FIRST GLIMPSE! 2009 Chevrolet Traverse

[Flybrian]

FIRST GLIMPSE! 2009 Chevrolet Traverse

Link to Original Post @ TheHollywoodExtra

This should come out at the Detroit show early next year.
Unless they decide L.A is a better place for in this November.

Just a Chevrolet version of the Saturn Outlook.
So it will look nice. And will have its own interior.

The Chevrolet model will be the cheapest version.

[caddycruiser]

Not an unexpected photo chop, given how fairly clear the lines and details under the camo are. It's still a little rough, but imagine it with Chevy-specific wheels and other tiny clear details, and that is pretty much it.

Now, if a spy photog could just catch an inside glimpse through a window. Probably will soon enough, then we'll see the outside officially.

Oh, and don't you just LOVE the insane comments on the HollywoodExtra? Every time, it's pretty 100% clear that it's the same handful of Accord, Camry, BMW, etc. loyalists who refuse to open their scope to anything else, and ALWAYS use the SAME comments and excuses for anything that goes against that. I've posted once or twice before, but now just read and laugh...

Edited September 10, 2007 by caddycruiser

[Drew Dowdell]

eh..... should be more CSVish

[jbartley]

i realize that's a crappy chop, and a terrible color, and the front fender flares a little exaggerated.

but it looks kinda hot!

[PurdueGuy]

Please tell me the 'chop is inaccurate, because it looks like they didn't do much to make it different from the Outlook/Acadia. A unique interior helps, but it's still going to be seen as blatant rebadging if the bodies are that similar.

[Drew Dowdell]

boo @ deleting my joke.

[jbartley]

boo @ deleting my joke.

well i thought it was funny. even if some people probably jumped for joy or had heart attacks.

[Intrepidation]

I like it, especially the new rear quarter window...but the front end still looks a lot like teh Outlook...are those the same headlights? Hopefully the real thing will be more differenciated.

[smk4565]

Looks like an Outlook but worse, for some reason the Chevy grille isn't working on this vehicle, kind of like how the Olds Aurora/Alero style front looked bad on the Bravada.

GM has just repeated the 4 minivans mistake. Their small to midsize SUV lineup is really weak now, the over weight Vue is really all they have until the update the Equinox.

[Robert Hall]

Those look like Outlook headlights..hopefully the Traverse will get it's own hood, front fenders, and headlights in addition to the fascia.

[b_rad21]

This is a huge mistake. Chevy shouldn't get a copy of this crossover. They should learn from the Trailblazer/Envoy/Bravada/9-7X/Ascender/Rainier nonsense.

Chevy needs to stick with a mini-van.

[K.C.]

I appears to be a mix of a Malibu grille, Enclave quarters over the rear wheels and tailgate, and Outlook headlamps.

[CaddyXLR-V]

This is a huge mistake. Chevy shouldn't get a copy of this crossover. They should learn from the Trailblazer/Envoy/Bravada/9-7X/Ascender/Rainier nonsense.

Chevy needs to stick with a mini-van.

IMO that's like saying Chevy shouldn't have a full size truck. If anything, one of the other Lambdas need to go away, not the Chevy.

[regfootball]

they need to change the fender bulges

[ZL-1]

Looks like someone chopped a Malibu grille on an Outlook front end. Let's wait and see what the real thing looks like.

I'd like it to have a Sequel-inspired front-end: IMHO the higher sales volume this is expected to bring in should be worth the investment.

Edited September 10, 2007 by ZL-1

[frogger]

Meh.. Makes me think of Mitsubishi

[CMG]

I think it's just one more "also ran" in an already overcrowded market.

[Intrepidation]

They shouldn't have 4 of these...one of them should be taken out of the lineup to avoid overlap. Sadly I think the Outlook is the one to go since it's a slow seller anyway. It makes sense for Chevy to get one since it's the volume brand...but 3 of the 4 crossovers look rather similar.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Dodgefan

[silverss/sc]

If this thing is gonna look so much like a Saturn Outlook , why bother

[PurdueGuy]

They shouldn't have 4 of these...one of them should be taken out of the lineup to avoid overlap. Sadly I think the Outlook is the oen to go since it's a slow seller anyway. It makes sense for Chevy to get one since it's the volume brand...but 3 of the 4 crossovers look rather similar.

Despite being a Saturn enthusiast, I agree that if one needs to go, the Saturn makes the most sense. The Buick is well differentiated, the other 3 aren't. Chevy = volume, and the GMC is the top seller of the current 3. Probably the best arguments for keeping the Saturn are that it doesn't cost that much more to have it, and some buyers would not cross-shop Chevy or other GM brands (see: why GMC makes sense despite being so similar to Chevy models).

[Robert Hall]

With Chevy being the volume GM brand, I'm surprised they didn't get one first, before the other 3.

[Intrepidation]

With Chevy being the volume GM brand, I'm surprised they didn't get one first, before the other 3.

Weren't they originally not going to get one at all?

[maxximus1]

lambda overkill. i'll stick with buick's enclave, i think its the hottest looking one of the bunch.

[AH-HA]

Utter and complete fake from Vince. :AH-HA_wink:

[kool1]

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I wish GM would put the brakes on this or at least put sliding doors on it but..

[Drew Dowdell]

Utter and complete fake from Vince. :AH-HA_wink:

If AH-HA took the time to come on here and wink at us, I'm gonna say this whole thread is a bust.

[dimitri0917]

Anybody catch a cheap CRV-type vibe? maybe this could be the sportiest of the group, without roof rack, as pictured and such. That would differentiate it. But it is hard to make a two ton CUV sporty.

[vrazzhledazzle]

It is WAYY too close to the Saturn Outlook. I am crossing my fingers that this is just a chop...although it looks great I would of liked to see a little more differentiation

[Chris_Doane]

They shouldn't have 4 of these...one of them should be taken out of the lineup to avoid overlap.

How would you feel about 5....

[cire]

I wouldn't put too much faith in this picture. It looks like a bad chop job.

I would hope that Chevrolet's version has more differentiation from Saturn's and GMC's versions than what this picture suggests. GM has done pretty good lately in differentiating products (except where Pontiac is concerned, but I am looking at the G5 and Torrent as stop gap measures). I would hate to see them slip back into the lazy badge engineering habits they have utilized in the past.

I don't see any harm in Chevrolet, GM's volume division, having a crossover on the Lambda platform as long as it doesn't look like the other Lambda products. I would hope that the rather long gap between the introduction of the Enclave and the Traverse means that the Traverse will receive somewhat unique exterior and interior designs. Let's hope for the best, anyway.

[Chris_Doane]

Consider the source.

"If it's Burlapp, you know it's wrong."

[Intrepidation]

How would you feel about 5....

Please don't tell me there's a 5th one coming? Who is gonna get it? Pontiac? Saab? Caddy?

[Chris_Doane]

Please don't tell me there's a 5th one coming?

Stay tuned. Edited September 11, 2007 by Chris_Doane

[Sixty8panther]

Outlook with a Malibu nose... boring.

[wildcat]

Buick remains the beautiful one.

[wildcat]

Utter and complete fake from Vince. :AH-HA_wink:

I would never question AH-HA's knowledge. Yet if the photo (per se) is fake, doesn't it still seem like a reasonable "rendering" of what the vehicle probably looks like, going by those spy shots of the dark blue Traverse in public?

[Robert Hall]

Please don't tell me there's a 5th one coming? Who is gonna get it? Pontiac? Saab? Caddy?

I could see a Saab 9-7x replacement coming from this platform...a Cadillac SRX replacement, maybe, but less probable given the FWD origin of the platform.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Stay tuned.

My money's on Caddy for an SRX replacement... Saab I know wants to focus on that 9-4X Small Crossover as its SUV and Pontiac won't be getting any more SUVs, the NG Torrent will be a GMC.

[Dsuupr]

Chevy is volume = Chevy is big money

Saturn is low volume and currently not best seller of 3 = Saturn makes little money

Chevy should get the vehicle from a fiscal stand point. GM (and any other company) is in the auto business to make money. Chevy makes the money.

[prototype66]

ditch the GMC. BPG dealers do NOT need two of these at vurtually the same price.

Chevy and Saturn (individual entities) need these to replace the minivan , which in my opinion was idotic to abandon in the first place.

Edited September 11, 2007 by prototype66

[ponchoman49]

Looks pretty good. Maybe it can have an optional V8 by the time it's introduced.

[jbartley]

My money's on Caddy for an SRX replacement... Saab I know wants to focus on that 9-4X Small Crossover as its SUV and Pontiac won't be getting any more SUVs, the NG Torrent will be a GMC.

I doubt it'd be Cadillac. My money is on a Saab 9-6x.

Saab needs it more desperately, and GM's not going to make a product that could cost Escalade sales. The styling for the 9-6x was all but finalized when GM still had that stake in subaru, it'll probably just need to be reworked a little. GM just needs to make it different enough.

So far none of these lambda's directly compete against eachother. A Saab and Cadillac would blue the line tho, although a 9-6x makes more sense, Cadillac's execs have been preddy adamant about not letting FWD back into their lineup.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

Here's the thing: I want to agree with you in wanting to ditch the GMC Acadia-not just for the reason of the Buick Enclave generally being in the same dealer, but also to keep GMC a TRUCK-only division. Personally, the Acadia is my favorite of the three so far, and it is also the best-seller by far. Thanks in part to the Ford Flex, the Chevy Traverse is a good idea (I agree the above photo looks like a fake, and a bad chop), note the Sequel (II) concept from earlier this year, and its rear quarter window styling, and compare with the spy shots if you can see it closely. Not the same as the Enclave's. If the Saturn Outlook is to be moved, make it a version of Opel/Vauxhall's Galaxy rival. Its large, and Saturn's biggest vehicle should probably be Aura/"Galaxy" sized.

[62impala]

F _ _ K the sliding doors, already....

GM needs to sack up, and stay the hell out of the minivan business, because they were NEVER any good at it, and it's a dying breed anyway, especially with all these Lambdas and other crossovers.

GM should just take the Outlook away from Saturn, slap a few bowties on it, and sell the hell out of these, once they put a decent name on it (NOT TRAVERSE), although I do tend to agree that Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealers have one Lambda too many.

I could care less if the Chevy model takes sales away from the other GM divisions; in a few years, all GM is going to be is Chevy and Cadillac, anyway.

I would like to see this model spruced up a bit; black eggcrate inserts in the grille, revise that rear quarter panel window which looks very lame; some large round taillights and maybe some stainless steel strips on the tailgate to remind us of the Nomads of the mid 50's.... Chevy needs to consider this car as the Tahoe and/or Impala/Kingswood wagon of the late 00's and really give it some Chevrolet heritage styling cues, and a killer name, and, trust me, "Traverse" ain't it.

[PurdueGuy]

in a few years, all GM is going to be is Chevy and Cadillac, anyway.

visit reality often?

[CARBIZ]

F _ _ K the sliding doors, already....

GM needs to sack up, and stay the hell out of the minivan business, because they were NEVER any good at it, and it's a dying breed anyway, especially with all these Lambdas and other crossovers.

GM should just take the Outlook away from Saturn, slap a few bowties on it, and sell the hell out of these, once they put a decent name on it (NOT TRAVERSE), although I do tend to agree that Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealers have one Lambda too many.

I could care less if the Chevy model takes sales away from the other GM divisions; in a few years, all GM is going to be is Chevy and Cadillac, anyway.

I would like to see this model spruced up a bit; black eggcrate inserts in the grille, revise that rear quarter panel window which looks very lame; some large round taillights and maybe some stainless steel strips on the tailgate to remind us of the Nomads of the mid 50's.... Chevy needs to consider this car as the Tahoe and/or Impala/Kingswood wagon of the late 00's and really give it some Chevrolet heritage styling cues, and a killer name, and, trust me, "Traverse" ain't it.

I beg to differ: the Caravan has been the #1 selling vehicle in Canada, off and on, for many years: outselling the F-150 and any car. At one point,GM was selling over 200k minivans. That market still represents a million units a year. If GM considers itself a 'full line' manufacturer, then abandoning the minivan market is not an option. If gas proces spike once again, it will be the SUV and pick up market that will tank.

The cross-over 'phenomenon' is yet another artificial creation by some market whiz-kids who refuse to drive a true wagon. Nothing can replace a minivan for utility, and as gas mileage becomes important once again, it will be a vital market that GM cannot afford to stay out of.

[Flybrian]

My source says... The front-end is pretty much spot-on.

[DetroitNut90]

Nothing can replace a minivan for utility, and as gas mileage becomes important once again, it will be a vital market that GM cannot afford to stay out of.

The Traverse should be a minivan.

[Imaj]

what's the point of it, other than stealing sales from the Acadia and Outlook?

[Drew Dowdell]

what's the point of it, other than stealing sales from the Acadia and Outlook?

The point of this chop? It's to get GM enthusiasts riled up about how bad of a mistake GM might make.

The point of the Traverse however is to help Chevy pick up sales from the Highlander, Pilot, and Edge while the Trailblazer rides off into the sunset to Radiator Springs.