GM to Debut Small Crossover for Global Markets

General Motors Co. says it will use the Paris auto show in September to publicly introduce the Chevrolet Trax, a small crossover vehicle to be sold in 140 markets but not in the U.S.

The five-passenger Trax will ride on the Gamma platform that carries Chevy's Aveo and Sonic small cars. Automotive News says GM plans two Trax variants: the Opel Mokka due in Europe at year-end and the Buick Encore, expected in the U.S. early next year.

The new Trax will be made in South Korea initially. But GM says it could eventually to assembled in unspecified other locations. The vehicle will launch in Canada and Mexico in the fourth quarter of this year.

There are no plans to offer the Trax in the U.S., where the vehicle would compete the Buick Encore iteration and Chevy's own midsize Equinox crossover.

GM showed a similarly sized crossover concept called the Trax at the 2007 New York auto show. The company described that 1.0-liter-powered vehicle as a replacement for the Aveo, built in Mexico and sold in America. GM says the new Trax is unrelated to that shelved project.