Chevrolet Teases 2014 Silverado Once Again
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Along with the seemingly weekly spy photography shots, Chevrolet has now for the second time released its own photo of its new breadwinner, the 2014 Silverado, as it enters its final validation phase.
So, what can we expect? Briefly, more of an evolution than a revolution in terms of overall styling, packaging, and technology. Look for a bigger cabin when the new one comes around, along with better fuel economy aided by an all-new engine lineup and improved aerodynamics. Also, expect modern amenities such as Chevy MyLink to debut in the truck to blend with the many active safety features like an ultrasonic parking and lane-keeping assist systems.
Lastly, look for the car to officially launch in late spring 2013.
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Not going to be anything special that will compete against the f 150!!
From what I see so far
Like:
Bigger Cab
6 1/2 ft bed with crew cab half ton
Plastic bedrails
Don’t Like:
Square wheel wells (it just doesnt look good)
Towing mirrors (out dated)
No rear wheel liners
Exposed frame (HD models)
I just wish GM would listen to it’s customers and go for Revolutionary instead.
Hard to tell, but I think I see a little Cheyenne Concept in the doors/side profile.
that’s a freakin huge grille there
look like the old model…nothing to be impress again ..they have a winner design and this is the terrain period..wy gm dont understand ford is coming whit a new design and y bet you gm new design be old look again..or they play a game this is not the new truck..
@Mack, are you full of shit or what?
@Lex you wish that GM listened to its customers, eh? Which customers should GM listen to, the ones that want a “revolutionary” design (how many other ways can you design a cab with a bed) or the ones who are just fine with an evolutionary styling exercise?
I’m in marketing (specifically on the consumer research side) and hear comments like yours all the time. It ticks me off to no avail that without any adequate figures, numbers, or data, you feel obliged to tell GM how to run their business even though they have conducted major studies as to what customers, non-customers, and everyone in between want in a truck.
At the end of the day, you’re just talking out your ass while GM is listening to all kinds of REAL data points and making decisions with REAL information.
Sorry about the rant, but that’s how I feel.
I bet you have been holding that one in for a while. personally i like the current model just fine and i think what they have/will do is just fine.
No I’m not teaching GM how to run their business, but I am speaking my thoughts out as what I want to see in a truck. Do you own a truck? If yes, what do you use it for? I’m a truck guy and I’ve owned quite some trucks, I also happen to use them for work and play, so I know exactly what I want to see in a truck. some people don’t care, but the ones that do, 90% of them like round wheel wells.
I like everything I see except one thing.. That front end. The front end styling on silverados have been really heavy. Too much for me. And that front spoiler is awfully close to the ground. We had one on our 07 truck till i popped it off. Idk if this is a Z71 but idk how anyone would off road with that thing inches from the ground. I’ll reserve final judgement for the unveiling. Still my favorite truck tho everything else looks great. I like the square wheel wells by the way and can’t wait to see that new gen 5 small block
I just worry that this truck won’t be progressive enough to turn the heads and minds of truck customers leaning towards the F-Series.
@ Silent Electrician – You really don’t sound at all like a marketing type person.
Marketing people look for consensus and also for dealmakers in achieving conquest customers.
In the big dollar world of the North American fullsized truck market there does have to emerge NEW THINKING – and yet design-wise they try not to lose the truck traditionalists and brand buyers which comprise a large slice of the potential market.
Chevy has showed some of it’s cards, in fact – most – in it’s square grille and boxy features which appeal to those who dislike change and believe a truck must look tough and make them feel like they’re driving a small big rig. This is old, tired thinking though, yet it works for now – even as these horribly un-aerodynamic beasts will come up against $4 – 5.00 per gallon gasoline costs.
Truly, the big inroads to be made in fullsized trucks is engineering. The tough talking truck ads during NFL games with actor’s voices all trying to out-tough-guy the other….Those old tactics just will not be able to win over buyers new to the fullsized segment. Engineering will. VIA’s V-Trux models showcase what GM and the others COULD DO…. Place a near exact copy of GM’s Voltec drivetrain setup in a fullsized pickup truck, van and SUV. Economies of scale would surely bring down cost as this is NA’s number one sales category – BY A LARGE MARGIN.
GM want to see conquest and new truck buyers? Stop the tough-guy routine and show us trucks that do not achieve 17-23 COMBINED MPG – But a totally new drivetrain that will give us VIA-type numbers at the pump – 70-90 MPG!
Also – follow RAM’s lead and show us rear suspensions that are not leaf springs that haven’t deviated much from Conestoga wagons from the Old West. Folks who work in trucks daily beg for a ride with a load and without that won’t kill your backs. Show us some engineering GM – and we’ll scrap our old trucks for new ones.
Preaching that very niche plug-in hybrid pickup trucks are the answer is not exactly overflowing with marketing expertise. Look at the current Silverado Hybrid, and how it’s been received on the market so far. It hasn’t been good.
For one, the VIA trucks aren’t even on sale yet, but it’s anticipated they will sell for $79,000. At the same time the Silverado Hybrid hovers just under $40,000, and has received little attention. Sure, it would be nice to have a PHEV/EREV offering in the Silverado lineup next to more familiar gasoline engines, but don’t expect it to happen anytime soon, especially with prices so high. Or with consumers still apprehensive to adapt to new technology.
I don’t even know why VIA motors would use the 4.3 V6 on the trucks I would want to know how come they’re not using 5.3 v8
James According to my man Mr. Bob Lutz GM dominates the Truck SUV market with a 50% market share. If mileage was important to most buyers the niche vehicles , Tacoma frontier ranger would be dominant. You don’t like the tough guy ads for trucks. Maybe Pee-wee Herman could do a commercial for the pre ass.
@Vic – Ford is claiming their EcoBoost V-6 is accounting for 43% of F-150 sales. I believe this is definitely the trend for the present and foreseeable future. Ford still handily outsells Chevy year-over-year in fullsize pickup trucks.
While I completely agree with Manoli about cost prohibitiveness of VIA’s V-Trux models to date ( they’re marketing them towards fleets and testing them with utility companies ), my point was that a small startup like VIA cannot absorb costs like GM can with sales of literally hundreds of thousands of trucks.
Government C.A.F.E. standards do effect truck plans by the big automakers. Even though C.A.F.E. has been structured to seemingly give domestic carmakers a pass for their fullsized trucks in that specialty EVs and PHEVs can bring down their total average ( and that avg. largely excludes trucks ), the standards will tighten if the current administration stays on.
If truck buyers buy the Kool-Aid like Main Wayne there, they still will feel the pinch at the pump and definately think about reducing the cost of ownership by sacrificing the big V-8 under the hood. Diesels will help, but as I’ve said many times – we don’t process crude oil into diesel at a very high rate here in the USA, so diesel isn’t the solution. Whatever you want to call it – “E-Assist”, or hybrid – there needs to be a lot more effort put into efficiency as well as brawn.
Automakers have oft been guilty of vanity over usefulness. Look at Honda, who continues to sell the nearly unchanged from inception Ridgeline – whose nose and tailgate are nearly interchangeable, but for the open grille. Focus groups tell manufacturers that Americans want a truck to be square and big in front – even if that means giving up freeway tractibility and 3 – 6 miles per gallon! Testers of the Honda Pilot SUV stated that it’s blunt nose made it perceptively effected by the wind as it struggled against it at highway speeds. As much as you guys hate it – trucks will have to be smooth and rounded in front to meet future mileage expectations. Dodge really opened the semi-truck floodgate with it’s first RAM truck. Sales were through the roof when they first introduced it’s retro-Peterbilt nose. Today, just look at the new F-150 or the squared-off box nose under that teased Silverado. It’s nuts, really, but they’re only giving the truck buying public what they seemingly ( strangely ) want.
I agree with James’s aerodynamic argument. I don’t care for the bluntness of the newer GM trucks. I think the last model year that I thought a GM truck was attractive was 2005. Aerodynamics is arguable just as important to fuel economy as weight is. It doesn’t make sense for the big 3 N.A. truck makers to not focus on this part of the mileage equation. I know they’ve stated aerodynamic improvements, but you can make that same claim by rounding the corners of a brick. That said, My next truck may be a mid-size, and this is why:
It seems like a cycle is being set up to repeat itself. In the late 70’s, the Japanese small trucks start to catch on and amazingly stole sales away from the full size truck crowd. They offered an alternative to people that needed to haul/tow smaller things.
The current race for the largest payload is creating a gap for people (like me) who don’t need to haul a house once a week. They are slowly approaching the point where their design goals will overshoot what the target demographic really needs.
20 years ago, an S-10 wouldn’t cut it for what I need – only a full-size would do. Now, a Colorados/Canyon can easily handle most anything a ’90 model 1/2Ton truck could. I think GM is noticing this and will be addressing it properly with new mid-size trucks for North America, like this:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2012/09/act-surprised-gmc-confirms-new-canyon-for-2015/
I hope GM plans for high volume sales of the mid-size trucks. I see the truck trend following the same trend for passenger cars (i.e. growing sales of compact & subcompact cars and stagnating/falling sales of full size cars). How much bigger will the full size get before their sales decline?