A few months ago, GM Authority exclusively reported that the optional 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine in the 2021 Chevy Tahoe and 2021 Chevy Suburban accounted for six percent of the overall sales mix in March. Today, we’re back to follow up on those figures.
Demand for the optional turbo-diesel LM2 engine continues to hold steady at six percent of sales for both full-size Chevy SUVs, sources familiar with The General’s go-to-market plans tell GMA.
The 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine is a new option for the all-new 2021 Chevy Tahoe and 2021 Chevy Suburban, and only became available to order toward the end of 2020, several months after the new models started production.
In the 2021 Chevy Tahoe and 2021 Chevy Suburban, the 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax engine is rated at 277 horsepower at 3,750 rpm and 460 pound-feet of torque at 1,500 rpm. It’s mated to the GM Hydra-Matic 10L80 10-speed automatic transmission. The diesel engine option is available on every trim level except the off-road-oriented Z71, which features a unique fascia treatment that obstructs to diesel engine’s intercooler piping, as GM Authority covered previously.
Besides the optional LM2 engine, the 2021 Chevy Tahoe and 2021 Chevy Suburban are also offered with the naturally aspirated 5.3L V8 L84 gas engine and naturally aspirated 6.2L V8 L87 gas engine, both of which also pair with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
U.S. Chevy Tahoe sales for the first half of the 2021 calendar year increased 40 percent to 50,946 units, while Chevy Suburban sales increased 49 percent to 24,516 units during the same timeframe. On a combined basis, U.S. sales of both models increased 42.57 percent to 75,462 units. A six percent take rate of those 75,462 units equates to about 4,500 units of Tahoe and Suburban with the 3.0L LM2 diesel engine.
Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban Sales Numbers
| MODEL | YTD 21 / YTD 20 | YTD 21 | YTD 20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TAHOE | +39.89% | 50,946 | 36,419 |
| SUBURBAN | +48.48% | 24,516 | 16,511 |
| TOTAL | +42.57% | 75,462 | 52,930 |
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Comments
Alex, do you know what percent of production is fitted with the diesel? I ask because of the 892 Suburban’s on Cars.com, 47 are diesel which is very close the 6% of sales you noted.
It’s the poor marketing of this engine choice that can explain the lack of it
Nah, I choose diesel for HD trucks but wouldn’t get this one. It’s a light-duty European design, originally from an Opel-Fiat collaboration. You’re going to have issues finding parts and knowledge outside the dealer.
Even for a simple oil change, there’s only 2 brands of compatible DexosD 0W-20 diesel oil: AC Delco and Mobil Super 3000 XE2, and good luck finding the latter.
Another Euro design: wet-belt driven oil pump. At 150k you have to drop the transmission to service it. 150k is the entire useful life of European vehicles, since they drive around half as much as we do.
I own one. Stellar engine! Mileage is insane!
Can’t argue last point. Not sure what they were smoking in the engine design group that day.
You’ve combined some misinformation with some out of date information. Well done.
Hey Sam:
The days of pure American designed automotive engines is sadly gone. German engineering shops are designing engines for Ford. Stellantis is a pure European company. gm like Caterpillar is outsourcing engine design across the water. The only pure American design and engineered vehicle engine builder left in the USA is Cummins. And Cummins fuel pumps are a collaboration between German and Japanese fuel pump makers – Bosch and Nippon Densu.
It’s a changed world. Now we are entering the electric motor propulsion era.
Ford exactly proves my point. EcoBoost 1.6, 1.5 and 2.0. Designed in the UK, first sold to the European market for a few years, no problems. The moment they come to the US, they have severe thermal issues, with cracked blocks and head gasket failures. They just don’t know how to design to North American demands.
Your second point might have been true a decade ago. Now that GM has sold Opel and wound down European sales, you will not see many European design imports, if at all.
That’s fine.
Enjoy having your wallet bleed in agony with the guzzling 5.3 & 6.2.
Those that value their money will buy the 3.0 duramax and not come up with a bunch of lame excuses to not buy it.
At 150,000 miles most folks are trading in their vehicles before they get nickeled and dimed. A vehicle with 150,000 miles is not worth anything to a dealer and does not sound desirable to a used car buyer. At 150,000 miles, the truck should be long paid for so you would not have a car payment.
Typically, I would agree. But you should see what diesel excursions sell for with that sort of miles. It’s INSANE. And they don’t even have a diesel with a good reputation.
At 150k miles, I can swing the trans back to replace a belt. I’m fine with that, it’s a couple hour job. Also, the pushback on that has been so overblown that GM was looking into extending that interval.
I ordered my 2021 Tahoe diesel at the end of March, and still don’t have it. I was told 8 weeks from my dealer. Well I see how this is going, since it’s now mid July.
Will they offer the diesel in the 2022, Z71 Tahoe?
Can’t. Intercooler doesn’t fit with the Z71 front end/skid plate. Maybe when they do a refresh on the Tahoe
I’d love to know why GM doesn’t offer the L5P 6.6L Duramax in the Suburban. What a perfect match it would be.
Weight of the 6.6 diesel is above what a half ton vehicle can handle.
You can get a Suburban with a three quarter ton frame to accommodate a heavier engine.
It’s all about cost. 3.0 diesel is much less than a 6.6 diesel to produce. More factory profit margin equipping it with a 3.0 diesel. Performance with 6.6 is similar. Time will tell on 3.0 engine life.
I have a 6.5 Turbo Diesel in a 1998 Suburban 2500. Currently have 507+K miles on it. Original block, guts, and head. Consistently have used Mobil One synthetic high mileage, 10W 40 engine oil, with K&N filters.
Walmart has best prices. Getting approximately 27 mpg highway at 1900 ram, 64 mph.
Love this engine and vehicle.
You have to understand diesels to appreciate them.
Most of the general driving public do not understand diesels, proper driving techniques and vehicle maintenance. ….Speeding to red lights and then braking. Not properly using turn signals. Not following owners manual on maintenance intervals, etc.
The over 2500 HD Suburban ended 2014. There was a 3500HD fleet-only from 2016-2020.
The 6.6 Duramax cannot go into the Suburban due to emissions regulations, NOx in particular. Regulations differ for >8500 GVWR medium duty trucks.
Because light trucks are subject to CAFE, the 3.0 has to have fuel economy features such as auto start-stop and active warmup coolant manifolds.
The L5P was subject to a different set of requirements, GHG17, that didn’t give credit for those features.
So you’re saying that government bureaucrats making haphazard regulations are to blame?
Wow, who’d have guessed that…
That said, personally I am more interested in the 3L one than the big duramax. We don’t need all that extra torque and weight for a kid hauler that has to tow a 5000 pound boat from time to time. I would gladly trade the extra power of the duramax for the better fuel economy of the baby max.
There you go again! Being practical and thinking things through!
/sarc tag for the humor-impaired.
Take rate would be higher if they actually had inventory…
They haven’t gotten any in our area to even test drive, so it’s tough to order one on a total whim.
Plus I think most of us that would buy the diesel for the economics are also going to wait out until there’s actual stock and there’s discounts vs paying MSRP or over for something right now.
It’s all about supply and demand. If you really want or need to buy a new vehicle, you will pay the vehicle price based on market days supply. It’s a great time to trade in a gently used low mileage vehicle because dealers are paying too dollar since used car prices are high.
Agreed, unfortunately for us, the math work out worse for people trading up. We would be trading our 2016 Nissan rogue, which while in good shape has nearly 70k miles. Even if we got say, 5k more for it (call that roughly 25 to 30%), having to pay at or over MSRP for the new Tahoe costs us a lot more in actual dollars. 20% off MSRP (pretty standard for GM and likely not the greatest deal when these start flooding lots) on a 70k Tahoe is a lot more money saved than the extra 5k we may get in trade in right now.
The smartest thing would be to sell the Rogue and then buy something else when prices drop, but that leaves my wife with no car to drive but one of mine. And since she can’t drive stick, that’d limit her options to my daily.