick from. Inside, the cabin stays the same, but an 8.0-inch touchscreen unit is now standard on the LT trim and higher. New wheel designs and two new appearance packages round out the changes.
As for pricing, Chevy's smallest pickup grows more expensive for the new model year, but for a good reason. While buyers will see the starting price grow by $4,000, it's because the brand did away with the base extended cab model, which started at $22,395 after destination. The cheapest Colorado now will be the extended-cab Work truck model, which costs $26,395.
For a true apples-to-apples comparison, the Work Truck variant costs $500 more than the outgoing model after a $400 increase to the suggested retail price and a $100 increase to the destination charge, which now rings in at $1,195. Production of the revamped pickup kicks off this month.
