For the 2009 model year General Motors plans to replace the current Pontiac Torrent with a smaller crossover GMC called the Terrain.

The plan is being designed to reinforce the Buick-Pontiac-GMC channel of brands. The focus of the Pontiac line is performance cars with GMC concentrating on crossovers and trucks.

The Theta architecture currently underlying the Equinox and Torrent will be taken to a third generation iteration and used for the Terrain as well.

In the Terrain drivers can expect a vehicle with a bolder physical statement than the existing Equinox line and a starting MSRP with shipping of approximately $22,995.

The Terrain will be built in Ingersol, Ontario at the CAMI Automotive Inc., plant, a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corp. and the plant that currently builds the Equinox, Torrent, and Suzuki XL-7 SUV.

Speaking to Automotive News Mike Bowsher, a dealer who is a partner in the Kennesaw, GA Carl Black Automotive Group said, "The Terrain will add an opportunity for GMC dealers to win some business in a market that we're not in right now.

Dealers had a first look at the Terrain approximately eight months ago and described its size along the lines of the Jeep Liberty.