Gack! Somebody Shoots My White Whale!? Orlando Not For U.S. Sale?

Update: Strike one! I just got off the phone with a less than cooperative Chevrolet rep. Sigh. Basically I got the line "The Orlando is just a show car. No plans have been announced. The WSJ report is purely speculative."

We've seen the mules of this vehicle driving around. We know they are going to make the MPV-7 somewhere...Let's not insult anyone's intelligence about it only being a show car. The question is where will it be built and for which markets? Unfortunately, the rep I spoke with was not willing to play ball and in fact seemed galled at my call. That's a pretty rare occurrence, but it frustrates me whenever it does happen.

Not to fear, I'll continue to dig around on this story.

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In a strange turn of events, the WSJ is reporting that plans for the Chevrolet Orlando (Delta MPV-7) in the U.S. have been suspended. According to UAW documents leaked last year, the MPV-7 was scheduled for production at GM's Hamtramck, Michigan facility. Now those plans have apparently been scrubbed.

I'm not quite sure about all of this, as I was pretty sure that the small, seven seater had a place at the table as a little brother to the Traverse. As you know, I've been following this vehicle with a lot of interest, so I'm still not quite ready to say goodbye. I would imagine that the Orlando, or whatever the production version will be called, could still be imported to the U.S. from elsewhere. It would seem to me that a really fuel efficient, nicely styled family hauler would be a lock! I'm going to do some digging around over the next few weeks and see if I can find out any more information about this story.