General Motors will move production of its revamped GMC Terrain to Mexico from Canada and expand production of the Ontario plant's Chevrolet Equinox, reflecting the growing popularity of compact sport utility vehicles. The company currently makes both vehicles Ingersoll. The company announced that it has a lot riding on the Equinox and Terrain, which go on sale as redesigned models in the first quarter and this summer, respectively.

Small SUVs are a booming segment of the market and a big money-maker for the company, so when GM planned the new versions, it decided to increase output from one factory to three - adding the vehicles at two existing facilities in Mexico. While the move is GM's bet that more inventory will mean more new buyers, as well as a play to make more on each sale. It's also partly a response to hyper competition among automakers seeking an edge through lower production costs.

Even so, moving production of the new upscale Terrain to Mexico instead of the United States may risk testing the patience of president-elect Donald Trump, who has already has used Twitter to chastise GM and Toyota for importing low-priced compact cars from south of the border. While the companies also sell these models in emerging markets, GMC is chiefly a U.S. brand with premium SUVs that have fatter sticker prices and higher profit margins than small cars.