GM introduced its new heavy-duty truck line-up, including the Chevy Silverado 2500, at the Texas State Fair.
The Texas-sized shoot out over what heavy-duty truck is the best continued as General Motors showed off its 2015 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra Denali HD in time for the official opening to the Texas State Fair.
Ford previewed its 2015 King Ranch edition F-450 and a new 6.7-liter V8 Power Stroke turbocharged diesel at the Texas State Fair earlier this week.
Mark Reuss, president of the GM North America, said GM’s heavy-duty pickup trucks will be the best all round combination of horsepower, fuel efficiency, quality and capability when they go on sale during the first quarter of 2014.
The 2015 Sierra 2500 features an all-new exterior designed to reduce wind noise and enhance powertrain cooling for more consistent performance.
The 2015 Silverado HD and Sierra HD full-size pickups, featuring segment-leading capabilities across the range including the highest payload – 7,374 pounds – and the highest conventional trailering rating – 19,600 pounds, he added.
Jeff Luke, GM’s chief engineer for trucks, said the all-new exterior sheet metal separates the two brands while communicating the HD trucks’ inherent strength and capability with their bold appearance.
As with the full-size Silverado and Sierra, the exterior changes enhance aerodynamics resulting improved fuel efficiency and reduced wind noise, Luke said. The change also improves cooling for more consistent power under tough conditions.
The enhanced cooling airflow enables the Duramax turbo diesel and 6.0-liter gas engine to better maintain full power, even under heavy loads and high ambient temperatures, Luke said.
The heavy-duty segment, which is dominated completely by GM, Ford and Chrysler, now accounts for one in every four pickup trucks sold in the U.S. The trucks are used extensively in construction, mining, farming and ranching where their towing capability and payload capacity is widely used.
The 2015 Sierra Denali HD features an all-new interior with new levels of connectivity.
“These are tools,” Luke said. “We all have favorite tools to help us get the job done and using our favorite tool makes the job easier.”
However, the market for heavy-duty trucks has expanded well beyond “work” use in recent years. Many truck buyers use them to tow horse trailers, snowmobiles, boats and trailers. Thus the new heavy-duty models from GM, including the Chevrolet 2500HD and 3500HD models, and the Sierra Denali HD, will include a full-list of comfort and convenience features as luxurious cabins with Bluetooth and the latest connectivity and entertainment features.
(Ford rolls out 2015 Ford King Ranch F-450, Power Stroke engine. For more, Click Here.)
The additional functional features for the 2015 Silverado and Sierra HDs include the CornerStep rear bumper, EZ Lift and Lower tailgate, standard upper tie-downs and other features that make cargo handling easier, Luke said.
Luke added StabiliTrak with trailer sway control is standard on all models, including the 3500HD “dually.” Additionally integrated cruise control, auto grade braking and diesel exhaust braking (diesel models), for greater driving control and reduced brake wear on grades is also optional.
(Click Here to read about the momentum of GM’s new truck offensive.)
Luke also said GM is also offering the new driver-assistance features, such as a driver alert system and lane departure warning on the new heavy-duty models, which GM plans to build in Flint, Mich. and Fort Wayne, Ind.
In America you can make all of the unsunstantiated advertising claims that you want until the FTC receives enough complaints to justify an investigation. Then the advertiser must prove they can back up the claims. If they can’t then they get some token fine and all is forgotten.
A perfect example – and their are MANY… STP oil treatment for years made unsubstantiated performance claims from what is basically a VI, viscosity index increaser, readily available to all in the petroleum industry. When they were convicted for making unsubstantiated claims after YEARS of advertising, they paid a small fine in comparison to the hundreds of millions in sales and consumers never knew anything about the conviction.
That’s how it works in America. It doesn’t matter if it’s wirly-gigs that go in the intake system, super wazoo sparkplugs that produce no *tangible* increase in mpg or power or a million other questionable products that reap BILLIONS in sales annually because the U.S. simply can’t monitor all of the scams. The paid liars also make sure to tie these bogus claims up in litigation for years and to eventually reach a settlement of “admitting no wrong”, but we’ll change the ad claims now that people believe the lies that have been perpetuated for years. It’s a disgrace and it nets the perps tens of millions or more annually.