Every now and then, a car company does something that makes you squint. Whether it’s the lightest of facelifts or the five generations of Viper, every so often, a first glance of a new car gives a strong sense of deja vu. This is allegedly the new 2026 GMC Terrain and man, does it ever look like a compact crossover.
Now, the GMC Terrain is a particularly boring vehicle, but bear with me on this one, for it’s still an important one. Last year, GM sold 71,857 of them, making it a pretty big deal in GMC’s lineup. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising if the new one starts popping up everywhere shortly after it goes on sale, and you might even end up with one as a rental car.
However, even if you do end up with one, you might not immediately realize that it’s an entirely new generation of the brand’s compact crossover on first sight. Why? Well, just take a look, because this is what the old GMC Terrain looks like.
Okay, now that we’re able to look it up-and-down, let’s take a gander at the new one, and you might just see what we’re on about. There’s just such a sense of deja vu to it, perhaps in part because GMC chose to launch the new one in black.
Some big things like the lighting signature, squared arches, grille proportions, and even some of the body surfacing are instantly familiar, but if you look closely, you’ll see that just about everything is different. The doors, the C-pillar treatment, the fenders, the hood line, even the dimensions. This new compact crossover is two inches wider than the old one, but I bet you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t know. We almost didn’t.
However, if the outside looks like more of the same, the big changes are on the inside, where the new GMC Terrain really looks all-new. The contentious button shifter arrangement has been replaced by an electronic stalk on the column, freeing up enough space for what looks like the screen from a Taco Bell drive-thru. This 15-inch touchscreen infotainment system comes standard on all trims, and it features a splitscreen arrangement where up to three applications can be viewed simultaneously. Currently, there’s no official word on Apple CarPlay, but a greyed-out icon in press shots suggests it’ll make it to the final product.
Granted, the 2026 GMC Terrain isn’t all-new, chiefly because it carries over the old model’s powertrain. There’s a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine under the hood making 175 horsepower and 203 lb.-ft. of torque, and it’s hitched to an eight-speed automatic transaxle that sends torque to all four wheels. Sounds like a way to leave one place and arrive at a completely different place, right? Admittedly, GM’s 1.5-liter turbo four isn’t one of the greatest engines of all time, or one of the greatest engines in its segment, but it’s definitely an engine, and it should be capable of doing engine things.
As part of rationalization with other models in GMC’s lineup, the 2025 GMC Terrain comes in three trim levels — Elevation, AT4, and Denali. Currently, all we know about the Elevation is that it gets 17-inch wheels, the 15-inch infotainment screen, and an 11-inch digital instrument cluster. However, the AT4 trim sounds more interesting.
Every manufacturer these days seems to be feeding compact crossovers some protein, and GMC seems to be drawing from its truck expertise to make the Terrain AT4 more than just mall-rated. It gets an actual metal skid plate, all-terrain tires, a mysterious and unspecified increase in ride height, actual recovery hooks, and an off-road drive mode. On paper, it has the stuff to make Subaru’s Wilderness line seem a bit meek, so this trim might be GMC’s ace in the hole.
On the other hand, GMC chose to release a rather underwhelming list of features for the Denali trim, such as heated rear seats, 19-inch wheels, and animated lighting. On the face of it, that doesn’t exactly read as premium, but we’ll wait and see what information’s released closer to the launch of the 2026 GMC Terrain in 2025. Yep, we’re waiting until a new calendar for this. However, with a vastly improved interior, the new model can’t come soon enough. If sales figures hold, more than 70,000 Americans each year will be buying what looks like it could very well be a better car. In the end, that’s all we really want, right?
(Photo credits: GMC)
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The post Huh, I Guess This Is The New GMC Terrain appeared first on The Autopian.
