GM is committed to recycling. Or is it heritage? Maybe both. We bring this up because the 2013 Acadia‘s new look might not be so, well, new. Take a gander at the picture below to see what we mean.
2012 GMC Acadia
Yes, that’s the same wraparound rear glass treatment on the now-defunct Saturn Outlook (Saturn’s version of the three-row Lambda-platform SUV bit it along with the rest of the brand in 2010). It’s probably the same glass. The squared-off fenders appear to be identical, at least in the rear—the fronts have slightly different cutouts to accommodate each brand’s headlight shape. And the liftgate itself may also be shared, although things like badges, taillights, and the rear wiper differ. A GMC spokesman would neither confirm or deny our speculation. But these two images speak volumes. Or at least their allotted 2000 words.
Look, we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with this; the Acadia actually looks a good deal better than it used to, especially with the squarish fender flares and Granite-inspired nose. Reuse like this saves on development and tooling costs. It’s the same reason the Acadia shares its platform with the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse. We get that. And it’s not the first time GM has done something like this. To wit: Another Saturn SUV, the Vue, was recently rebadged as the Chevrolet Captiva for fleets. (Yes, you can rent a unicorn.) And after Pontiac died, GM’s Australian arm, Holden, repurposed some G8 noses on its SS V-Series Special Edition cars.
If we had a vote, and we most certainly do not, the G8 ST would be the next dead GM product to get a reprieve. Sorry. That one still stings.
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