The future is formidable: A review of the history of the three generations of Chevrolet Equinox

As for the origin of Equinox’s name, Chevrolet designers explained it this way at a media communication conference: “Equinox in English refers to the spring and autumn equinoxes when day and night are equally divided, symbolizing the balance of nature, and at the same time connoting breakthrough and The power to change the status quo." As for the Chinese name Explorer, it means exploring various possibilities without boundaries and constraints.

When it comes to off-road vehicles or SUVs, we naturally think of brands such as Land Rover and Jeep. After all, their brand attributes are too strong. In fact, Chevrolet is the originator of contemporary SUV models. 82 years ago, Chevrolet already knew why humans needed an SUV, so it launched the Suburban to usher in the first year of SUVs. And if you are a fan of American dramas, you can find Chevrolet SUVs in dramas from different eras. Chevrolet SUVs have completely become a part of American culture. The Equinox we are introducing today is a relatively young member of the Chevrolet SUV family. It was born in 2005 and has only three generations of models so far. However, it has created a sales myth of more than 2 million units in the North American market. I have to say The future life is to be feared.

Speaking of Explorer, we have to mention its "predecessor" Tracker. Compared with other Chevrolet models, you may be relatively unfamiliar with Tracker. This model, jointly developed by General Motors and Suzuki, was first launched in 1989 and is mainly sold in the United States, Canada, Japan, Argentina, Ecuador and other countries. Since the second-generation model launched in 1999, Tracker has never been able to win the favor of rural and off-road users in the North American market because its gears are easily damaged and repair costs are relatively high. Finally, Tracker stopped production in the North American market in January 2004, but you can still see Tracker in South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador.

Compared with the predecessor Tracker, the Explorer's body size has been completely enlarged, with length, width and height of 4796/1814/1760mm respectively, and the wheelbase has reached 2857mm. According to current standards, it can be classified as a mid-size SUV. Obviously, Chevrolet learned its lesson. If it wanted to get orders in the North American market at that time, it had to give customers "big" satisfaction.

Although the body size of the Equinox has reached the level of a mid-sized SUV, Chevrolet has targeted its competitors at compact SUVs such as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 to achieve misaligned competition. Fortunately, the performance of the Equinox did not disappoint Chevrolet, with 84,024 units sold in the first year of its launch. By 2005, its sales had almost doubled to 130,542 units. Of course, this is just the beginning, and the sales myth of Explorer continues.

The Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is equipped with General Motors' fourth-generation hydrogen fuel cell technology and is a full-featured vehicle with "zero fuel consumption and zero pollution". It emits no tailpipe, the only emission is water. As a VIP car for the Shanghai World Expo, the Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel cell vehicle demonstrated the advantages of hydrogen fuel cell technology to people from all walks of life including the government, automobile industry, and academia. This is believed to be the first time that most Chinese people have come into contact with this vehicle called "Equinox" car model.

As early as the end of December 2008, General Motors couldn't wait to announce to the outside world that the new generation of Equinox was coming and would be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2009. The second-generation Explorer is still based on the Theta platform, but its new appearance, interior design and power system make people full of expectations for it.

The biggest highlight of this generation of models is the power system. The low-end models are equipped with a 2.4-liter direct injection engine. According to official data, the new engine is 25% improved compared to the old model. This engine is an inline four-cylinder with a maximum power of 182 horsepower. In addition, it also offers a 3.0-liter V6 engine. Both engines are matched with a 6-speed automatic transmission, and the entire power system has better fuel economy performance than the previous generation model. The arrival of the new generation model once again detonated the American SUV market at that time. Nearly 150,000 units were sold in the first year of its launch, ushering in the true era of "Equinox". In the following years, the Equinox's annual sales exceeded 200,000 units, making it one of Chevrolet's most dazzling star models. Its sales volume is second only to Cruze and pickup truck Silverado. Its excellent performance also ensures Chevrolet's popularity in North America. Its position as the number one SUV in the market remains unshakable.

In the next few years, the Explorer has been upgraded to varying degrees. Like regular facelift adjustments, it mainly involves minor appearance changes and configuration upgrades. Including the 2015 model adds OnStar with 4G LTE, built-in Wi-Fi hotspot, standard navigation on low-end models, and then adds new body colors, etc. Although the changes are not big, they have a good effect in keeping the market hot.

In September 2016, Chevrolet officially released the third-generation Equinox, which is also the generation model that attracts the most attention. In overseas markets, Explorer offers a variety of power options, including 1.5T/2.0T gasoline engines and 1.6T diesel engines. Of course, in China, it is naturally the 1.5T/2.0T gasoline engine. The maximum power of these two gasoline engines is 172 horsepower and 256 horsepower respectively. As a medium-sized SUV, its most direct rivals should be medium-sized SUVs of the same level as the Envision and Chrysanthemum. But if you look carefully, its starting price is obviously lower than the above two models. Therefore, it can be found that it seems to want to adopt the "dislocation competition" strategy of the first-generation model again, under the banner of "medium-sized SUV", and actually focus on the joint venture compact SUV market. In the lower-level compact SUV market, the Equinox has obvious advantages in terms of space and power system, and is more outstanding in terms of cost performance. It can be said that the arrival of the Equinox has injected a shot in the arm into the sluggish Chevrolet. But as a latecomer, Explorer needs to be more steady. Let us look forward to its performance together.