Once known for the Pontiac Aztek flop, General Motors Co.'s small and midsize SUV designers have transformed the fleet from "AI-generated blobs" into the automaker's No. 2 asset.

The rise of small SUVs comes amid GM and other American automakers' retreat from the sedan market and rising Asian dominance of that sector. GM's new entry-level vehicle lineup includes Chevrolet's Trax and Equinox, the Buick Envista and GMC's Terrain — all small-to-midsize SUVs.

Global Chevrolet executive design director Phil Zak said the strategy is to pair customers with less expensive models with exterior design elements that nod to bigger best-sellers, "and then we'll get them in a Silverado as they move up the chain, or a Tahoe, as their families get larger."

"That's why it's critical to have something like that to speak to a broad range of customers," Zak said.

Chevy's gas-powered Equinox crossover and the compact Trax are GM's No. 3 and 4 top-selling models so far this year, up 22% and 32%, respectively, compared to the same time last year.

GM design heads credit the automaker's rising small and midsize SUV sales in part to a more intentional exterior design that reflects the popularity of an adventurous, rugged appearance.

Many of the redesigns hit the market at the right time: when the pandemic popularized the outdoorsy aesthetic and millennials started looking for family vehicles. Vans faded out of fashion, along with "bulbous" crossovers and midsize SUVs styled after them, Edmunds consumer insight analyst Joseph Yoon said.

"One of the things that plagued the previous Equinox and the Trax and the Traverse was that they looked like, as the kids would say, AI-generated blobs," Yoon said. Consumers likely responded to the newer "modern, bold designs" to avoid looking "like a sad dad or a sad soccer mom."

GM's small SUV lineup went from "overly conservative" to "cutting edge," iSeeCars.com analyst Karl Brauer said. Before, he said GM was "playing it safe" with styling.

“One of the weaknesses of the domestics, GM specifically, is that they tend to be more afraid of losing current buyers than they are brave enough to go out and conquest new buyers,” Yoon said. The current lineup now boasts defining lines that shape the sides and brawny-looking, truck-like grilles.

“No more dad bod,” Yoon said. “We want abs. We want lats and delts. We want all the muscles to show, and these are very distinct design decisions to make sure that vehicles have distinct, distinguishable features."

With better styling, Brauer said GM now needs to improve its drivetrains to be truly competitive in the small and midsize market.

"The compact SUV category is huge in every sense of the word: it's hugely important, huge in volume, huge in potential profits," Brauer said, "and the automakers know this."

Chevy: 'Active, rugged, adventurous'

Chevy's deep bench of small and midsize SUVs benefited the most of GM's brands from exterior overhauls, Brauer said.

Zak led the brand-wide redesign shortly after he took the helm at Chevy in 2019. The team leaned into Chevy’s reputation as a “truck brand,” he said, translating the masculinity of pickups such as the top-selling Silverado throughout the lineup and down to the compact Trax.

First released in the United States in 2015, the Trax in 2023 succeeded the subcompact Bolt EV as Chevy's entry model.

Earlier generations of Trax were known for undefined curves and an overall shape reminiscent of cartoonish toy cars. The 2025 model looks lithe, with defined wheel wells and an angular, pronounced grille.

"For what it was, it was decent," said Walt Tutak, dealer trade inventory manager at Champion Hargreaves Chevrolet in Royal Oak. "But then when they remodeled it, it's like wow. Night and day."

A “little truck DNA in a vehicle that size really scores well,” Zak said.

Greenwood Chevrolet manager Rick Sandoval said vibrant colors — such as the marina blue Trax and radiant red Equinox — attract customers to the Youngstown, Ohio-area dealership.

"The lines on it, the way they even put the taillights in the back, is well thought out," Sandoval said of the Equinox. "Whoever the design engineers that are doing this right now are just exceptional."

The Traverse went from “van-like,” as Zak said, to square-jawed and muscular. When CEO Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss questioned whether Chevy went too far with the Traverse, Zak said he answered "not at all."

“We really think this resonates, because now people are almost calling it a baby Tahoe," he said.

Zak said the Traverse is an option for buyers "that maybe would ideally like a Tahoe, but maybe for size or for cost can’t get there."

Buick: 'Sculptural, timeless, elegant, softer'

In an attempt to shed its reputation as the stereotypical grandparents' brand, Buick underwent a full-fleet redesign over the past decade. Part of its reinvention included ditching sedans for the U.S. market, instead offering small and midsize SUVs.

Buick's original small SUV offering was the 2013 Encore, a popular vehicle described by critics as adorable. The exterior design gave it the appearance of a miniaturized minivan.

"When we're designing, we're designing in a moment in time," Buick and GMC's global Executive Design Director Sharon Gauci said. "We understand the trends that are happening around us in different areas, whether it's architecture, interior design, or fashion."

Buick's latest models take cues from the 2022 Wildcat concept car, a sporty coupe inspired by the brand's 1953 concept car of the same name. The car's shape evokes muscled, mid-century modern ceramic jaguar figurines.

The Envista is the "purest interpretation" of the Wildcat and encapsulates the concept car's "sculptural beauty," Gauci said, describing current Buicks as "timeless, not trendy," even as they harken back to post-World War II's atomic-era sportscars.

Buick's design cues are aimed at drawing younger buyers to the brand, with seeming success. Envista buyers skew about 7 years younger than Buick's average, according to Buick.

"The team did go back to look forward," Gauci said.

Detroit Buick and GMC dealer Ray Laethem said the recent redesign of Buick's logo also drew younger buyers to the brand: "Buick is a radical transformation, and that's been the last three years or so."

GMC: 'Bold, commanding, purposeful, premium'

Gauci said working alongside designers across GM in the same Warren design center has helped to "separate out" each brand with a distinct identity.

GMC is "bold," "commanding," "technical" and "machine-like," Gauci said. While the brand's top-selling Sierra truck has screamed of those qualities for years, smaller SUVs lacked as much personality.

The focus to create a defined GMC family meant adding an upright grille more typical of larger trucks to the compact Terrain, which Gauci said now sports a "proud, commanding stance."

"I was never a big fan of the last generation Terrain," Laethem said. "It sold decently, but it was a little bit too plain. Now it seems that they've given it a more rugged appearance, and what I see more with GMC is that they're appealing more to that rugged, off-road look."

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