ABOUT this, do not get confused.

The previous-gen Chevrolet Colorado, which was not sold here but was fairly popular in Thailand (where people buy the most number of pickups on the planet, next only to Americans), was an Isuzu D-Max with a grille-and-lights makeover—a product of some sort of partnership between the US and Japan companies that apparently believe Thailand and the Southeast Asian region that rely on their Thai output are big enough to allow both to run profitable businesses.

In 2011, General Motors, keeper of the Chevrolet brand, took the wraps off a Colorado show truck amid much pomp and chest-thumping, the eventual production version of the new-gen pickup billed to take on the Thai, Southeast Asian and other emerging markets everywhere, not to mention the US, too. Equally significant, top GM execs present at the Colorado’s mega 2011 reveal vowed the new one-ton truck is entirely, unequivocally a Chevrolet. Which was another way of saying the latest Colorado is no D-Max with a different face.

But then earlier this year I flew to Thailand to drive the new-gen D-Max (not the one presently sold here) on Isuzu’s off-road park near Pattaya, and I could swear—despite my poor eyesight—that it was similar to the Colorado, only it got a facial job. The two trucks’ cabins were even the same, right down to their signature circular cluster of climate controls.

Only two weekends ago, Chevrolet Phils. sent a top-spec Colorado LTZ A/T 4x4 (price: P1,538,888 million) on to my driveway, even throwing in a getaway destination to go with it. And again, Ray Ban prescriptions aside, the truck looks to me like the D-Max I drove in Pattaya. So. If I am to take top GM execs’ words—which I did on my report published in this same space two years back—Isuzu somehow managed to build a new-gen D-Max that’s uncannily identical to the new-gen Colorado.

Well, the truth is that GM did develop the Colorado, only that in the nameplate’s previous version Isuzu had a bit more involvement in the process, and was more successful at selling the D-Max in the Southeast Asian neighborhood—as well as in Australia, the UK or Europe, for that matter. This time around, GM seems more intent at taking a piece of the action.

But, frankly now, the new-gen Colorado getting associated with the D-Max isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Fact is, it’s even good, considering the Isuzu truck’s bulletproof cred.

The latest Colorado promises such good stuff, too. For starters, it’s a little larger than pickups available locally (which have yet to see their new-gen versions) but isn’t too big that it’s already unwieldy. What this size translates to is a roomy cabin where the backseat accommodations could actually fit three people with legs, and who do not have to endure a very upright seatback. In front, there are no space issues at all, and the driver’s perch in the variant I drove boasts electronic adjustments. The seats are covered with a cowhide-like material that looks tough instead of cushy—befitting a truck’s. And the predominantly beige cabin feels airy, although it may not be for slops.

The Colorado’s dashboard, though made from nasty, shiny plastics, is at least nice to look at, with a modern center console that houses an easily decipherable multimedia system fitted with the now-requisite USB/aux/Bluetooth links, and the abovementioned cluster of climate controls. Chevrolet said the Colorado’s gauges are inspired by those on the Camaro, which I have no reason to dispute as I have only seen the Camaro’s gauges on photos. The steering wheel is more readily identifiable as a Chevy’s and also gets the expected audio buttons. Also prominent on the console is a knob that dials 2H, 4H and 4L modes—useful to people whose idea of fun is to run their trucks over some muck. The shifter, with + and – functions, resides aft of this drivetrain mode dial and thankfully has a plain black surround instead of the fashionable shiny metallic plate that only directs sunlight toward the driver’s eyes.

In traffic, the Colorado feels smaller to drive than it actually is—a good thing—and credit here must go to its 360-degree visibility and the high perch allowed by the truck’s elevated stance. On the highway, it rides acceptably softly without wallowing, and in this regard you can really tell that the Colorado is a new-gen truck—its ride quality and refinement are a notch or two above those in the older-gen trucks still sold these days. The Colorado’s suspension soaks in small bumps and ruts, and filters vibration. And even with an empty bed—which, unfortunately, does not have a liner—the truck does not bounce around like some sort of weight-loss gizmo as seen on TV. Steering is light but not numb, and the brakes are a bit on the heavy side, although they’re easy to modulate so you don’t jerk in traffic like a newbie driver.

Under the Colorado’s stepped, angular hood is a four-pot, twin-cam, 16-valve, 2.8-liter diesel mill fed by common-rail direct injection and boosted by an intercooled variable geometry turbo-charger that spreads a prodigious 470 Newton-meter of torque evenly, with the peak figure reached at only 2,000rpm. Horsepower is rated at 180 and arrives at 3,800 revs. As you might guess from these ratings, the Colorado is sprightly on city streets as well as on the highways, and even its six-speed automatic gearbox variant is no slush—in fact it has 30 more Newton-meter than the manual version, according to Chevy literature.

Too bad that the engine is noisy, with a diesel clatter that seems out of cue on a new-gen truck. It sounds especially irritating when combined with the auto ‘box whose distantly spaced gearing means the engine will spin noisily as you press the throttle, then tick over lazily when you merely rest your foot on the go pedal. But I guess the upside to this laziness is acceptable fuel consumption—more than 11 kilometers to a liter over my weekend stint.

Still, round this out with tidy, muscular, modern sheet metal, plus some fancy kit like projector lamps, LEDs, roof rails, and the result is one capable new-gen truck that rocks—identity confusion and all.