Clearly today is SUV bandwagon day. Chevrolet has released images of its new Trax small SUV, which will share its platform with the Vauxhall Mokka.

And guess what? Chevrolet claims to have invented the SUV, with the Suburban Carryall in 1935 – despite the fact that the Suburban did not get a 4wd option until the 1950s and, anyway, the Chevrolet Trax comes from the old Daewoo operation in Korea.

Ludicrous attempts to rewrite history aside, the Trax actually looks quite interesting. It is about the size of a Skoda Yeti and there are three engines, 1.6 petrol, 1.4 petrol turbo and 1.7 diesel. The two latter engines come with the option both 4wd and automatic transmission.

The interior features a folding front passenger seat to enable long loads to be carried, and the more expensive trim levels will come with Chevrolet MyLink as standard. That is an infotainment system that aggregates content from smartphones onto a seven-inch, high resolution, full colour touch-screen display. From winter 2012/2013, MyLink will feature a navigation app which can be downloaded onto compatible smartphones. It will project the route calculated by the smartphone onto the system’s touch-screen.

That is both very clever and a sign of things to come. The car industry has come to the conclusion that an integral sat-nav system costing perhaps £750 is a bit silly on smaller cars, when all you really need to do is provide a screen and an interface to a smartphone.