Truck Thursday: GM Spending "Several Hundred Million" On Full-Size Truck Update

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

According to our data, the full-size pickup segment declined by 29.4 percent last year. Of all full-sized pickups, the Chevy Silverado lost the most volume, dropping 32 percent and an eye-popping 148,521 units compared to 2008. GMC Sierra dropped 33.6 percent, or about 56k units. Overall, GM shed half a million pickup sales last year, as its total truck sales fell to 1.2 million. When you’re losing that kind of volume in a shrinking segment, you know it’s time for a hold-em-or-fold-em moment. According to the Detroit News, GM is doubling down on its full-sized truck ambitions, allocating “several hundred million” of your tax dollars towards a re-working of the GMT 900-based trucks.

A GM spokesman explains:

We’re not saying trucks are more important than small cars. In every segment we compete, we now have the money and resources to build the world’s best vehicles,

The main impetus for the move seems to be meeting fuel efficiency standards (24 mpg average for 2011 model light trucks) as much as addressing the hemorrhaging sales. Though new exteriors, interiors and aerodynamics are being promised, the new models won’t arrive for two or three years, which means GM’s trucks woes could drag on for some time.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Rocketrodeo Rocketrodeo on Jan 14, 2010

    See, I didn't even know someone offered a heated steering wheel. For the he past few weeks I'd have been more interested in that than a mpg or two better. GM does an excellent job of highlighting their competitors' features.

    • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Jun 11, 2010

      I worked on cars and stuff for many years, and as a bouncer for several, and was in many fights, and my hands hurt all the time, but especially when cold, and no, gloves don't help all that much, even ridiculously expensive ones that are so hot that as soon as the heat starts blowing on the wheel/my hands, I have to take them off. A heated wheel would be up there on my list of gadgets I would have no problem paying extra to get. I even got this dopey heat pad thing that runs off 12V to see if that would work out, but it didn't do a good job, and it failed soon anyway. I don't care about Ipod interfaces or navigation (Always overpriced, and often awkward to use, my phone is better than a few I've played with recently), or the self parking thing, even though I admittedly stink at parallel parking, since I do it about two times a year, at most. But a hundred or so for a heated wheel, I'm there. My friend and his wife just got a Ford Edge (Not his choice) with an amazing number of semi-useless gadgets, and I can just picture the thing in it's older years, with most of them not working any more. The Sync thing seems to have a lot of trouble understanding him, he has an odd voice and it just doesn't like it.

  • 26theone 26theone on Jan 14, 2010

    Hey its the top selling vehicle in the United States by a wide margin. I would say any efforts to improve it are a good idea.

  • Dave M. Dave M. on Jan 14, 2010
    Funny though…in their current ford, the Silverado already beats the F-150 (but that’s not that hard really)… Well, except in sales, where apparently it counts most. The Chevy doesn't do anything for me, but the GMC is pretty nice looking. I'm sure they're going to "Equator" it to hell....
  • Jkross22 Jkross22 on Jan 15, 2010

    Whew! For a second there, I thought GM was squandering taxpayer dollars on chasing a shrinking segment and one with more competitors meaning less profit per unit.

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