The Chevrolet Tracker is a name Chevrolet has used for two different small utility vehicles: a compact SUV based on the Suzuki Vitara, and the crossover known elsewhere as the Chevrolet Trax.
Chevrolet Tracker at a glance
| First use | 1988, compact SUV in the Americas |
|---|---|
| Based on | Suzuki Vitara, Escudo and Sidekick |
| Generations | two for the Americas version |
| Second use | Chevrolet Trax, sold as the Tracker in South America and Russia |
| Second use period | until 2020 |
| Class | Compact SUV, later subcompact crossover |
The English Wikipedia page on the Tracker is a nameplate overview; this article explains which vehicles carried the name rather than describing either in detail.
History of the Chevrolet Tracker
The first Chevrolet Tracker was a compact SUV produced in the Americas from 1988 over two generations, based on the Suzuki Vitara, also sold as the Escudo and the Sidekick. It was part of the same GM-Suzuki relationship that produced the Chevrolet Sprint and the Geo Metro, and it gave Chevrolet a small off-roader at a time when the brand had nothing between its passenger cars and the full-size Blazer and Suburban.
The name was reused later for a completely different vehicle: the Chevrolet Trax, a subcompact crossover that was marketed as the Tracker in South America and Russia until 2020. The two cars have nothing in common beyond the badge and the idea of a small, high-riding Chevrolet.
The Tracker name reflects a wider pattern in Chevrolet’s recent history: the same vehicle is sold under different names in different regions, and names with history are reused on new platforms. Buyers looking at a Tracker therefore need to know whether they are looking at the older Suzuki-based SUV or the modern Trax-based crossover.
Design and features
- Suzuki basis: the original Tracker was a Suzuki Vitara with Chevrolet badges.
- Two generations: the Americas SUV was built from 1988 in two generations.
- Name reuse: the modern Tracker is a Chevrolet Trax under another name.
- Regional naming: South America and Russia used the Tracker name until 2020.
Chevrolet Tracker versions
- First-generation Tracker: the 1988 Suzuki Vitara-based SUV.
- Second-generation Tracker: the later version of the same line.
- Tracker as Trax: the subcompact crossover sold under the name in South America and Russia.
The Tracker was Chevrolet’s small SUV before the Chevrolet Equinox, and the modern Tracker is the Chevrolet Trax under another name.
Video: 2002 Chevrolet Tracker 4WD
Video by Malibu Motors Victoria on YouTube.
Sources
- Chevrolet Tracker, English Wikipedia: nameplate overview and model years
