Is "Professional Grade" going the way of "Trail Rated"? Edmunds Inside Line reports GMC is planning a Lamda-platform minivan for 2009 that will be a boxier companion to the Acadia crossover — neither of which, we'd imagine, will be able to take on a load of steel beams dropped from a crane. It's from Edmunds' supplier sources whence the story comes; they say the new model will replace the void left by the Safari's departure. But where the Safari is used just as often by plumbers and electricians as those who employ them, the new model will be mainly for familes. Is it another case of asking too much from a rough-trade brand, or a smart line-expansion strategy (i.e., making GMC into a luxury marque — in the reverse of Land Rover's transformation)? Who freaking knows anymore.
IL Insider: GMC To Add Minivan in 2009 [Edmunds]
Related:
Spy Photos: 2008 GMC Acadia [internal]