After a long hiatus, General Motors, and specifically Chevrolet, will return to the medium-duty truck sector. The 2019 Chevy Silverado 4500HD and 5500HD will make their debut Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, this March, but ahead of the reveal, GM has plans to expand its dealership network.
Ed Peper, GM U.S. vice president of fleet and commercial sales, told Automotive News in a report published on Sunday that the automaker will add a number of dealers to sell the commercial trucks. Right now, 240 dealers are equipped to sell Chevy commercial vehicles, but the figure will climb to around 400.
The dealers interested must be committed to selling commercial vehicles and “dabblers” need not apply.
“This business is not for someone who wants to dabble,” John Schwegman, GM’s U.S. director of commercial product and medium duty, said. “If you’re not committed to the commercial business, it probably doesn’t make sense.”
Dealers intrigued in the new trucks will have to spend an estimated $100,000 to $200,000, but the automaker said many dealers likely already meet many of the requirements. Additional staff training and parts could cost a dealer only $10,000 to $15,000.
GM previously held about 25 to 30 percent of the Class 4 and 5 markets when it last offered a medium-duty pickup, the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC KickTop. Peper said the automaker plans to regain those figures with the new Silverado 4500HD and 5500HD.
Comments
Awesome! I can’t wait to see these on dealer lots!! A big mean Chevy work horse of a truck with a SFA. These will sell and sell big IMO…
I would like an executive at GM to explain to me why the Silverado 4500 and 5500 aren’t GMC products instead of Chevy’s. Aren’t those ‘professional grade’ vehicles?!
Its about time GM will sell what GM owners want and need in the real work force and not what the CEO”s want to sell. They lost a lot of busness big and small for not producing the right trucks for the worken class. O Ya ,I agree Nicolas, GMC should be the one introducing these work trucks.