At the 2019 North American International Auto Show, the North American Car, Utility, and Truck of the year jurors adjourned and delivered their verdicts. For 2019, General Motors missed the spotlight with its banner vehicles.
The 2019 Ram 1500 was named the 2019 North American Truck of the Year, which left the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and 2019 GMC Sierra out of the limelight once again. Both trucks also missed the mark to become Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year, another high award.
Jurors consider a variety of factors in determining the winners, including innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction, and value.
One juror, John Davis of MotorWeek, said, “Ram continues to lead the way in making a big truck double as a big family pleaser with as much attention paid to interior conveniences and ride comfort as to cargo hauling and towing.”
The new Ram launched months ahead of the 2019 Silverado and 2019 Sierra with a more upscale interior, mild-hybrid powertrains, and greater technology. By comparison, GM’s trucks have been passed over in reviews, largely due to driving dynamics and an interior that looks two generations behind the current crop of full-size pickups.
GM did not have any finalists in contention for the North American Car of Utility of the year for 2019, but jurors selected the Genesis G70 as its car of the year, and the Hyundai Kona as its utility of the year.
Comments
So what?, hurray!!!, a discounted Dodge pickup won the awards just like in 94′ 92′ and 09′. Want GM to get it all the time?, sound like a disgruntled Pats fan…
GM has long been “behind” in styling and technology compared to Ford and Dodge. Unfortunately the great ride the GM trucks are known for won’t be able to keep consumers away from these nicer equipped trucks that are largely cheaper than a GM also. The designers of the 2019 truck interior should be fired.
The Ram 1500 with its rear coil spring suspension has the far superior ride quality.
At the expense of any respectable payload rating. The new Ranger has a higher payload rating than most 2019 Ram 1500’s. Let that sink in for a minute.
all that says is the ram is a lot heavier than a ranger. the heavier the truck the less the rated payload. no one pays attention to payload rating when using the truck as I have hauled 5000# of pavers in the bed of my silverado just by pimping up the tires. F150 aluminum body allows them to advertise a bigger payload
That makes zero sense. A 2014-18 Silverado 1500 has a similar curb weight as a 2019 Ram 1500 yet the average payload rating of a 14-18 Silverado is significantly higher than the new Ram 1500. The limiting factor with the Ram is that FCA uses a wimpy coil spring suspension that gives a soft ride but it can’t safely handle the kind of payloads that half-ton trucks can normally handle. That’s why FCA had to use that cheap air ride setup in the 1500 to keep the hitch receiver from scraping the ground when you put a couple bags of feed in the bed. Fast Lane Truck tested a 2019 Silverado 1500 extended cab 2.7 turbo. It had over 2000 lbs of payload capacity. Supposedly Ram cut hundreds of pounds out of the Ram 1500 and beefed up the suspension for best in class payload and tow ratings. I’m not seeing anything close to what they bragged they had.
Along with Barra and her minions…
Growing up as a huge, massive, unapologetic, GM fan, I never imagined a day when “Dodge” would build superior trucks to Chevrolet and Lincoln would best Cadillac but as I sit here today, that’s where we are. There’s no way of sugar coating any of it although I know many here still like to try but GM simply got their butt kicked by FCA on trucks and the Aviator blows the doors off of GM’s XT6.
GM’s panic of November 26th makes a lot more sense today than it did six weeks ago.
Ram still doesn’t build superior trucks. Quality control on the new Ram 1500’s is at an all-time low. The front IFS suspension uses plastic control arms with thin little strips of sheet metal as a “reinforcement”. FCA managed to ruin the ZF 8-speed by making changes that have created all kinds of new transmission problems with no fixes available. The engine is still the ancient 5.7 Hemi that dates back to 2003 and hasn’t had a major update in over 10 years. It shows because somehow the 2019 Ram 1500 gets worse real-world fuel economy than the 2018 Ram 1500. The payload ratings are still horrible despite Ram bragging about how much they improved it. A 2019 Ram 1500 Limited crew cab short box has a payload rating of 1200-1400 lbs. That’s less than a typical Chevy Colorado’s payload rating. When the Ecodiesel finally comes back, it’s almost certain that the payload rating will be even worse. Who can forget the famously bad sub-1000 lb payload rating of the previous gen Ram 1500 Limited CCSB with the 3.0 ED and Ram Box.
The 2019 Ram 1500 is winning awards because the people handing these awards out are car journalists that are assigned to review trucks. They’re choosing the truck that rides most like a car and has a glittery interior with a big fancy tablet stuck on the dash. Neither of those things are important in a SUPERIOR truck. Plastic suspensions and payload ratings lower than many midsize trucks do not equate to a SUPERIOR truck either.
And mark you know nothing about trucks. Go fetch coffee for the boss from your cube.
There is no surprise here.
GM now is full on spending like mad in ads trying to get rid of these trucks. I love the GM ad if it was backed by a WINNING product.
But as I know VERY well GM simply doesn’t know the meaning of backing anything.
Just like they have left the CUSTOMER SERVICE up to the dealer, and GM has ZERO. Now they have left the selling of this new truck up to the dealer also. Only thing is if you don’t have a CUSTOMER you can NOT sell a product.
Maybe this will be ANOTHER turn around for GM, They are spending some money on ads anyway, Maybe soon they will spend some money on CUSTOMER SUPPORT.
GM get a new interior designer, or at least let different people look at them before you commit to production, because those 7000 people you did let look must have been blind.
In other news, Barra is still highest paid automotive CEO, while sending jobs elsewhere. 10 years after a namby pamby bailout funded by American taxpayers. Meanwhile Japanese car makers are investing in USA manufacturing, and their CEOs make a fraction of what Mare makes. While building better, and far more durable products.
Not to mention FCA that will soon announce investments in its Detroit area plants that will eclipse ALL the capital spending GM plans in the US and Canada for a single year. Part of the bankruptcy financing agreement should have been that no GM lifer will ever be the CEO of the company.
Where are these “far more durable products”? The 2016-19 Tacoma has been rated least reliable midsize truck three years in a row by Consumer Reports. Rear diffs that howl so loud at highway speeds that the radio struggles to block the noise out. Others have had their rear diff burn up in just a few thousand miles. The 2GR-FKS 3.5 V6 has been a mess so far. Premature failures of the high pressure fuel pump, stalling issues, buzzy harshness while on the highway, hesitation issues, terrible uneven powerband, famous for oil line failures, etc. The 6-speed auto has had problems since 2016 and smoe of those issues still haven’t been resolved. Flared shifts, delayed engagement, TCC issues, confused shifting, holding gears so long it makes GM’s K2 shift logic seem aggressive and sporty. Oh and not to mention that nearly 2/3’rds of Tacomas made last year were MADE IN MEXICO. Toyota is spending hundreds of millions of dollars expanding their Tijuana Tacoma plant and they’re busy building a second Toyota plant in Mexico that’s expected to be completed later this year. When that plant comes on line, it will build Tacomas and other SUV’s destined for the US market. In all likelihood, no Tacomas US eventually.
That brings us to the sad sad story of the Tundra. The truck that was “going to change everything” when the 2nd gen first debuted. It didn’t take long for all the durability issues to start to show up. Terrible rear wheel bearing issues, transmission issues, premature rear diff failures, major rust issues (bed, tailgate, frame), electrical issues, smog system issues, vibration issues, front diff vibration and noise issues, etc. The “Triple-tec” frame is an old school, flimsy closed C design that holds mud and rots out faster than any other full-size truck’s frame. The frame is so flimsy that the bed famously gouged the back of the cab in a truck comparison video made by Ford. The interior is like stepping into a time machine. The whole interior takes me back to the mid-2000’s every time I’m in one. Then there’s the horrible fuel economy thanks to that overrated 3UR-FE 5.7 V8. It’s amazing that the head of Toyota’s truck division, an interior plastics engineer before he was promoted to head the whole truck department, defended “his engine” by claiming that customers are okay with the terrible fuel economy (17 MPG highway) and that he doesn’t need to improve the engine because it’s overhead cam and others are still using pushrods. The chief engineer said that! The Tundra is an embarrassment and it’s little surprise that Toyota pretty much pretends that it doesn’t exist anymore.
I am afraid I am going to have to agree with the majority of the posts here. GM spent a lot of money designing a new Truck and while they have a lot of nice features they didn’t go far enough. If you are going to spend that kind of money you can’t afford to compromise in any area. With the fierce competition out there you have to be the best across the board not just in some areas. They need to correct any and all short comings right away ,get a new ad agency, fix their web site for ordering option and fix their pricing structure. I should not have to pay more for a comparable equipped GM truck that don’t measure up to the competition.Even if it did measure up I shouldn’t have to pay more for it.
Truck Trend magazine, just rated the 2019 GMC just a few points below their winning 2019 Ram, truck of the year, clearly in second place and ahead of Ford also. The New GMC led the testers in several categories, its far from as bad as a few publications would like consumers to believe. I bought a new 2019 AT4, and so far I give it 5 stars, no complaints other than dumb stop/Run feature
Ram just taking names and kicking ass. The heavy duty rolled out at the NAIAS today with the 1000 lb-ft of torque Cummins so the first to hit that magic number. Also their ads still set the benchmark.
Considering the 2018 GM 3500HD completely embarrassed the Ram and Ford that both had a max tow rating 25% higher than it, the 2020 Ram HD’s are going to need a lot more than 1000 lb-ft of torque. It’s still hilarious to think that a GM 3500 HD pulling 23,800 lbs up the Ike Gauntlet (99% of its max tow rating) did it faster than the Ram and Ford pulling the same trailer (75% of their max tow ratings). Oh and the 3500HD had as good or better braking and handling. The Ford exhibited signs of death wobble and if the Ford was already developing DW, you know that terrible Ram front end was probably well on its way to DW. It’s a shame that the new Cummins 6.7 is running a CP4 to get there. Goodbye Cummins reliability.
the bills are not paid by market share but by profits and GM is making more money or their stock would not be going up. GM is in business to make money not vehicles. ford may sell more trucks but their costs have to be more and profits less than GM.
While Ford might make less per vehicle than Chevy selling over 300,000 more vehicles more than make up the difference. Not saying that Chevy need to outsell Ford just be more competitive. If Chevy can offer everything that Ford does-and do everything that Ford does with a close price point,I am sure Chevy could close that 300,000 gap or even match if not exceed it. Any way you cut it selling more vehicles will make you more money. Selling more vehicles don’t make you the best vehicle on the market and being the best vehicle on the market don’t nessary make you the best seller. My openion is that Chevy is neighter and that needs to change. I know a lot of you don’t agree with me but there are way too many that do.
GM is getting a lot of things right that the F-150 used to get right but no longer does. The current GM 1500 has a tougher IFS design than Ford’s post-2014 “light-weighted” design. Most 2019 GM 1500’s I’ve seen reviewed have excellent payload ratings and only squat 2″ when loaded compared to the 3″ that Ford seems okay with. Ford’s 4×4 system is pretty terrible these days. They’re trying to use a cheap and notoriously weak IWE system that requires engine vacuum to work, and using it in trucks with turbocharged gas engines that don’t make engine vacuum. That has created a ton of problems with IWE’s grinding up. I know several guys with aluminum F-150’s and every single one of them has had their IWE’s pop and grind when they needed it most. A few of them have had the IWE’s fail 6 or 7 times now. Does Ford do anything? Nope. Just like they haven’t done anything about the terrible plastic interior. It’s been mentioned before, but I’ve also seen a lot of very new F-150’s with warped dashes. Makes you wonder how long the truck is going to last if the dash is distorted in less than year. GM also has the best bed design in the half ton market. Largest volume, most standard tie down points, it isn’t made out of aluminum foil. Seems like a lot of solid points to me. The interior isn’t perfect, but it’s solid for a truck. Even has a column shifter which is nice to see.
motorman, I will say this again, YOU ARE WRONG. Todays bills are payed by PROFIT. TOMORROWS bills are payed by MARKET SHARE.
If GM continues to loose market share on this ***** and on that ***** what is left.
AGAIN, if you make $100,000 per truck and sell TWO trucks and ZERO sedans and ZERO EV’s you made $200,000, PERIOD. If you make $1.00 a measly DOLLAR on 200,000 sedans you MADE the SAME.
For all you GMers like myself QUIT making EXCUSES. “O” this is ok, “O” this is because of this or that.
GM is LOOSING, LOOSING. What can’t you see.
GM pay attention, your CUSTOMER is calling.
Anybody that buys a current F-150 isn’t going to contribute to tomorrow’s marketshare at Ford. Once they realize how terrible Ford’s engine designs are (rod-knocking 5.0’s and oil burning, valve-dropping 2.7 Ecoboosts), how many problems the 10-speed actually has, how weak and unreliable the 4WD is, how weak and prone to cracking the aluminum beds are, and how cheap the recycled plastic interiors are, they’ll be moving on from the Ford brand. It’s pretty bad when the F-150’s plastic interiors are so cheap the glovebox and dash are warping while the trucks sit on dealer lots. It’s been a known issue since 2015 and even in 2019, Ford has done nothing about it. Just like Ford still hasn’t managed to make aluminum body panels that aren’t wavy and misaligned.
ExFordGuy72,
I hope that 10 speed that has “many problems” in the Ford, as you put it, isn’t the same 10 speed in the GM 1500 that was co developed with GM.
If so how do you expect anyone to believe Ford has “many problems” and GM will not ?
As far as the Ford dash warping etc. Look online and talk to the thousands of people who have the GM dash that cracks and GM does nothing.
“O” and the Cadillac CUE screen that delaminates on the dealer lot and if you own one GM does nothing.
It boils down to what do you want to drive and do you trust your dealer. I can’t speak for other brands but I will say GM has TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. I have driven them now for 38 years !
A loyal GM guy !
If you like a Ram buy a Ram.
If you like a Ford buy a Ford.
If you like a GM buy a GM.
If you like the others buy the others.
Blackdragon,
I do agree my 2017 Denali HD pulls and handles like a tank and at the end of the day you don’t feel like you were beaten. So I also do not care what others say or what million torque number anyone has. My brother in law has Ford Super Duty and 2 years ago tried RAM for ONE year. BRAND NEW ! Now Ford again.
However I watched a review on the NEW Ram HD and there engineer who was driving said that exact thing is what they focused on, driver comfort, handling.
RAM is winning these awards because of there truck. All the rewards mean nothing to me, time usually works this stuff out.
I can tell you where I live the FCA dealer has a great reputation, and remember I drive GM.
I can also tell you there are ALOT of the new RAM on the road here and NOT a lot of the new GM.
I can tell you the last 3 GM vehicles we have owned have NOT been great and GM customer service has been TERRIBLE. I have letters on all three regarding parts that have been deemed to possibly fail and GM does nothing.
At least if other brands have a lot of recalls they are fixing the known part failures, meanwhile GM just pushes them down the line.
My advise has always been buy a GM over the long haul it will pay.
My new advise is buy what you like and like to drive and for sure if you trust or know your dealer.
Because even though I have been a loyal GM owner for 38 years I would not recommend GM to anyone after the last three we have owned and the treatment we have received from GMs non customer service !!
I will buy the GMC HD, will I love it, NO. I do not like the Dash ! Seats are good, switch locations, size comfort good. I drove a 1500 with 6.2 – 10 speed and it was great ! So I would assume the Duramax with the 10 speed will be greater !!
I do NOT like the GM first year runs but I dislike my 2017 HD greater than the risk.
This whole deal will simply cost to much but hopefully it will be more like my 2007 LBZ GM truck and not like my last three GM vehicles then I will be done with GM for another 10 to 15 years I hope !
Good luck all !!
long live GM !!
I’m curious on why so many late comments after 2 + months ?
“As far as the Ford dash warping etc. Look online and talk to the thousands of people who have the GM dash that cracks and GM does nothing.”
That was the GMT900 that had cracked dashes and they weren’t cracking on the dealer lot. It tooks years for those dashes to crack. Google F-150 warped dash. Guys on there have pictures of BRAND NEW F-150’s sitting on dealer lots with the dash deforming and curling up around the defrost vents. If they’re doing that before they’re even sold, what’s that dash going to look like in a few years. Ford tells owners to pound sand when they try to get it fixed right.
I did not say the GM dash was cracking on the dealer lot.
However the ones that cracked GM told them to pound sand !
I DID however say the Cadillac CUE was delaminating on the dealer lot !!
I own one and GM/Cadillac said pound sand !
Same deal different manufacturer different brand.
Like I said after 38 years I will no longer recommend GM to anyone !!
If you want to buy one fine, I am going to buy more.
However there products are NOT any better !!
And there warranty is not any better at times , like the transmission “normal operation” there is no warranty.
And there customer service is nonexistent.
Good luck
long live GM
Two ways to make profit: Cut cost and increase revenue. Machete Mary has the first one down pat and that has increased the stock price. However, the lackluster redesign of the pickups and coming out with half-baked vehicles like the XT6 and Blazer does little to increase the revenue side.
What Barra and her minions are doing to GM is akin to a homeowner patching a leaking roof rather than doing it right and replacing it. He saved a lot of money by not replacing the roof, but one day it will collapse and there will be a lot more to repair.
It’s crazy how many people use “Machete Mary”. You can tell who the Unifor members are.
So the F-Series been #1 from 1977, have it been a rush to beat it since then?.
Someone commented that Ram uses rear coil springs, and they are superior to leaf springs……Rear coil springs are nothing new and have been tried before and usually discarded. Maybe they have some advantages, but there also must be reasons why, most that have tried them have gone back to leaf springs, maybe cost, longevity, load capacity, ride when loaded, strength, hell I don’t know, but must be a reason that everyone else has avoided them. Truck Trends latest test also said the the ride quality of the 2019 Ram and GMC were so close it was hard to pick a winner between the two.
To GM’s credit they had coil spring rear suspension on their trucks from 1960 to 1972. The main reason they went back to leafs was cost and simplicity. However the coil springs ride much better. Over the last 40 years I have owned numerous pickups and I will have to say my current Ram is by far the best riding. I’ll gladly give up 200 lbs or so of cargo capacity to gain that better ride.
200 lbs of payload??? More like 500+ lbs of payload. Especially in the Ram 1500 trims that are getting all the hype by car journalists. If you want the pretty interior with the big tablet dash and reclining rear seats, your payload rating is going to be a sad 1200 to 1400 lbs. Most Ford and GM halftons have a payload ratings of 1800-2000 lbs. And the soft coil spring rear suspension has terrible sag well before you get close to the max payload capacity. Then there’s the dozens of bushings required for a multi-link coil suspension that are famous for wearing out and causing the suspension to loosen up and squeak and pop…
The last sentence says it all and is very telling on where “profits above all else” Barra is taking General Motors these days.
You mean “sort-term” profits. There will be a day where this lack of top shelf product, not investing in their plants, and pissing off their employees will bite GM in the butt.
It’s a for-profit publicly traded company, not a charity. The whole reason GM went into bankruptcy was because they make the decision to close plants and kill off unprofitable businesses during declining auto sales. The whole industry is in a recession and they’re all cutting costs.
I’ve looked ALL OVER the country to find a 1975 Corvette convertible, L-82, automatic, red, white top, leather interior, original. Can ANYONE help me ?
Duke
[email protected].
thanks.
Never saw this coming. 😉
Will be nice if the apologists hold GM’s feet to the fire. They’re simply not competitive. It’s sad to see the brand I love, the brand of Dale Earnhardt and Jr., doing so poorly in the industry. Something has to change.
Designers need to change.
Ford had their hay day, Dodge is having their hay day and we will have ours next. It’s a cycle that’s been going on for years. We will be back.
heyday noun
Definition of heyday (Entry 2 of 2)
1 archaic : high spirits
2 : the period of one’s greatest popularity, vigor, or prosperity
If you had to look the definition up, you missed my point.
Heyday is a noun which refers to a time when something or someone was in its prime or at the height of its power or influence. In the phrasehaving a heyday, the meaning can be slightly different. For a company or field of study to be having a heyday, means they are in their prime or at the peak of their influence.