SPY PICS: Opel Grandland X SUV not for Oz

Holden's sister brand Opel will export a number of its German-built vehicles to Australia for the foreseeable future – including the next-generation Commodore – but the small seven-seat crossover named the Grandland X is not one of them.

Spied undergoing cold weather testing and imagined in this CG render, the Grandland X will replace the Opel Zafira people mover, taking over as the brand's go-to seven-seat proposition in European markets.

But like the compact Crossland X (which replaces Meriva), the Grandland X will not be sold in Australia according to sources close to the German car maker.

Expected to be a budget-priced front-drive vehicle powered by small four-cylinder turbo engines – think 1.5-litre capacities – the Grandland X is based on the Peugeot 3008.

Though the new Opel seven-seat crossover will not come to Australia, Holden is plotting a big SUV resurgence Down Under and Opel will be involved, with a brand-new medium-sized luxury SUV coming in 2020.

Based on the same D2XX platform that will underpin the next Commodore, the new crossover's name is not yet known, but the vehicle will be a premium vehicle, most likely with five seats and swoopy-coupy exterior design.

It will join four other new and upcoming SUVs that will populate Holden dealerships by 2020, including the following models:

Holden Trax, February 2017 (small)
Holden Equinox, October 2017 (medium)
Holden Trailblazer, now (large)
Holden Acadia, early 2018 (large)

The new premium crossover from Opel will slot in between the Equinox and Trailblazer.

In 2016, Holden dropped to fourth spot in the Australian new car sales charts, down by 8.4 per cent to 94,308 sales. As it stands, around 25 per cent of Holden's yearly sales come from the locally-built Commodore.

Holden has committed to bringing 24 new or upgraded models to Australia between 2015 and 2020, and a rejuvenated SUV range will be a key part of its sales revival.