The all-new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox borrows exterior design cues from other vehicles in the brand's line-up.

General Motors Co. took the wraps off the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox for the first time and revealed that it plans to offer customers a diesel engine in the next generation compact utility vehicle — one of the industry’s most coveted and competitive segments.

Alan Batey, Global Chevrolet president, said GM went all out to insure the next generation Equinox satisfies the desires of a broad swath of customers. The compact SUV segment is now the industry’s single-largest segment surpassing midsized SUVs, which was the most popular vehicle solid in the U.S for nearly three decades.

However, the ground is shifting around automakers and the compact SUV segment has become critical as automakers battle for the affections of younger buyers.

In fact, Bill Fay, Group vice president of Toyota Division, one of Chevrolet’s principal competitors, told TheDetroitBureau.com he would not be surprised if Toyota’s compact SUV, the RAV 4, became Toyota’s best-selling vehicle in U.S. as soon as next year, replacing the Camry.

Batey said the all-new 2018 Equinox, which will go on sale in the first quarter of 2017, is a fresh and modern SUV sized and designed to meet the needs of the compact SUV customer. The new Equinox contains only eight parts from the old model, is four inches shorter in length and 400 pounds lighter than the old model. It is not as tall as the old Equinox, but is wider and includes three cubic feet of additional interior volume.

The new Equinox will come with three powerplants, including a diesel expected to get 40 mpg.

“We’ve got the strongest truck business in the industry and we’ve reinvigorated our car line-up with vehicles like Cruze and Malibu XL,” said Batey. “We’re applying the same customer focus to grow our crossover/SUV business – starting with the Chevrolet Equinox.”

Equinox sales have reached nearly 2 million since its launch and it is Chevrolet’s second-best selling vehicle globally, after the Silverado.

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Today’s compact SUV customers make sure a vehicle meets all of their needs, from design, connectivity and safety perspectives. The Equinox delivers on all fronts, starting with its new design and all-new – to borrow from GM’s new vernacular – propulsion systems.

John Cafaro, executive director of global design for Chevrolet, said new Equinox’s expressive exterior has a lean, muscular skin echoing the global Chevrolet design cues and sculpted shapes seen on vehicles such as the all-new Cruze and Malibu XL. Extensive aero development in the wind tunnel influenced the sleek shape, he said.

The design features chrome trim on all models, projector-beam headlamps drawn from the Malibu are standard, along with LED daytime running lamps. At the rear, horizontal tail lamps emphasize the Equinox’s wide stance, while up level models feature LED tail lamps.

“Customers who previewed the vehicle early on had a strong emotional response to the sleek and sophisticated exterior design,” Cafaro said. “Those same themes are carried through to the interior, making the space beautifully intuitive.”

Chevrolet, however, is not recreating the station wagon or a hatchback version of the Malibu, he said. The Equinox‘s platform is not the same as Malibu and the driver’s position is higher, GM officials said.

The next-gen Equinox is shorter than its predecessor, but also wider and picks up 3 cubic feet of interior space as a result.

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For the powertrain, Chevy customers will have the opportunity to choose from three turbocharged engines, including a 1.5-liter turbo, a 2-liter turbo – matched with GM’s first nine-speed automatic transmission – and a 1.6-liter turbo-diesel. The 1.5-liter engine will get 31 miles per gallon, while the diesel with all of required after-treatment equipment is expected to achieve 40 mpg when the numbers are released.

“With three choices, customers can select an engine that offers more of the attributes that are important to them: efficiency, performance and capability,” said Dan Nicholson, vice president, Global Propulsion Systems.

“It is an all-new SUV from the ground up and one that takes on the industry’s biggest competitors with a stronger architecture, greater efficiency and more technology,” said Rick Spina, executive chief engineer, noting the Equinox offers a suite of available active safety technologies and adaptive crash-avoidance features.

Steve Majoros, director of Chevrolet marketing said the Equinox, which is now basically solid in North America, is expected to become a global vehicle. GM is ultimately targeting 115 different market markets to receive the Equinox locally.

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Batey, however, also noted that Chevrolet selected elected to reveal the 2018 Equinox on the same day as the autumnal equinox at Chicago Museum of Science and Industry to call attention to the fact that for the past five years Chevrolet has been the top brand in the Windy City, one of nation’s largest and most important new vehicle markets where trucks and SUVs been vital to Chevy’s success.