Sources who claim to know have told U.S. Automotive News that GM plans to add a new Chevy crossover above the compact Equinox and below the full-size Traverse. The plan requires the popular Equinox to get a little smaller in 2017. The move is said by automotive wonks to follow the trend of mainstream brands of finding inventive ways to fit more flavors of crossovers into their showrooms. The coming Chevy model will be inserted in the middle of the lineup, as a grande plus. And it will require GM to make some adjustments. Step one will be to downsize the Equinox. It will shrink a bit when the next generation appears, shifting to the same global compact platform that will underpin the redesigned Chevy Cruze and Opel Astra cars, due out early next year. That creates more room for the new three-row crossover to slide in between the Equinox and the Traverse, which also is scheduled for a redesign, in mid-2017. The new vehicle will be a short-wheelbase version of the Traverse, the sources say.
