DETROIT -- GMC could use a subcompact crossover to get a piece of the action in the industry's hottest segment.
That's the view of GMC chief Duncan Aldred, who said he has lobbied General Motors leaders for a vehicle to compete with the Jeep Renegade and others.
"That segment has grown so fast," Aldred told Automotive News this month. "I keep telling everyone, 'How can General Motors' truck brand not be in the fastest-growing segment in the industry, an SUV segment?'"
Aldred, who also runs Buick, has seen firsthand the burgeoning popularity of subcompact crossovers.
The Korea-built Buick Encore's U.S. sales grew 33 percent through November and are on pace to approach 70,000 this year, following a 53 percent surge in 2014.
Aldred stopped short of saying that a subcompact crossover for GMC is in the works. But if GMC someday sells one, he wouldn't worry about showroom overlap with the Buick.
Most Buick dealerships also sell GMC.
"We've got to build world-class brands," Aldred said. "If the first thing we do is ask, 'Well, hasn't Buick got one?' Then we're constantly suppressing one brand for another."
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