![GM planning small Gamma crossover for Chevrolet [Illustrated]](http://cdn.leftlanenews.com/photos/content/august2008/thumbnails5.0/subnox-1_62.jpg)
With fuel economy becoming such an issue, GM will soon start selling Big Wheels. Or as its been referred to internally, “Global Gamma Big Wheels.” What this “Big Wheels” program amounts to is a compact utility vehicle slotted below the Equinox in Chevy’s lineup.
Size-wise, we’re talking about a vehicle roughly in the same ballpark as a Scion xB or a Hyundai Tucson . Inside you’ll find a traditional 2-row setup with the rear seats folding flat to maximize cargo space.
Set to ride on GM’s new Global Gamma chassis, this yet unnamed Chevy ‘Ute is primarily being engineered by GMDAT. Any mention of GM’s Gamma chassis usually conjures up images of Chevy’s tiny Aveo. While it might be hard to imagine a utility vehicle on a chassis that small, this new sub-Equinox vehicle will actually be on a stretched version of GM’s new, small-car architecture.
Production of the pint-size Chevy is slated to begin sometime in the 4th quarter of 2010. We’d expect some sort of concept vehicle foretelling this vehicle as early as the coming auto show season.
It’s not clear if the project is related to the Chevy Groove or Trax concepts, but GM’s Ed Peper recently confirmed one of the two will be produced for the U.S. market on the Gamma platform. Accordingly, our artist has created a speculative illustration of a Groove-like SUV as one potential outcome.
Words by Chris Doane.
