Chevy reveals Holden's new CX-5 rival

You're looking at the replacement for Holden's discontinued Captiva 5, and it will arrive Down Under as the company's first direct competitor for Mazda's new CX-5, the Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen's new Tiguan in the second half of next year.

Earlier this month Holden announced the GMC Acadia will replace its large seven-seat Captiva 7, following the release of the facelifted, renamed Trailblazer next month and the facelifted Trax small SUV in January.

Now Chevrolet has revealed a completely redesigned Equinox for North America, providing our first look at the all-new mid-size SUV that will sit between the Trax and Acadia crossovers (and the Trailblazer 4x4).

Set for US release in the first quarter of next year, Holden has now confirmed the Equinox will be released as a Holden in Australia in the second half of 2017.

Like the 2016 Trailblazer and 2018 Acadia, which replace the Colorado 7 and Captiva 7 respectively, the 2017 Equinox will also get a new name, in this case eschewing the unloved Captiva name.

"Holden confirms the all-new Equinox SUV will join its line-up in 2017. This world-class SUV is the next step in Holden's commitment to launching 24 new vehicles by 2020," said GM Holden communications director Sean Poppitt in a statement.

"Alongside the new Trax, Trailblazer and upcoming Acadia, Equinox means Holden will have four new SUVs within two years as the company continues its transformation and building for a bright and sustainable long-term future."

Shorter and lighter than the Equinox it replaces, General Motors says the new model will be 400 pounds (about 180kg, or 10 per cent) lighter and around 100mm shorter than before, yet a square metre larger inside.

Its 2857mm wheelbase is significantly longer than that of both the discontinued Captiva and the Captiva 7 (now called Cativa), both of which ride on a 2707mm wheelbase, whel length is up slightly, from the current Captiva's 4637mm to 4652mm.

GM says the five-seat mid-sizer offers 846 litres of cargo space behind the rear seats, extending to a sizeable 1798 litres in total. Kerb weights start at 1509kg for the entry-level front-wheel drive model.

The new Equinox will also be the first compact GM crossover offered with a diesel engine in North America, allowing it to be sold in 115 markets outside the US, said GM. It will also be the first Chevy sold in the US with an all-turbo engine line-up.

Powertrain choices (at least in the US) will include 127kW 1.5- and 188kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines matched with GM's all-new 9T50 nine-speed automatic transmission, and a 101kW/320Nm 1.6-litre turbo-diesel – available in both front- and all-wheel drive configuration.

New safety features will include surround vision, forward-collision alert with following-distance indicator; low-speed forward automatic braking, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, lane-change alert with side blind-zone alert and rear cross-traffic alert.

In addition, there will be either a 7.0- or 8.0-inch MyLink infotainment system that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, plus fold-flat rear seats, a 10 per cent tighter turning radius and a part-time all-wheel drive system.

The current Equinox is GM's second most popular model after the Silverado pick-up in the US, where the current SUV has found about 1.5 million homes since 2009.

“It is an all-new SUV from the ground up and one that takes on the industry’s biggest competitors with a stronger architecture, greater efficiency and more technology,” said 2018 Equinox chief engineer Rick Spina.