2023 Chevrolet Trailblazer vs 2023 Volkswagen ID.4

Few automotive nameplates have kept pace with changing market trends like the Chevrolet Trailblazer, which has taken on three very different forms over a relatively short time span.

The Trailblazer name first appeared in 1999 on an appearance package for the S-10 Blazer, a compact SUV derived from the Chevy S-10 pickup truck. Chevy then applied the Trailblazer nameplate to a midsize SUV sold during model years 2002 through 2009. While not based on a pickup truck, this Trailblazer had the hallmarks of an old-school SUV, including body-on-frame construction and available V8 power.

Today’s Chevy Trailblazer has nothing in common with those predecessors except a name. Introduced for the 2021 model year, this Trailblazer is a subcompact crossover with car-like unibody construction shared with the Buick Encore GX, and tiny, efficiency-focused engines. With the Chevy Trax on hiatus until the 2024 model year, the Trailblazer is Chevy’s entry-level SUV for 2023, competing with the likes of the Hyundai Kona and Kia Seltos.

The only changes for 2023 are some new extra-cost paint colours, including Nitro Yellow Metallic, Fountain Blue, and Sterling Gray Metallic, along with an Iridescent Pearl Tricoat roof. Trim levels start with the base LS, and continue with the LT, Activ, and RS. We tested a Chevrolet Trailblazer Activ for this review.

The Volkswagen ID.4 electric car is still relatively new to the marketplace (it debuted for the 2021 model year) but VW is already making some important updates to keep it competitive and fulfil goals set when this compact electric SUV first launched.

The 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 adds a new base model and a smaller 62-kilowatt-hour battery pack alongside the carryover 82-kWh to increase affordability. VW will also begin sourcing cars for its North American dealerships from the same Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory that builds the gasoline-powered Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport. The automaker has been discussing this since the ID.4 was unveiled, but at first cars for our market came from Zwickau, Germany.

The 2023 ID.4 retains single-motor rear-wheel drive (RWD) and dual-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) powertrain options, but gets revised exterior and interior styling, some software changes, and a few more standard tech features and driver aids.

The new-for-2023 base model is dubbed simply ID.4, slotting below the ID.4 Pro and ID.4 Pro AWD. We recently spent a day on a test drive with the U.S. equivalent of the ID.4 Pro AWD model, along with a shorter drive in a base ID.4 model.