GM’s crosstown rival, the one with the blue oval, has just announced the Ford Tremor to offer dirt-churning, mud-slinging off-road goodness for the F-250 and F-350 Super Duty models. With new suspension, tires, skid plates, running boards, and more, it’s a package with substance. More importantly, given its availability as a package, the Tremor puts GM at a rather significant competitive advantage. We’ll explain.
Currently, the only GM product that can compete with the Ford Tremor is the GMC Sierra AT4 Heavy Duty (HD). But the Sierra AT4 HD is its own standalone trim level, rather than a package. The model slots into the upper end of the Sierra HD line, just below the Sierra Denali HD. In terms of pricing, the Sierra AT4 HD has a hefty $57,700 starting price that’s roughly $6,000 shy of the “base” Sierra Denali’s $63,700.
And that brings us to the crux of the issue: whereas Ford customers have a wide variety of trim levels to choose from when selecting the Tremor package, GMC buyers essentially have only one. The scenario puts GM at a major competitive disadvantage compared to the Ford Tremor.
For reference, the Ford Tremor off-road package is offered on four of the six Super Duty trim levels. By comparison, the GMC Sierra AT4 HD is a model on the high-end of the Sierra lineup. That means that Ford buyers select the truck in their price range, and then equip it with the Tremor off-road package. Meanwhile, GMC buyers are forced into a single high-end model to get an off-road capable heavy-duty truck.
| Trim | Tremor Package Available? |
|---|---|
| XL | No |
| XLT | Yes |
| Lariat | Yes |
| King Ranch | Yes |
| Platinum | Yes |
| Limited | No |
| Trim Level | AT4 Available? |
|---|---|
| SLE | No |
| SLT | No |
| AT4 | Yes (as trim level) |
| Denali | No |
That’s bad, but it gets worse. We believe GM is also at a disadvantage for not offering a Trail Boss variant of the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD. While the light-duty Silverado models get the off-road model with either the Custom or LT trim level, creating the Silverado 1500 Trail Boss Custom and Silverado 1500 Trail Boss LT, the Silverado 2500HD and 3500HD do not get the Trail Boss treatment. And when it comes to butting heads with the Super-Duty-based Ford Tremor, these two are the most obvious choices for an off-road-ready variant. Add it all up, and it looks like the GM needs to rethink the way it offers offroad-oriented pickup trucks.
2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Custom Trail Boss pictured. The Silverado HD does not offer a Trail Boss model to compete with the Ford Tremor off-road package.
Do you agree? Should GM offer the AT4 as an optional package for various trim levels of the Sierra, rather than as a standalone trim? Let us know by voting in the poll, and post your opinion in the comments section.
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View Comments
Yes I think Gm has put themselves at a disadvantage.But I also think it should be more to the package like a front locking differential to me GM needs to make the truck more offroad worthy rather than just give them a different paint job I think it needs to be more then just a z71 with a two inch lift
Grew up on GMC and Chevrolet, still driving a GMC but Ford is so far ahead of GM it's not funny. My next new truck will be a Ford. It only makes sense valuewise.
It doesn't make sense value wise. fords are more expensive and less reliable. A GM will take you farther for less end of story, and that is why despite less options, GM still sells lots of trucks.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/10/04/pickup-truck-prices-vehicles/1455588002/
The tremor is not a competitor to the AT4. The AT4 is, like the raptor, a trim. The GM equivalent of the Tremor is the X31 off road package available on every GMC truck trim! thus it is not an options issue. I agree that GM needs to now up the bid, like a X51 package, 2" lift, steel bumpers and locking front dif. Yet, its not the AT4 that is the answer. Already the Z71 and X31 packages are superior to the FX4 package, and are not too far off the Raptor.
That's the point: AT4 is a trim level, which automatically limits its market viability.
The entire approach taken by GM is wrong, plain and simple. Trail Boss and AT4 should be packages offered on the majority of the Silverado and Sierra lines, respectively. Hence, the point being made is that GM miscalculated the packaging on its new Silverado and Sierra. And equating the AT4 to the F-150 Raptor is a big stretch... like saying that the Chevy Express van is a Corvette van because it shares a block with the C6 Corvette.
Here's how things currently play out:
- Z71 = FX4
- Trail Boss / AT4 = Tremor... but only as models, not option packages
- GM has nothing to go against Raptor
The obvious solution here is to reconfigure Trail Boss and AT4 as packages that can be added on to all/most trim levels of the Silverado and Sierra, rather than continue limiting them as trim levels.
I agree.
As I have said many times before, GM needs to stop refusing to give customers options. Ford sells more trucks simply because they give customers more options and don't require one to purchase an entire "package" if they want something as small as towing mirrors or remote start. they also do not limit their paint colors to certain trims.
I just bought a 2019 Silverado classic for my personal truck and LOVE it! But when it comes time for me to buy a new work truck in 2 years, I will be buying an F250 Extended cab diesel. I do not want a 10 spd trans as I do not tow at all (just carry a lot of weight) and I feel like Ford just caters to its fleet customers a bit better than GM in the truck department. Plus......I cannot stand the way the truck looks.
GM wants to spoon feed their customers into what "GM" thinks they need, not what the customers actually want. Just like killing the Camaro again! Example. GM thinks there is no need for a low priced sporty 2 door coupe with a nice turbo 4 in it. That is what the young kids graduating want. Instead they make an ugly 4 door car called the Cruze. Look where that got them a car that no one wants and a closed plant.
Until GM wakes up and fires there overpaid CEO Mary Barra and gets someone in there that is on this planet and has a clue what kind of car the public wants GM will continue to struggle.
John, Don’t pick on Mary. She’s only been pulling in about $22,000,000 a year the last several years. She, Mark Reuss and the Board have been saving the company hundreds of millions of Dollars offshoring production to Mexico and China.
The problem with AT4 is that it's substantially cosmetics and minimally mechanical - i.e. it's a unique grill, paint, interior style, etc., and not a lift, oversize tires/wheels, suspension, differential(s), etc. I love the exterior style of the AT4, hate the interior, and could get the mechanical elements on virtually any other trim level. GM needs a real offroad performance package, not more stickers and emblems.
The AT4 has a factory 2 inch lift.
Only on the half ton, and specifically not on the 3/4 or 1 ton. Since we're comparing to the Tremor package, which is unique to the Super Duty line, what AT4 offers on the half ton truck isn't relevant.
"I want GM to offer a real offroad performance package, not more stickers and emblems."
There, I fixed it. Oh, and as James already pointed out, you definitely don't know as much about the AT4 as you think you do. Or about offroad performance. The majority of buyers who actually do serious offroading prefer to customize their rigs. It would be foolish to try to set up a stock configuration in the hopes of appealing to all of them because it simply won't, and then you have an even more expensive configuration that the majority of actual truck buyers simply won't pay for. I sell GMCs all day, every day. The VAST majority are using them as commuters or for towing. I've met maybe 3 or 4 guys who A) claim to be ready to buy, and B) lamented the lack of features you describe. That market is simply far smaller than guys like them and you think it is. That's what the aftermarket customization industry is there to serve.
I've been a GM guy for 20 years and love my truck. However I am one of those guys who goes into the back country and uses his truck as a truck. You cannot outfit a GM for offroad like you can Ford or Ram with the aftermarket. Nobody makes a front locker for GM, but they do for Ford and Ram. So, because of the lack of aftermarket and lack of GM really making a true "Man's" Truck, I think I've purchased my last Chevy.
GM is at a disadvantage due to leadership decisions, ATP and stock dividends are not he only thing that should drive the company. READ THIS:
A longtime friend who is an educated upper level executive at a transportation company, went to trade his current LTZ for a new one this past weekend. He was on a white LTZ 6.2. When he called me to show the truck off he had bought, it was a '19 RAM BIGHORN!!! This is a man who is over a significant division of a very profitable company and money didn't figure into this except he said he "no longer saw a value in Chevrolet". "The truck was not up to par with the price" . He is (was) a third generation Chevrolet owner, his family has owned countless Chevrolet trucks and now this. He chose a mid-level trim over Chevy's next to the top!
In my sphere of influence, my circle of friends, he is the second defector this year. These people are not quitting Chevrolet, CHEVROLET IS QUITTING THEM!!
Higher ATP can only help as long as you have buyers and Mary and her band a "Mary" men are abandoning loyal, long time customers for a quick dollar and a triple zero pipe dream! But Ford and Ram and others appreciate the customers coming to them.
Profits will not last when everyone abandons YOU GM!
I just sold my 2015 Silverado LT2T Z71 and bought a 2019 RAM Limited. It's not only more truck for the money, it's a truck I cannot buy from Chevrolet or GM at any price. A similarly equipped one Denali or High Country costs nearly $14k more and getting an active air suspension added to it would be a third party custom rig costing another $10k. Ram is building a better product than either Ford or GM this year. No, not in horse power, or torque, or off-road chops, but in real world actual usefulness.
Yeah Ram makes a nice truck but people still fear that lack of Ram reliability. Just because it is nice on the inside doesn't it will perform in the long run. But honestly I wouldn't which truck to buy since they all seem to have issues.
GM has been living on stickers and different plastic grills to sell their off-road trim levels while their competition actually puts off-road equipment and engineering into their trucks. The truck buying public is pretty stupid but 20 years of stickers and plastic skid plates will eventually even push the skinny jean hipster cubicle cowboys to your competition. Look how many idiots line up to pay ford $70K+ for a raptor that will never leave the pavement.
Once again it will take more then a stupid transforming $4k tailgate to sell trucks.
Seems disingenuous to not even mention that AT4 replaced the popular but limited All Terrain package previously available on SLE and SLT trims. It had great features but also eliminated others, such as the haptic seat and ventilated seats. You couldn't get an All Terrain spec'd out like a Denali. Now, with the AT4, you can have everything you get on a Denali (except the badge) and with more aggressive styling. Considering that it's the trim that we have had the most trouble keeping in stock in the half tons, and that they have announced an AT4 version of the Acadia (surely more to come), I believe the conclusion that they are at a major disadvantage is rather flimsy. It is a different approach, which will attract a different set of buyers. It's not like only one approach can do well. We've taken orders on more AT4 HDs than any other trim level as well. I'm not the least bit concerned.
Okay, this is where I chime in with a, "$50,000 or more to play in the mud is a seriously stupid choice for $50,000". This isn't to say there aren't plenty of stupid truck buyers out there with $50k or more to burn, simply making a point that off-roading a full size pickup has few real uses that require such an investment. Don't get me wrong, I own a $70k luxury pickup, which is a bunch of money for something I can comfortably commute AND accomplish some work with, but I wouldn't run it off road outside of some level, dryish pasture land on my own property for any reason. I have ATVs for that sort of thing. They are much more fun to run and I'm only out about $7k if it goes terribly wrong.
First of all you dont need these off road packages to go off road they are all appearance packages . Ive always had stock chevy 1500 truxks and have taken them furthet off road then most raptors or jeeps will ever go . Second point there is plenty of dealers that stock rocky ridge aftermarket lifted gm trucks brand new on the lot ,one dealer i drive by has 5-10 of them all the time . My next truck will be a custom trail boss ,i dont need all the fancy nonsense in my interior and im not going to buy a ram just because some auto joirnalist tell me to
Good for you Charlie. You go out there and pay more money for the truck with the wonkey transmission, the bouncy ride and the cheap looking interior. Don’t you let a few facts get in your way by God!
Yes we know the Ram is defective, go Chevy!!
The F150 Tremor was way neater than this garbage