European Patent Filing Reveals Possible Chevrolet-Badged Buick Encore / Opel Mokka Crossover

A few days ago, the European patent office published a General Motors filing for a small, Chevrolet-badged version of the Opel Mokka née Buick Encore crossover. It doesn't definitively reveal Chevy's intention to sell its own version of the Buick Encore here in the States or abroad, but the brand certainly has room in its lineup for a small crossover this size. The renderings in the patent filing show a small SUV with nearly identical proportions to the Buick and Opel twins. Besides the bow-tie badges front and rear, it looks like the stylists worked overtime with their straight-edge tools. Where the Opel and Buick are curvy, this Chevy version is hard-edged. It wears Chevy's latest corporate grille and face, and features a kickup over the rear fender like that on the 2013 Malibu sedan. Chevrolet's U.S. crossover lineup currently begins with the large-ish Equinox and moves up to the three-row Traverse, leaving a nice hole at the bottom for a smaller offering. Such a model wouldn't overlap with the other Chevys in the way that, say, the new body-on-frame TrailBlazer would, which is precisely why the new 'Blazer isn't coming to our shores. It's possible that the crossover is destined only for South American and European markets, however. In Europe, Opel is to Chevy what Buick is to Chevy here in the U.S.; the German brand is positioned as a slightly more premium offering, and so the bow tie has room to sell its own less-expensive version of the Mokka. As for what the small Chevy crossover would be called, the patent filing didn't include a name. But it's worth noting that a quick search of European trademark filings include an application last year by Chevrolet for the "Tracker" nameplate. The trademark was granted and is good through 2020. You may recall Chevrolet sold a small SUV by the same name here in the U.S. from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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