What's that black SUV in US Vice-President Kamala Harris' motorcade?

US Vice President Kamala Harris' trip to Singapore is making the headlines, both locally and abroad. One, in particular, caught the eyes and ears of many Singaporeans two days back. 

With police sirens piercing the air, traffic was temporarily halted at various parts of the island to allow smooth passage to the motorcade for Vice President Harris from Paya Lebar Airbase, where she landed, to Shangri-La Hotel. 

A rare sight in itself, the extensive party of cars was made even more intriguing by the appearance of some unfamiliar mammoth-like SUVs bearing Chevrolet badges. And nope, those weren't Captivas too - the last seven-seater SUVs to wear the marque's golden cross (or Bow Tie, as they call it) in Singapore. 

The large black vehicles in question were none other than Chevrolet Suburbans. 

Still lost? Don't worry, that's not on you because they've never been sold here. 

The Suburban is the largest of Chevrolet's lineup of SUVs on sale, predominantly in the US. And boy, are they large. Some trim-levels offer three rows of bench-seats (meaning that a Suburban can ferry up to nine people comfortably), while folding all rear seats down unlocks nearly 4,000 liters of space - evidence of just how much it can take of what you want to chuck at it.

As pointed out by multiple outlets, the Suburbans had actually been flown in with VP Harris' delegation itself, thus bearing American number plates. They weren't part of the motorcade provided by us. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RVnv-T_RNc[/embed]

Born and bred entirely in the domestic arm of the American brand, the Suburban is also vastly different from the few Chevrolet models that we've had in Singapore - the Aveo, Cruze and Orlando to name a few - not just in size but also heritage. Those we had were the brainchildren of General Motors Korea, which was born out of a merger with defunct Korean carmaker, Daewoo; the Suburban belongs to the main General Motors. 

Since we're talking about the SUV within the presidential motorcade, we are duty-bound to touch on its defence capabilities too. As a favourite mainstay among the White House's vehicles, the Suburban doesn't boast as long a list of security features that the Presidential Limousine does, but still gets its own very decent share of military-grade modifications. 

Each SUV in the fleet apparently has hermetically sealed cabins with their own oxygen supply - to ward off potential chemical attacks - on top of the standard bulletproof windows (yes, standard). The former quality gained special attention back in 2020, when previous President Donald Trump was photographed riding in one alongside aides in full PPE-attire immediately after contracting the coronavirus (just imagine travelling in an airtight vehicle with an infected person). 

ALSO READ: What US Vice-President Kamala Harris did in Singapore on Monday

Why not this SUV, since Singaporeans love cars of this ilk so much?

Back to the question: There's good reason why we never see the Suburban on Singapore's roads. 

Above all else, the vehicle is not offered in right-hand drive. Even if you somehow managed to land your hands on one, you couldn't possibly drive it here anyway.

But more importantly, if you saw the video of VP Harris' motorcade zipping through, you would have observed quintessential Singaporean giants - a number of Toyota Alphards and an Audi Q7 - apparently being dwarfed down to supermini-size alongside the Suburbans that appeared after and before them. 

This is not an optical illusion.

You see, the Alphard is, without question or debate, no small car. Sprawled out over a massive 4.8m, it is approximately a metre longer than driving school staples like the Honda Jazz or Suzuki Swift. The Q7 stretches even further, to just above 5m long.

The Chevy Suburban, however, blows them all out of the water. It measures a monstrous 5.7m. Easy peasy.

In case its size is not apparent enough, imagine parking the Suburban around Singapore. 

The 2000 Parking Places Act states that standard parking stalls (lots) have to be at least 4.8m long, whereas stalls for parallel parking have to be 5.4m - even longer - to make space for all that pesky manoeuvring and adjusting. Even if the Suburban were supernaturally equipped with magical parking capabilities and could slot itself laterally into a parallel lot, it will not fit, end to end. (We imagine the Shangri-La's outdoor parking lots should have accomodated them okay, though).

Furthermore, a closer look at the Suburban's price factor would further exacerbate the impractical case for it in Singapore. 

Under its hood lies a 5.3-litre V8 engine, which churns out 315bhp - a fair, okay sum if you're in the States. Not in Singapore. Here, 315bhp is an astronomical figure. Obviously, there was never any question that the Suburban wouldn't have made the cut for COE Category A (the best turbocharged small engine couldn't haul this beast); that V8 also undoubtedly fastens it securely to the heaviest of the VES bandings, C2. 

As the cherry on top of this very expensive sundae, the Suburban's high Open Market Value (it is the range-topper of Chevy's lineup after all) will also nudge its PARF upwards. This means that after all taxes, the SUV is likely saying hello to the $300,000-$350,000 range based on rough guesstimates. 

Not entirely hostile to American presence

While the Suburban will unfortunately never find a home here, Singapore has actually had its fair share of shoulder-rubbing with American brands (there were always two here in fact - and one more now). 

We're a bit hesitant to count the Chevrolet models that hit our shores as part of the gang, so let's start with Ford. The Focus sedans and hatchbacks always won plaudits for being responsive and sharp vehicles to drive, and were consistently and relatively well-received here. These days, though, Ford's flagship model has blurred into the background. Instead, the iconic Mustang now stands as the face of the company - at least over here.

Another survivor of U.S. heritage from the days of Singaporean car market past is Jeep. Its seven-slot grille and round head lights have arguably carved out a visual for the brand so distinctive that this specific design language has cemented itself as timeless and unreplicable by others. Think BMW's kidney grille.

But most prominently, you will likely recall the huge black limousine that SMRT used to offer back in the day - the one that shocked you with a $5.00 flag-down fare which then leapt, not just by $0.30 every time, but also at what felt like a quicker rate than all of its blue/yellow/brown-maroon peers on the road - the one that you always avoided, essentially. 

That was the 300C, sold by now-struggling American marque, Chrysler. During its finite run here, Chrysler also brought out its Toyota Estima-fighter, the Grand Voyager, as well as the oddball PT Cruiser hatchback, quite desirable Crossfire roadster and coupe, and plain-as-white-bread Sebring sedan. 

Now though, Chrysler is nowhere to be found. The sgCarMart 'Used Car' search at the point of writing only yielded one result for a majestic 300C Touring. Sad indeed (although you can still relive bits of all the old models on our "Past Cars" page for Chrysler here).

From this year, things are thankfully getting a bit less lonely because another American has properly set foot in Singapore - Tesla. No further explanation needed with this one, we think. 

Big, brash jeeps and legacy muscle coupes, alongside sleek, cutting-edge EVs - and they say Americans don't know how to make cars? If this isn't range, we don't know what is. Singapore and the Suburban may never get on the same page, but rest assured that our car market will maintain cordial relations with whichever other automakers the land of the free has to offer. For good reason.

This article was first published in sgCarMart.