2014 Silverado and Sierra — what I know now

In the truck business, 2007 was a lifetime ago; and that’s when we saw the last really meaningful changes to the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra half-tons.  GM loyalists had been patient and have kept the models at number 2 and number 4 in this highly competitive market segment.  (Ford’s F-150 and Ram 1500 are 1 and 3, respectively.)

Both of the other companies in the top 4 have made major changes from new engines and sheet metal, to the inclusion of contemporary electronics and highly-refined interiors.  That means, as I said before, that GM needs to hit a home run with its redesigned 2014 pickups.

While I can’t provide spy photos of the Silverado — everything I have found is copyrighted and I never violate those laws — I am giving you URL info at the end of this story that will show you what others have seen.  I can say, the trucks still have the look – make that shape, since everything is camo-ed – of GM trucks, but the details are, of course, obscured.  And, such insiders as Rick Kranz, senior product editor for Automotive News, has blogged, “…but does that mean all of GM’s upcoming pickups will be extensively re-engineered?”

He also says, …The trucks will offer better fuel economy, the result of improved aerodynamics, and 8-speed automatic transmission, less mass, engine improvements and the interior will be totally changed.”

Some auto journalists have suggested that GM may create more visual differentiation between the Silverado and Sierra, while others are speculating that the economics of these two different but similar half-tons will both continue to survive.  The questions there: will GMC devotees buy Silverados, or will they defect?   I suspect they will stay with GM if the performance, styling and trim packages at the high end of the Silverado range.  They are both pretty profitable and sometimes have have distinct dealers so what they will do long term is a big, fat question mark.

It would be unfair to mention that GM has made incremental changes since 2007.  In 2010, the heavy duty versions of the Silverado and Sierra got new chassis, suspension and steering upgrades and a reeingineered diesel engine.  On the exterior, they tweaked the grille and front fascia, and gave it a new  hood. The interior was not modified and it does look dated beside the competition, as does the interior on the half-tons. 

From what I have been able to find out, the  relaunched Colorado for the US will probably be badged as a 2015 model, but GM is being cagey about all of its upcoming truck programs so we will all have to wait and see.

I hope they won’t wait too long to give us a heads up.  Even a little bit of info will be sucked up by a marketplace dying for news about these vehicles. 

For spy photos of the 2014 Silverado, go to:

blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2012/01/spy-photos-2014-chevy, or sema.org/sema-enews/2012/18/spyshots-2014-chevrolet-silverado.  (These are from Brenda Priddy’s group who are, to my mind, the best spy photographers in the country.)

You can also use the search term: 2014 Chevy Silverado spy shots to get some other journalists thoughts on the upcoming launch product.