New Chevrolet Colorado Roughens Up with Double-Cab Rally Concept

The Buenos Aires Motorshow is proving to be an important event for GM as after the debut of the Chevrolet Cobalt Concept, the Detroit automaker released the first details on its second design study, the Colorado Rally Concept.

We first saw the Colorado as single-cab concept truck at the Bangkok International Auto Show earlier this year.

The Argentine study is a double-cab racing version of that concept fitted with a bevy of off-road accessories and components such as the front and rear bumper hooks and tow winches, an adjustable suspension that allows the driver to increase the ride height by 5 inches and special acrylic windows.

The Colorado Rally Concept is powered by a 2.8-liter turbo diesel engine coupled to an all-wheel drive system and rides on massive 18-inch machined aluminum wheels shod in 305/60 R18 tires.

The production version of the all-new Colorado in both single- and double-cab formats is slated to debut later this year.

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GM Unveils New Chevrolet Cobalt Sedan Concept at Buenos Aires

Here in the good ‘ol US of A, General Motors replaced the Chevrolet Cobalt compact car with the new Cruze sedan. In South America, however, it’s another story as the Detroit brand has given birth to a new Chevy Cobalt that is being revealed in pre-production form at this week’s Buenos Aires Motor Show (June 17 to 26) in Argentina.

Developed by General Motors Technical Center in South America, the four-door sedan Cobalt Concept is slated to enter production within the next year. GM’s press blurb doesn’t mention anything about the Cobalt’s underpinnings, but judging from the size of the car, it appears to be based on the Chevy Sonic (Aveo in Europe) saloon.

GM said that the Cobalt will be sold globally offering buyers a choice of four cylinder engines ranging in displacement from 1.3 to 1.8 liters, with automatic and manual transmissions, running on ethanol (flex fuel), gasoline or diesel.

The specific concept model is equipped with an aero kit comprising of front and rear aprons, side skirts and a discreet boot lid spoiler, plus 17-inch alloy wheels in 255/45 R17 rubber and twin exhaust outlets.

The interior has also been upgraded with plush two-tone leather seats, chrome trim, twin sunroof and even an infotainment system with LCD screens integrated into the front headrests.

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New Renault Duster for South America Debuts at Buenos Aires Motor Show

The Renault-Nissan Alliance’s low-cost Dacia Duster SUV has lost its Romanian badges to cater to the needs of the South American market where it will be sold under the Renault brand.

Redesigned for the local market, the Renault Duster SUV makes its regional debut at this week’s Buenos Aires Motor Show. It will first launch in Argentina and Brazil during the last quarter of the year, with more countries to follow after. Production will take place at Renault’s Curitiba plant in Brazil.

The logo change also brought some minor modifications to the Duster including a new front grille, different wheels painted in dark gray and a latest-generation four-wheel-drive system. In addition, Renault upgraded the interior with a restyled dashboard.

Commenting on the presentation of the Renault Dacia, Steve Norman, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Renault, said:

“Renault Duster is really adapted to Latin American markets. It surprises with its dimensions, larger than those of the competition, and its excellent abilities. This special version, with exclusively designed interiors, new colour schemes and a new grille, will make 4x4s affordable for more and more customers in Brazil and Argentina. For Renault, in America, we can really say that there will be a before and an after Duster.”

Alongside the Duster, Renault is also introducing a phase 2 versions of the Dacia-based Sandero and Sandero Stepway, together with the pure electric Fluence sedan.

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Travel and Tourism - Amazing Lenis Marancheness National Park

In Brazil, there is a unique place, which surprised even themselves Brazilians. This Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, located in north-eastern Brazil, in the State of Maranhão, near the town of Barreyrinyas.
It is an area of low, flat, occasionally flooded land, overlaid with large, discrete sand dunes. It encompasses roughly 1000 square kilometers, and despite abundant rain, supports almost no vegetation. The park was created on June 2, 1981. It was featured in the Brazilian film The House of Sand. Most recently, it was featured in the song “Kadhal Anukkal” from the Indian film, Enthiran.

The National Park is quite extensive and has no access roads. Because of the nature of the park’s protected status, most vehicles are not permitted access. Entrance to the park is made exclusively by 4-wheel drive trucks.

Composed of large, white, sweeping dunes, at first glance Lençóis Maranhenses looks like an archetypal desert. In fact it isn’t actually a desert. Lying just outside the Amazon basin, the region is subject to a regular rain season during the beginning of the year. The rains cause a peculiar phenomenon: fresh water collects in the valleys between sand dunes, spotting the desert with blue and green lagoons that reach their fullest between July and September.

The area is also surprisingly home to a variety of fish which, despite the almost complete disappearance of the lagoons during the dry season, have their eggs brought from the sea by birds