Final testing of GM’s new Chevy Colorado, to be built in Rayong, Thailand, is ending and production is about the begin on the new global mid-size pickup.

New Chevy Colorado, Thailand — a huge pickup market — will be the first to get the new truck, but concepts, such as the Colorado Rally, have already been seen in South America, Australia and Europe. Engineering drive of camouflaged new Chevrolet Colorados in Thailand.

New Chevy Colorado, The lineup for world markets — GM says those include at least Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and South America — will feature crew- and extended-cab versions powered by GM’s new 2.5-liter and 2.8-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines that will be built next door to the Colorado assembly plant in Thailand.

New Chevy Colorado, Chief Engineer Roberto Rempel (pictured below) said in a statement that his team finessed the new Colorado to meet local market needs in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Rempel and his team lived in Thailand during the Colorado’s development, observing how the locals use their vehicles.

“We know customers of this type of vehicle want a workhorse and a daily-use vehicle all in one, so our product has to deliver,” Rempel said. “We have benchmarked the toughest, most flexible vehicles around the world.”

What does this mean for North America? New Chevy Colorado

We assume the truck is coming here, which sources told us in March. Although no official announcements have been made about a new mid-size truck for the U.S. market, the tentative new UAW labor agreements with GM, being voted on next week, call for an GM spending $380 million at the Wentzville, Mo., plant to build a new pickup truck platform. The Shreveport, La., plant where current-gen Colorados and GMC Canyons are built, remains scheduled under the contract to permanently close next year.