Anna Kretz, the GM vehicle line executive, said Tuesday the new 2009 Chevrolet Traverse is not a replacement for the Chevrolet Trailblazer sport utility vehicle, which is being phased out in the face of declining sales and rising gasoline prices.

While it has some of the attributes of the Trailblazer, the Traverse is a crossover, not an SUV, she emphasized.

"You wouldn't take it off-road," she said.

However, it still has some of the same capabilities, which makes it ideal for families and others needing space for passengers and cargo that can't be found in smaller vehicles.

Don Butler, Chevrolet's executive director of truck marketing, said for a vehicle of the Traverse's size and capability, the fuel economy is excellent.

"This is absolutely the right product at the right time," said Butler, noting the Traverse is equipped with a 3.6-liter, direct injection V-6 engine that will get 17 miles per gallon in city driving and 24 mpg on the highway.

GM officials, however, declined to say whether they were prepared to equip the Traverse with a hybrid system or a diesel engine, which could make the vehicle even more fuel efficient.

However, they did stress the vehicle was every bit as good or better in many respects than the Toyota Highlander, which has been a leader in the crossover segment.

Steve Bartolone, Chevrolet's director of truck products, said light-duty trucks are going to be an integral part of the U.S. car fleet for years to come.

"A certain number of people need to drive trucks," he said.

GM's truck production came under scrutiny last week after the company announced it was making new cuts in truck production and adding incentives to help move the company's inventory of unsold pickup trucks and SUVs.

Bartolone said GM is offering zero percent financing for 72 months or rebates of up to $9,000 to help move the truck inventory for the next week. However, analysts expect GM to continue to offer incentives on its trucks and SUVs.

"Following Ford's lead, GM has again come back to the table with additional and much-needed production cuts for its mid- and full-size trucks. GM's outlook had been based on a second-half recovery and this latest admission indicates it no longer expects such a turnaround," said Joe Langley, an analyst with CSM Worldwide in Northville.

"Amid soaring fuel prices, demand for GM's large trucks plummeted with inventory levels ballooning and in need of corrective action. While GM has already identified several truck plants for closure, such as Janesville, Moraine and Oshawa Truck, all three are in danger of being targeted for earlier-thanstated closure dates," Langley said.

CSM's current forecast advanced the closure of Janesville and Moraine by one year to mid-2009 with Oshawa Truck following by the end of the third quarter of 2009.

Langley said GM plans to reduce pickup and SUV production by 170,000 units in the second half of 2008 compared to a year ago, while also adding 47,000 units of car, crossover and van output.

"While GM is addressing product and capacity issues, they continue to be a day late and a dollar short, a perennial issue with the company. An array of new cars and crossovers is in the pipeline, but these are desperately needed now. In the meantime, competitors, chiefly Japanese and Korean manufacturers, are wellpositioned to take advantage of today's opportunities with their diverse product portfolios," he said.

Laurie Harbour Felax, president of the Harbour-Felax Group, said while the cuts of truck production will hurt both GM and Ford, it's probably premature to start talking about bankruptcy for both companies like some Wall Street analysts have done.

The overseas operations of both companies are doing well and both companies have been through extensive restructuring, she said.

"If (Americans) really want fuel-efficient vehicles, they can also leverage a lot of their global platforms," Harbour-Felax said.

"It really comes down to how well they execute their business plans," she said.

Contact Joseph Szczesny at (248) 745-4650 or joe.szczesny@oakpress.com.

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2009 Chevrolet Traverse   (AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE)

By Evan McCausland

GM's marketing staff insists the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse is a "no-compromise" vehicle - but we beg to differ. That, however, is a compliment - with the seating capacity of a minivan, towing capacity of a mid-size SUV and the ride prowess of a large car, the Traverse may well be the ideal compromise for customers accustomed to large SUVs.

That may bode well for Chevy dealers. Not only does the Traverse loosely fit into the holes left by the departed Uplander minivan and Trailblazer SUV (finished after a brief '09 run), the capabilities - and better fuel economy - of the new crossover may help it attract customers who normally would shop for Tahoes and Suburbans.

Like the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook, the Traverse rides upon GM's Lambda platform. Although GM engineers note the Chevy crossover shares more body structure with the Enclave than the Acadia or Outlook, the Traverse sports a considerable amount of unique sheetmetal.

In fact, the only Enclave-like cues are seen on the Traverse's chiseled quarter windows, fender kink and boat-tail hatch; even these subtly differ from those on its Buick sibling. Rear fenders rise upwards with a distinct coke-bottle shape; tail lamps sport Chevy's trademark dual round lamps (albeit set in chiseled surrounds) and, thanks to a lower license plate mount, a unique tailgate.

Up front, designers attempted to cop cues from the successful Malibu sedan as much as possible. Sure, the elongated headlamps evoke memories of the ungainly Uplander, but other cues - notably the smooth integration of the split-bar grille - tie the Traverse to Chevy's current design language. Panel gaps seem to be consistent (even on the pre-production vehicles we drove) and remarkably tight; GM claims gaps on the Traverse clock in at a scant 3.5 mm - reportedly equal to or better than most Lexus offerings.

The Malibu influence continues within, evident with a "dual-cockpit" dashboard that's an oversized clone of that found in the sedan. Materials are on par with those of other recent GM products (think Malibu), and while they may be a bit hard to the touch, their overall feel is solid. Our vehicles were all pre-production testers, meaning a few gaps - especially a large chasm between the dashboard and the front passenger's door panel - are reportedly being improved before production.

As with the other Lambda crossovers, seating for eight across three rows is standard on the Traverse; bucket seats in the second row are optional on LT and LTZ trims, along with a second-row center console. Those buckets may seem a bit narrow upon entry, but actually provide a decent amount of comfort - even for adults.

Mechanically, the biggest change with the Traverse currently lurks underhood, where a 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6 - essentially the same motor found in Cadillac's CTS - lies coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission. Like the other Lambdas, the Traverse is set up primarily for a front-wheel-drive configuration (approximately 65 percent of the model mix); all-wheel-drive is optional.

In Lambda-spec, the direct-injection V-6 produces 281 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque in LS and LT forms; LTZ models - breathing via a dual exhaust system - yield 288 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. That's better than the older 3.6-liter V-6 found in the 2008 Acadia, Enclave, and Outlook, which managed to deliver 275 hp and 251 lb-ft of torque. Yes, those figures are down from the 304 hp and 273 lb-ft in the CTS, as a result, we're told, of a restrictive airbox and a longer exhaust.

Compared to older Lambdas, we found the new motor adds a bit more power and torque to the Traverse's launch, but we were more impressed with the revised calibration of the six-speed. No longer does the gearbox seem to hunt around under acceleration; rather, it quickly - and smoothly - downshifts to move you around. Even when towing - a possibility, given the 5200-lb trailer capacity - the transaxle doesn't seem to jump around too sporadically.

Although the suspension was specifically tuned to deal with the Traverse's mass and rolling stock, the ride isn't completely dissimilar to that of GM's other Lambdas. There's perhaps a little less float compared to the Enclave, but the Traverse drives like any of the other GM crossovers. That's not a bad thing, given it soaks up broken surfaces fairly well and manages to have sharp turn in - at least for a large utility. We did note a bit of wind noise at 70 mph - more so than in the deathly-silent Toyota Highlander, per se - but overall, the Traverse remains calm and collected in everyday driving.

One area buyers may have to compromise is in terms of fuel economy. Even with the Traverse sporting a sleek exterior (it has a drag coefficient of 0.33) and the direct-injection motor, it still weighs in at just under 5000 lbs, prompting mileage to take a bit of a hit.. The front-wheel-drive Traverse is rated for 17/24 city/highway mpg. Although that's thirsty, it's slightly better than the 16/24 offered by the similar 2009 Ford Flex - and it's certainly an improvement over a full-size SUV.

We're told pricing - and content levels - should be close to that of the Outlook (somewhere in the low $30k range) when the Traverse hits showrooms this fall. Given the nearly identical pricing, specifications and drive qualities to the other Lambdas, we'd expect buyers to cross-shop among the four by means of style - again, so they don't have to compromise.

JALOPNIK:  2009 Chevy Traverse, First Drive

So this crossover thing? Yeah, it's starting to get a little out-of-hand. What we have here is the 2009 Chevy Traverse. If you want to use the promotional literature, it's an 8-passenger crossover vehicle. If you use your eyes, it's a minivan with big wheels and no sliding side doors. Thus the stage is set for that epic automotive battle: Marketing vs. reality.

Chevy's rationale makes sense: Soccer moms across the country are about to turn in their leased Trailblazers and Yukons. They've seen budgets battered by gas prices, but they still have to have something that can tote the brood around. With 7 or 8 passenger seating, a tall ride height, generous cargo room, and a fairly low load floor, the Traverse attempts to give them a reason to drive back out of the Chevy dealership in something new — something new that isn't a minivan. Chevy needs the Traverse pretty badly, considering they don't have squat between Malibu and Trailblazer.

Although Traverse sits on the same Lambda platform upon which the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave ride, and it's arguably the least successful styling exercise of the four, perhaps due to the fact Chevy wasn't initially slated to get a Lambda vehicle — it looks hurried. The exterior stylists described their goal as creating a crossover with broad, global appeal. Translated, that means, "we tried to please everyone." As is typically the case when you set out to offend no one, you end up exciting no one. That's definitely the case here. Traverse looks as long as a school bus, and the front end comes off as heavy, with a cow-catcher sized air dam begging to scrape the nearest curb..

Inside, Traverse mimics Chevy's successful Malibu with a sweeping dual-cove theme for the dash and materials featuring good texture and a solid feel. Available SmartSlide seating for the middle row causes the captain's chairs to glide forward with the pull of a lever, allowing good access to the surprisingly comfortable third row seats. But the lack of a sliding side door means piling tweeners in and out without bashing into the cars beside you will never be as easy as it is with a van.

On the road course GM set out for us, Traverse displays the good manners we've come to expect from the Lambda platform. It has decent acceleration for its size, good isolation from road, wind, and engine noise, and corners pretty flatly give the size and weight. The stability control system does an admirable job of avoiding cones in wet and dry conditions, and it handles Michigan-style bumps and potholes with aplomb. But, since GM is touting the Chevy's towing ability (5,800 lbs.), it was surprising to feel how much the Traverse was affected while pulling a 4,000-lb boat/trailer combo. The tail felt unstable at moderate speeds, and there was never any doubt about the chunk of weight on the aft end.

So where does this leave the Chevy Traverse? Chances are it'll sell well, considering there are still folks out there who won't drive anything but a Chevy, and the fact the Traverse is light-years better than the Uplander and Trailblazer. Chevy's pricing is going to be key: If it's in the same ballpark as the Outlook, we'd guess GM aficionados will be rethinking Saturn or upgrading to an Acadia. Most of the other buyers will be across town scoping out the Ford Flex.