Chevy is going back to the bad place – their unstoppable badge engineering fetish. The 2007 GMC Acadia is a perfectly nice vehicle. It is large, spacious, stylish, and has better road manners than it’s truck based Yukon cousin. And of course Saturn has it’s own version in the Outlook, and Buick has the Enclave. Why, it’s only natural that GM would crater and make a Chevy version. Somehow, it just wouldn’t seem right if there weren’t at least 4 versions of each GM SUV / Crossover.
In fact, I’d be surprised if we don’t see a Saab clone before too much longer. And perhaps even a “high performance” Pontiac version at some point. Maybe even an ultra-luxurious Cadillac – it worked so well with the Escalade, so why not?
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NO! NO! NO! NO! NO MORE NEW MODELS! ERRR! STOP COPYING HONDA! IT LOOKS LIKE A CRV FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! GEEZ.
wtf?!?!?!?!? that is a bad picture of a saturn.
Congratulations to GM for designing a better vehicle, but it’s one Acura has been building since 2001: the MDX and Honda has been building since 2003: the Pilot. Here’s a quick comparison (source: Kelly Blue Book [kbb.com]):
2008 Acura MDX AWD MSRP: $40,910; 3.7L; 300 hp; 5-speed w/grade-logic control 15/20 mpg; seats 7.
2008 Honda Pilot AWD MSRP: $29,630; 3.5 L; 244 hp; 5-speed w/overdrive; 15/20 mpg; seats 8.
2008 GMC Acadia AWD MSRP: $32,500; 275 hp; 6-speed w/overdrive; 16/22 mpg; seats 8.
2008 Buick Enclave AWD MSRP: $35,540: 3.6L; 275 hp; 6-speed w/overdrive; 16/22 mpg; seats 8.
2008 Saturn Outlook AWD MSRP: $30,995: 3.6L; 270 hp; 6-speed w/overdrive; 16/22 mpg; seats 8.
2008 Chevy Traverse: not yet listed.
The Acura MDX is the most expensive but is also the best equipped since it’s a luxury vehicle. The Honda Pilot is the lowest priced and is rated lowest in horsepower, but the hp is more than adequate compared to, say, an AWD Buick Rendezvous rated at 185 hp. The GM triplets are close enough in price, trim, looks, etc. to put them in direct competition with each other. The Honda and Acura, like the GM triplets, are built using a similar chassis and drive train, but there is a significant difference in price and looks. I think Honda does a much better job of platform sharing than any U.S. automaker.
On the surface the current GM triplets compare very well to the Pilot/MDX, but my personal reservation would be GM quality compared to Honda/Acura quality. This is especially true based on GM’s past history of quality issues on new models when they first hit the market.
With the introduction of the Chevy Cobalt and the Malibu Maxx, I was disappointed in GM (this was the best GM could do?!!). However, with the recent introduction of the new Chevy Malibu and the above SUVs, I think GM is finally headed in the right direction.
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