General Motors Bumps Up Next Pickups, Will Feature Aluminum Panels, Downsized Engines
General Motors is advancing the launch of their next-generation pickups by 9 months, with the next-generation trucks due by 2018.
Reuters is reporting that the fairly new generation of full-size trucks will undergo a thorough redesign by 2018, with new full-size SUVs arriving in 2019.
While a new 8-speed automatic will arrive in GM’s full size trucks and SUVs for 2015, the next generation is expected to be even more radical. TTAC has previously reported that the next generation trucks will use substantial amounts of aluminum in the body panels, and a new manufacturing process is expected to reduce both cost and complexity.
The new trucks will also reportedly use a 10-speed automatic transmission (jointly developed with Ford) as well as smaller engines that feature fuel injection, turbocharging and stop-start systems. The end result is a major paradigm shift for the truck market. Consumers may still care about payload and tow ratings, but auto makers are pulling out all the stops to make sure that their trucks meet stringent CAFE rules, which kick in around 2017.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Based on the size and the shape (another brick with a grille) you'll need a Georgia overdrive to go with those 10 forward gears.
You got it!
The American truck manufacturers have lost the plot. While I appreciate the engineering that goes into aluminum trucks and modern powertrains, the small-block V8 is being casually discarded so the manufacturers can continue selling cod-pieces, rather than work trucks. Turns out men would rather own a codpiece than working vehicle, apparently. The manufacturers keep raising the bed height and hood height, then they add an extra foot of aero-molding to the lower valence, which gives these modern monstrosities the same ground-clearance as the smaller, shorter half-tons of yesteryear. We're all paying to move more frontal area through the air at higher speeds than 20 years ago. Senseless.
I will wait for the turbo 1.0 liter 3 cylinder aluminum and tin body trucks with a 25 speed automatic made by Shimano that gets 55 miles to the gallon.