GM's aging Equinox and Terrain show staying power

DETROIT -- The current-generation Chevrolet Equinox and sibling GMC Terrain, now entering their sixth year, would normally be prepped for reconstructive surgery by now under a typical product development cycle.

Instead, they're getting a nip and tuck.

General Motors is planning just a cosmetic freshening to the popular crossovers for launch about a year from now, as 2016 models. A full redesign won't come until early 2017, sources say.

An eight-year lag between generations is a long wait in a high-volume, fast-growing segment that is now brimming with fresh sheet metal. But in the case of the Equinox and Terrain -- its top-selling U.S. vehicle line after full-sized pickups -- it turns out that GM can afford to wait.

Combined Equinox and Terrain sales could notch their fifth straight annual increase this year, despite a slew of redesigned rivals, such as the Ford Escape, Nissan Rogue and Toyota RAV4. And GM's entries still command top dollar: The Terrain's average transaction price through August was the highest among the top eight compact crossovers by volume, at $30,548, according to Kelley Blue Book. The Equinox was third, behind the Escape, at $27,996.

2016 refresh

The refresh for the '16 model year is expected to revise the Equinox's face for a wider, deeper grille to match Chevy's evolving front-end look. AutoPacific Inc. analyst Dave Sullivan believes it will be just enough to sustain its appeal for a few more years.

"It has aged really well," Sullivan says. "I think this short Botox approach makes sense given how well it's held up on fuel economy and styling and interior packaging. I don't fault GM for keeping it around a while longer."

Since its launch in June 2009, the current-generation Equinox has been a rare hit for GM in a high-volume segment ruled by Japanese brands.

Once a laggard

Before that redesign, GM was a laggard in the compact crossover market. In 2008, combined sales of the Equinox and the mechanically equivalent Pontiac Torrent -- the Terrain launched a year later -- were 88,072 units, far behind the Honda CR-V (197,279), Escape (156,544) and RAV4 (137,020). Through the first eight months of this year, the Equinox and Terrain combined for 238,673 units, ahead of the CR-V (217,293) and Escape (208,444).

Chevy marketing director Steve Majoros credits the Equinox's all-around appeal. Fuel economy remains near the top of the segment. The Equinox and Terrain performed best among nine comparable models on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's small-overlap front-crash test this spring. J.D. Power in June rated it the top compact crossover for initial quality.

"Customers in this segment expect you to deliver across a number of attributes," Majoros says. "We've been able to add incremental improvements to lead in some areas and stay competitive on all fronts."

In an unusual move for a long-in-the-tooth model, Chevy recently began plugging the Equinox in national advertising. A spot that ran frequently during the Winter Olympics featured its Siri voice-recognition system. Commercials in coming months will tout new features, such as the 4G LTE high-speed Internet function that's being rolled out across GM's lineup, as well as older ones peculiar to the Equinox, including rear seats that slide back 8 inches for more legroom.

"We're making enough preplanned changes to keep our story out there and keep customers coming back," Majoros says.

Still, GM's market share in the compact crossover segment has slipped in recent years amid redesigns of the Escape, RAV4 and Rogue. Combined market share for GM's crossovers through August was 15.3 percent, down from 16.7 percent last year and 19.1 percent in 2012, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

"We do forecast sales to slide slowly over the next two years" before the crossovers are redesigned, IHS Automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley says.

That raises the stakes for when GM finally does introduce the third generation. It is expected to move the crossovers to a new platform that also will underpin the next generations of the Chevy Cruze and Buick Verano. That should shrink the Equinox and Terrain footprint a bit, allowing GM to cut weight and improve fuel economy.

The challenge then will be to offer an interior package that will please customers who have come to expect an Equinox to be roomier than competing vehicles, Sullivan says.

Majoros wouldn't discuss plans for future Equinox models. He hinted that Chevy is busy with other growth drivers now, including the new Trax small crossover that is expected to roll out late this year.

"I think the market will dictate when the Equinox has had its run," he said. "I don't think the market is saying that now."