With the 2012 New York International Auto Show just days away, Chevrolet has decided to give us an early look at the refreshed  2013 Traverse large crossover.
What’s most apparent here is the greater attention to detail inside and out. Compared to the outgoing model, there’s a lot more going on in the front fascia. The twin-port grille is gone in favor of a singular setup filled in by chromed bars — what Chevy says reflects the overall character of its new car lineup. The rear fascia also features an injection of styling, with a new tail lamp design bordered by black lining — a very aggressive look overall. Additionally, the license plate frame has moved to the middle of the trunk door. And with the lack of chrome in the back and the abundance of it in the front, the design strikes us as polarizing, at least in LTZ form. Though to you, fair reader, it could be seen differently.
The interior was touched up in all the right places, akin to what we saw from the 2013 GMC Acadia in Chicago. More soft-touch materials, a better finish, and seemingly higher quality appointments overall. There’s also the addition of Chevy MyLink controlled by a 6.5-inch color touch screen, and a new transmission mated to the unchanged 3.6L V6 engine producing 288 horsepower with dual exhaust.
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Comments
Why don’t they spill the beans on the Impala?
they have. Its trending on this site right now.
You had me at “new transmission”. The old design can’t make up its mind.
It doesn’t look bad at all, but it’s got this Honda Accord Crosstour thing going on that I am not a huge fan of. I think the trademark Chevy grill is second to only the BMW at the moment, so I’m a little disappointed if this is a harbinger of a move away from it.
my god this is a ugly front grill….in picture y hope is better real…
I like the way it looks, much better then current model, it’s good that they changed the grille but too bad it looks more like Honda grille.
Hate the grille otherwise very nice
Nice looking without going over the top
This looks like a step back. This looks like it should have been the first generation Traverse front, looking like a really really boring minivan. The current front fascia looks like it came after this new one. The headlights and fog lights look like GM is borrowing more stylig cues from the Saturn outlook like the did with the rear of the Acadia. I guess this new Traverse front is designed to increase Acadia sales? Because this looks really really tame. Maybe this is just the female styling generation for this vehicle, while the Acadia got masculinized. The interior looks much better with those color combos, but what else is different, MyLink? The original Traverse grille looked way better.
Focus on looks but how about changes in say Noise, ride and handling?
The looks etc are great. Much improved
The whole car Is a step up, except for the grille. I feel it should have matched the new split grille in the Sonic, Cruze, Malibu, and Equinox. At least give it the iconic horizontally split grille with the bow tie in the middle.
Oh look! It’s a Chrysler Pacifica… oh, wait. I guess that’s a Chevrolet.
That’s the same thing I thought.
wait how come there still no projector beam headlights though??
Love it overall, but I think the grill was a bad choice. I like the new projector fog lights, I think not putting in projectors for the headlights was an okay decision so to keep the price down. Did anyone else notice the only 6.5 inch touch screen is smaller than the available 7 inch in the current model?
@Hunter The current 7″ unit in the Lambdas is an old gen 2 design. These smaller screens will make the outgoing ones look like Windows 95.
To those wondering about projector beams… Pretty much no one cares about this feature in this segment. Priorities include safety, efficiency, price, in order of importance.
Thanks for all the comments but please wait to see in person and then let us know about the Grill. In person it is very nice but conservative which is what chevy is going for in its main products, Buick will go with the elegent sport luxury look hope you all like.
What seems out of place to me about the grill is the chrome (well, bright plastic). It stands out as incongruent with the rest of the car (along with the bright trim above the license plate in the rear). If the chrome was replaced with body colored trim, or maybe a combination of black surround and body colored horizontal bars, I think it would be better received. Brightwork just for brightworks sake does not reflect the styling prowess I know GM is capable of.
I also have to admit that I bristled slightly at your ‘conservative’ comment. To me the Cruze, Sonic, and Malibu do not look conservative and all are selling well.
After further contemplation, I think the removal of the three horizontal bars would improve the looks of the grill. Other automakers have done the three bar grille. Don’t follow – LEAD.
i completely agree. if they want something more sophisticated go with a modified silverado grille
Wait a minute, did I read that right, Buick is going for SPORT luxury. Damn JD, you guys are really confused over what to do with Buick even though its really obvious and simple.
By the way the grill isnt that bad, I think it will look better in person, like the ATS.
@Brian
I think the cruze and malibu are very conservative styling vise and theres absolutely nothing wrong with thar, chevys not trying to be sexy with its bread and butter products and thats good. Being conservative means appealing to a wide range of people, which chevy should be doing.
I don’t have any issue with GM trying to reach a wide range of people, and I understand that a bit of conservatism is necessary to be broadly appealing. But, when I think of conservative, The terms inflexible, stodgy, slow to change all come to my mind. The definition I find is: “disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.”
That seems to be the last thing GM needs to be doing. The 2013 Malibu and Cruze do not seem to be conservative in that sense – at least not to me. What I like about the Sonic, Cruze, Malibu and current Traverse is that they all have a somewhat aggressive look to them that shows a sense of confidence. A black rendering of the 2013 Cruze I saw looked deliciously wicked. I guess our differing opinions illustrate the challenge that automakers have. 😉
On this new Traverse, what I’m seeing that looks out of place are the three horizontal chrome strips. I think they are unneeded and only serve to soften the angular lines on the vehicle. Their slight upward curve (illusion?) is not consistent with the crisp shape of the headlights, hood and even the rear taillights. It looks dated where everything else looks more modern. The other Chevy models do not have these bars. It’s a small detail that has a disproportionate impact. Fortunately, its a detail that can easily be fixed. Close your eyes and picture it without the bars…
True, we all have different tastes, and thats a big challenge for a full line volume automaker. Its easier for Buick and Cadillac where you know what kind of design the limited amount of people want in your niche car.
I think we’d all agree that this grille is not going to get best grille ever award.
Its opinions range from bad to good, not good to excellant as say the cruzes grill does.
Interior looks like a mexican taxi cab. Ugly! Dump the two tone.
Like the old grille better. Kia Sorento, Cadillac SRX, has better looking grilles. Rear reminds me of the Buick, which is not bad. Not a bad design, but not a great design. GM needs to step it up a notch. Get more creative. What you need now days is something outstanding to draw in customers. This is not it.
wheres the dual port grille come on chevy you can’t get rid of that
Yikes… What happened… JD, people really like the current gen, the grill looked modern and flowed with the entire body, this grill looks tacked on and wierd.
Yuck it does not photograph well. Hopefully it looks better in the flesh.
After reviewing the pictures more carefully, I must say this looks very nice… Disregard previous post…
I spy a Saturn Sky…(interior is nice, very)
Looks like a Tribeca and an 06 Malibu had an ugly child. Thank you for making it look more like a minivan than the Acadia and Enclave. It’ll make it easier for those buyers to stay on the SL and SLE models than stoop down to the lower priced Traverse.
Disappointed in the new grille. While it doesn’t look cheap or ugly, it is EXTREMELY generic. It could pass as a Toyota, Honda, Nissan even a Ford or GMC. I hope they will reconsider making this the new face of Chevrolet, because it’s far too anonomous.
I agree that a brand should have dstinctive styling so that everyone knows that this a chevy and not something else, but at the same time, a mainstream brand has too blend in, it has to be acceptable by all, as a high volume brand, for the sake of its survival, it cant turn anyone off. Some may bring up Hyundai as a mainstream brand with distinctive stylying, however keep in mind that even today, hyundai is at a very low volume right now and watch, as hyundais volume and popularity grows, their designs will get more and more toned down. For cadillac, buick, and gmc, this kind of grill would be unacceptable, but for chevy, while it may not be the best, it does its job.
thats so true but i think the only thing that has to change is that grille. they could make a more toned done version by just widening the middle bar so it blendsin with the bowtie like on the new malibu thatsall in my eyes that they’d have to do
I was thinking removing the three bars all together to match the lower grill that doesn’t have them. Making one bar to cross behind the bowtie could work too. It probably would look better body colored instead of chrome as well. (i.e. a bit less flashy to appeal to more customers.)
thats true but i was sorta thinking that the body coulerd ones were a little bodacious.or they could make two thin bars that meet up with the outsides of the horizontal part of the bowtie (ala silverado).
http://www.usspeedonline.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/TX-31106-F.jpg
sorta like this only withought the billet inserts
Have you guys seen the more clever version of the enclave’s interior?
Looks like a VW.
is it just me or is the “traditional” buyers of the acadia and traverse gonna switch around or what. the new acadia looks more like its aiming at a younger mre hip crowd with it’s new ”funky” design, whereas the new traverse is more toned down and genile than the previous one??
It would seem so.
Althought the sticker prices would say otherwise and put the buyers in there respective place.
it just depends if people want the macho looking or the sleeker looking.
Biggest obvious let down… NO PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS
I mean seriously, projector headlights are the standard now. Look at Ford and Chrysler you Chevy designers!
they used to offer it on the 09 models but then stopped i don’t know why and think that they should continue offering it