GM redesigns Chevy Equinox to cash in on SUV boom

Bloomberg

General Motors Co. is trying to make up for lost time with its redesigned Chevrolet Equinox. While the largest US automakers’ competitors have pumped out new and refreshed sport utility vehicles to cash in on the booming segment, GM soldiered on with an Equinox that last underwent major changes seven years ago. Equinox deliveries slumped 13 percent in the US last year as other crossovers surged, suggesting the Detroit-based company left money on the table by leaving its best-selling SUV virtually untouched.
GM will push to make up lost ground with an Equinox that’s roomier, more fuel efficient and more lucrative for the company thanks to reduced production costs. The automaker will build the model in four plants worldwide, including two factories in Mexico, where cheap labor costs should boost the economics of an already-profitable model.
“We have goals to grow market share both for this car and for Chevy,” said Steve Majoros, director of Chevrolet marketing in the US “We know we could have sold more of these if we had more. There’s a real opportunity to grow here.”

FOUR FACILITIES
GM will be able to build about 550,000 of the Equinox and its sibling, the more upscale GMC Terrain, globally starting in 2018. The company built about 400,000 units last year from North American plants for the US, Canada, Mexico and a small number of exports to the Middle East.
The new Equinox, which will also be built in China for that market, will sell in 115 countries and serve as GM’s highest-volume SUV worldwide. GM’s global sales ambitions for
Equinox will play a role in determining if GM can pull off plans to meet
or beat last year’s record $12.5 billion in adjusted earnings before inter-
est and taxes. Rival Ford Motor Co.
by contrast has forecast a lull in its profit this year.
Along with the new Equinox and Terrain, GM will be selling all-new versions of its larger Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave SUVs this year. Those vehicles are all expected to help grow profits, GM President Dan Ammann told Bloomberg News in October.
Equinox sales fell last year because the model went stale, said Stephanie Brinley, an auto analyst at IHS Markit. The fresher model is hitting the market as global demand for SUVs grows and should keep up with the company’s increased production, she said. The Nissan Rogue, Honda CR-V and Ford Escape all outsold the Equinox by at least 60,000 units in the US last year. “GM won’t suddenly go to top two in that market, but they should be able to gain market share with Equinox,” Brinley said. Despite deliveries slowing down of late, the Equinox is still a major seller. GM moved about 242,000 of them last year in the US, behind only the Silverado pickup. It’s supplanted the Chevy Malibu sedan as GM’s family car, said Lisa Hutchinson, global marketing director for the Equinox.
That’s why the model is getting the star treatment with three North American plants. Only two other vehicles in GM’s line-up — the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups — are each made at three North American facilities.