It must have been hectic for engineers in GM’s truck department in Detroit over the past few years. The brand has sent several major redesigns out the door in a relatively short period of time. There was the Colorado ZR2 Bison, the new Silverado 1500 Series and the all-new medium duty Silverado Series.
Now the announcement that this coming February GM is set to officially pull the wraps off the “most capable and most advanced” Silverado HD pickup it ever built, which makes that the third “all new” version of the brand’s trucks to hit the market in just 18 months.
Read Also
Case IH, New Holland dealers to see more integration
CNH plans for “more than 15 new tractor launches, 10 combine launches, 19 crop production launches and over 30 precision technology releases between now and the end of 2027.”
“We know the needs and priorities of heavy-duty customers are different than those of either light-duty or medium-duty customers,” said Jaclyn McQuaid, chief engineer, Silverado HD. “As such, we built a heavy-duty truck tailor-made for them that has more differentiation than ever before from light-duty models, offers advanced towing technologies to improve towing confidence and includes new features such as the integrated bed step, which makes it easier to access the bed while pulling a fifth-wheel trailer.”
To help differentiate the new HD from the half-ton 1500 version, it will get a new appearance, which means everything but the cab roof was given a makeover to allow it to stand apart from its brothers.
“We set out to make a statement with the 2020 Silverado HD and wanted to visually capture the power and capability of the truck,” said Brian Izard, lead exterior designer for Silverado HD. “The result is a truck that looks like a piece of heavy machinery with modern, chiselled finishes and customer-focused details.”
The new HDs get ramped up capacities in the hauling and towing departments to make them more capable than their predecessors. And they get new powertrain options to accommodate those GVW and GCWR numbers.
Buyers can now put a choice of two new powertrains under the hood: an all-new gasoline engine with direct injection mated to a six-speed transmission, or the Duramax Turbo-Diesel V-8, which delivers 910 pound-feet of torque through an all-new, Allison 10-speed transmission.
The new Silverado HDs will be available next fall for the 2020 model year.
Who loves their pickup?
GM recently commissioned the Harris Poll group to survey over 1,000 American pickup truck owners to find out how they feel about their trucks. And it recently published some of the findings. Now while we Canadians may feel the need to separate ourselves from much of the public thinking that is currently causing upheaval south of the 49th, I suspect many of us might feel the same way they do about our trucks.
Here are some of the more interesting findings:
- 27 per cent of Americans like their trucks so much they have given them a name. The most popular one: “Betsy.”
- 38 per cent say they love their truck more than any other object they own. The same percentage said they think owning a truck made them more attractive and 37 per cent said they thought it made them more popular.
- 26 per cent say they learned to drive in a pickup.
- And lastly, nine per cent say they had their first kiss in a pickup. We better leave any more discussion along those lines right there.
