2015 Chevrolet Trax Preview: 2014 New York Auto Show

When the Chevrolet Trax launched over a year ago on the global market – including Canada – we were told that Americans weren’t interested enough in subcompact crossovers to warrant a version for the homeland.  What a difference 12 months can make, as here we are in New York with the 2015 Chevrolet Trax, ready and rarin’ to slip into dealers across the United States.  This pint-size people mover is riding on a wave of perceived support for small SUVs that GM has already hung ten off of through the premium segment with the Trax’s cousin, the Buick Encore.

New 2015 Chevrolet Trax: What’s New

Ostensibly, the 2015 Chevrolet Trax is an all-new vehicle.  For practical purposes, the Trax is identical to its Buick Encore platform-mate, albeit with a lower standard of comfort gear.  This means you get a reasonable amount of cargo space and enough rear seat room to handle the kids – think of it as a bridge between a hatchback and a compact crossover like the much-larger Chevrolet Equinox.  Under the hood there’s a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that’s good for 138 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque, with a standard six-seed automatic transmission transmitting that output to either the front or all four wheels (if optional all-wheel drive is selected).  Fuel mileage works out to 26-mpg city and 34-mpg highway, and you can also get the Trax with Chevrolet’s excellent MyLink touchscreen and mobile phone interface installed.

New 2015 Chevrolet Trax: What Autobytel Thinks

The Buick Encore is doing really well, so there’s reason to think that the 2015 Chevrolet Trax could follow in its footsteps.  In neighboring Canada, which is much more gung-ho about small vehicles, the Trax does roughly 1/3 the volume of the popular Equinox.   Anything close to a quarter of American Equinox sales would be a huge win for Trax, a vehicle that we’ve already driven, and liked.  It’s a wagon substitute that doesn’t exact an efficiency penalty, and there’s just enough room inside this crossover to keep it useful for a healthy range of potential buyers.