The image below may look a great deal like the Saturn Vue that is no longer available in the US, but this same vehicle is marketed in South America as the Chevrolet Captiva and starting late this year, the Captiva Sport will become available in the US to fleet customers.
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This compact crossover is hardly new to the US, with a great many Saturn Vue’s found around the country but this is the first time that the Chevrolet Captiva Sport name will make an appearance in the US. Since the Saturn brand was put to rest, the Ramos Arizpe, Mexico plant continued to build these crossovers for Columbia, Mexico and Brazil; in Europe the Captiva is the name worn by the large crossovers from GM like the vehicle that we know as the Chevy Equinox.
The 2012 Chevrolet Captiva Sport will be available in LS, LT and LTZ trimlines, with buyers selecting between a 4- or 6-cylinder engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. Front wheel drive is standard for all models, but fleet buyers who select the range-topping LTZ trimline can also select all wheel drive. The Captiva Sport LS comes with the 2.4L direct injection 4-cylinder engine offering 182 horsepower and 172lb-ft of torque, with the 3.0L V6 in the LT and LTZ trimlines packing 264 horsepower 222lb-ft of torque.
Alan Batey, Chevrolet vice president of US Sales and Service, offer this comment on the announcement of the fleet-only Captiva Sport coming to the domestic market:
"It says a lot about our ability to draw on international programs and proven, quality crossovers that we were able to identify and federalize a strong new entrant such as Captiva Sport for the U.S. market. We turned to our global network for a solution to quickly meet the rising demand from local fleet customers and continue to meet strong retail demand for the Equinox."
Considering the popularity of the Saturn Vue prior to the brand going belly-up, perhaps strong fleet sales later this year could encourage General Motors to begin offering the Captiva Sport to the normal consumer market as well.
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