As mentioned, Envoy is available in two wheelbase lengths: 113 inches for the standard Envoy, and 129 inches for the Envoy XL and Envoy XUV. In terms of overall length, the Envoy XL is 16 inches longer than the standard Envoy. It's even longer than the GMC Yukon, by 9 inches, though it's more than 4 inches narrower. One way to distinguish an Envoy XL from the standard Envoy is to look at the rear doors. The Envoy's rear doors are interrupted by the rear fenders; the Envoy XL, with its length stretched amidships, has enough space for the rear edge of the rear doors to drop straight down all the way to the rocker panels.

The Envoy models share their chassis and engines with the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Buick Rainier. Each of these three nameplates boasts unique styling, and there are feature differences as well. Envoy generally offers more features than the Chevy. And the XUV and Denali versions are GMC exclusives. And only the GMC Envoy Denali and Buick Rainier offer the V8 engine with the shorter, better-handling standard wheelbase.

Envoy has conservative, upmarket styling, yet has a masculine look that says it's ready to tackle the tough jobs. It looks more sophisticated than the TrailBlazer. Envoy's giant black grille with its big ruby-red logo says GMC in no uncertain terms. Sleek and clean are the distinct headlamps, round fog lights and pouty front bumper with a wide, slim slit at the very bottom. Strong beveled shapes extend along the clean sides and around the wheel wells, and help make the Envoy look imposing. Envoy dispenses with the TrailBlazer's showy fender flares, by housing its standard 17-inch wheels inside hefty wheel openings that are part of its trapezoidal design theme. The rear bumper is stepped for its full length, and includes big round backup lights. From behind the wheel the Envoy seems to be raked, as you look down over the strong hood.

Like their cousins in the Yukon clan, Envoy Denalis are distinguished by their chromed honeycomb grille, body-color bumpers that reach lower to the ground, body-color mirrors, and 17-inch polished aluminum wheels. Running boards that also act as stone guards are integrated into the rocker panels.

The Envoy XUV is about an inch longer than Envoy XL, and nearly three inches taller. At first glance it resembles the XL, but take a closer look, and you'll see that the XUV's rear side windows, the windows that look into the cargo bay, wrap subtly into the roof, where they meet the tracks for the sliding roof section. The tracks themselves are integrated into the luggage rack, a clever design. The XUV also has unique, larger taillights that wrap up over the tops of the rear fenders. From the rear, the XUV looks even more raked-forward than the Envoy and Envoy XL. Still, the XL and XUV both look too long in the back end with respect to their front proportions to be truly attractive. The XUV features a unique, dual-function tailgate. The tailgate power window can be raised or lowered at the touch of a button. With the window fully lowered, the tailgate can be dropped for ease of loading and unloading. Or it can swing open to the right, allowing bumper-level access to the cargo area, though this is the wrong direction for convenient curbside loading.