GMC Acadia

The GMC Acadia is a full-size crossover utility vehicle (CUV) from GMC. The GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Traverse, and Buick Enclave share the new GM Lambda platform. The Acadia went on sale in the United States in December 2006, and in Canada in January 2007. The Acadia replaces three of the 7- or 8-seater vehicles on the Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership network, the mid-size GMC Safari van, the GMC Envoy, and the Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan for the domestic market. As of 2009, the Lambda vehicles have replaced the Buick Rainier, Buick Rendezvous, and the Buick Terraza, and then subsequently the GMC Envoy and the Chevrolet TrailBlazer. A Denali version of the Acadia debuted in 2010 as a 2011 model. In 2016, the second generation Acadia was repositioned as a mid-size crossover utility vehicle (as a 2017 model) in order to compete within the growing mid-size CUV market against the likes of the Ford Edge and Dodge Journey.

First generation

The Acadia represents GMC's entry-level truck-like CUV and is the first unibody vehicle from the marque. It is also GMC's first front-wheel drive passenger vehicle and GMC's first crossover utility vehicle (CUV). GMC's first front wheel drive vehicle was the mid-1970s motorhome, a recreational vehicle that used derivative of the GM E platform from the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado.