Built by General Motors, the Chevrolet Traverse is a full-size crossover SUV built on the GM Lambda platform. This is the same platform that has been used on the Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia and is also the successor to the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Chevrolet Uplander, Saturn Outlook, the Chevrolet HHR, and the Chevrolet Astro that is a passenger van.

The Traverse was originally built at General Motors Spring Hill Tennessee assembly plant during the year 2009.

By October 2008, the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse had debuted at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, thus bringing the Traverse to every Chevrolet dealer for sale.

The brand Chevrolet confirmed its program to expand the SUV lineup in July 2015, thus making the Enclave and Traverse the only large Crossover SUVs available. The sister car Acadia was shortened in size to a midsize SUV, further making the Trax and the Equinox smaller so it could compete with the Ford Flex and Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango, Volkswagen Atlas, and the Hyundai Santa Fe LWB. The second generation of Chevy Traverse is to debut in showrooms in the summer of 2017, predicting an increase in the Chevy Traverse lease deals.

The Chevy Traverse lease deals talk of a crossover or crossover utility vehicle (CUV), which is a vehicle that is built on a car platform. It further has combined in many variable degrees, mixed features of sport utility vehicles (SUV) with additional features of a passenger vehicle, like those similar to a station wagon or hatchback.

Construction typically seen in the passenger vehicles has been seen in the crossover model combining the SUV design features and the uni body construction rather than using the body on frame platform that is employed in original SUVs and light trucks.