The refreshed 2022 Sierra interior addressed what was most likely the greatest criticism of GM’s Professional Grade pickup truck: a low-rent cabin, which was most glaring in the high-end GMC Sierra Denali.
GMC’s upgraded 2022 Sierra interior debuted along with a new front end design and the introduction of two new trim levels for the refreshed 2022 GMC Sierra 1500. The first is the range-topping, first-ever Sierra Denali Ultimate as the automaker’s most luxurious truck yet. The second is the first-ever Sierra AT4X, which takes the brand’s off-road capable Sierra AT4 to the next level. It is GMC’s equivalent to the new 2022 Chevy Silverado ZR2.
2019-2021 Sierra 1500 (and 2022 Sierra 1500 Limited) Denali interior
Across the range, the most important update for the refreshed 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 is inside the cabin, where we find a completely overhauled cockpit design. The new 2022 Sierra interior addresses criticisms levied against the pickup since the introduction of the 2019 model year, while also incorporating a wealth of new technologies. Highlights here include an all-new 13.4-inch infotainment screen and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster as standard on SLE and above, plus a new center console, Electronic Precision Shift for models with front bucket seats – a column-mounted shifter is available for models with a front bench seat – and standard power-adjustable steering column for uplevel trims.
Refreshed 2022 Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate interior
Adding to the two information screens mentioned above, the 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate features a 15-inch head-up display, for a combined total of over 40 diagonal inches of combined driver-focused digital displays – the most in its class, according to GMC. The Denali Ultimate also features GM’s Rear Camera Mirror feature.
In addition to GM’s advanced Super Cruise system, the 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate is also equipped with a variety of exclusive high-end materials, such as full-grain leather upholstery and open-pore Paldao wood trim, plus leather-trimmed pieces for the instrument panel, door panels, and console lid, and a premium microsuede headliner. A single-pane power sunroof is standard.
Drivers can endure long trips with the Sierra Denali Ultimate’s all-new best-in-class 16-way power-adjustable and massaging front seats, while music is delivered via an all-new 12-speaker Bose Premium series sound system with Centerpoint surround technology with AudioPilot and a rich bass woofer.
Further tech highlights include built-in Google compatibility standard on all trims except Pro, as well as GM’s aforementioned Super Cruise semi-autonomous drive system with trailering capabilities included as standard on 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate.
The cabin space for the Sierra AT4X is decked out with a unique “Obsidian Rush” interior treatment, which incorporates premium leather upholstery with white piping and red stitching. The luxurious leather is complemented by dark Vanta ash wood trim, the 16-way power adjustable and massaging front seats, a microsuede headliner, 15-inch head-up display, and 12-speaker Bose sound system to keep everyone comfortable and connected.
Note that all variants in the refreshed 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 lineup are equipped with the new interior design, with the exception of the base Sierra Pro (previously known simply as the “Sierra,” now renamed as the Pro trim level). The Pro will retain the 7-inch center stack display and 3.5-inch vehicle information display, as the base trim did prior to the refresh.
Critics of the 2019, 2020, 2021 and the pre-refresh 2022 Sierra 1500 Limited model interior pined for the big, tall screen and upgraded interior of the Ram 1500 compared to GM’s offerings in its pre-refreshed Silverado and Sierra. The Ram featured a large 12-inch vertical center display on certain trim levels instead of the standard 8.4-inch screen, offering an undeniable “wow factor” that the Sierra simply couldn’t offer when both trucks launched for the 2019 model year.
So, did GM hit the mark with the updated 2022 Sierra interior? Vote in the poll below.
Comments
It’s good enough which is exactly what GM always aims for
Needs bigger screen, more colors for interior besides getting 80k Danelli, new grill is ugly, Supercruise should be available on all but cheapest models. No heated steering wheel and seats make this truck not worth buying. Will wait for 2025 for new generation and NO CHIP SHORTAGE and 10k off truck month.
Eh…GM ruined it with discontinuing heated seats in everything except the overpriced Denali. I’ll still take a Ram over this.
Good luck finding a Ram or Ford truck right now. GM is actually being smart and realizing that many people just need a vehicle, especially people who are leasing. and many will take what they can get can get. For the first time in a while my local Chevy dealer actually has about 40 Silverados in stock, while my local Ford dealer is actively referring people over to them saying they won’t be able to get a regular F-150 until March.
Here comes the hate mail, but this is a perfect example of GM’s complacency and inability to “go big.” The 2022 MCR interior looks fantastic, but THIS should’ve been the interior in 2019. The MCR should’ve then improved on top of this.
That being said, the Escalade’s interior is one shining example of going big, driven by awareness of heightened competition and the desire to remain a LEADER in its segment. Ms. Barra- let that ethos drive all product development forever.
I like it.
I like everything but the grill. Too horizontal. Too long. I think that Gm’s interior materials and design are always superior to Ford & Ram. They’re softer, higher quality and more ergonomically designed.
I think the refresh is really good. Not quite perfect! I cannot wait to see it in person.
Really good but not perfect sums up my thoughts as well. It’s actually amazing for a mid-cycle refresh but lacks things like a pano roof that will most likely have to wait for the new model. For the price tag on these new trucks I would also like to see more interior color options made available. That said it’s good enough that I will most likely be updating from my 15′ when the new HD’s MCE is released. That is something I couldn’t say before now since I felt like the pre-refresh interior was actually a step down in quality from my 15′.
GM definitely nailed this mid cycle refresh, a lot of us wish this was the interior that it came with when this body style was released but definitely good to see it now
J’ai un 2021 ltz 3.0 diesel satisfait du camion mais la compagnie gm est pourri ,elle ne s’occupe pas de leur client ,je suis coincée en Floride parce-que le concessionnaire Chevrolet a fait sauter mon ECM ,il ne veulent pas m’aider ,je suis ici depuis le 16 nov ,date ou j’ai perdue mon camion ,et il ne me donne pas de date ou je vais le revoir ,M’acheter pas de produit Chevrolet
Why don’t they just replace your ECM. What’s the deal here?
It looks great. I think it will give Ram a run for its money IMO.
As a Ford guy, the interior of the 19-21 models were laughable. 70k for a work truck interior, no thanks. Those arguments are now invalid, and the interiors of both GM trucks look great. I also like that they run Google for an infotainment system.
Any improvement is a step up from the cheep plastic interior they have been using the last 15 years. But i think this looks great. Nice refresh.
Still too much black. The dash area should be the same color as the seats but it is a big improvement.
Biggest thing catches my eye, is the cup holders! At the Back of the console, & a near useless slot between the two cup holders. Makes you do an awkward twist, to get the drink in & out. what ever is placed in the slot can side to side. And, you can’t see the cup holders, while driving, to place your drink back. I Have a console like that in another vehicle; I Know! My Chevy 16 model, has the cup holders at the front, where they Should be. And it has three separate small trays to place coupons & such in.
Those are for back seat passengers.
The interior is nice, but the big wide grill is ugly and looks like it was inspired by an electric shaver
They may be & would be nice, as my 16, doesn’t have any back seat cup holders! But, the front of the console is not shown. And it looks like it goes all the way to the Precision shifter [whatever the heck that is] with no room for cup holders. No matter, after my experiences, with my 8 speed, I won’t be buying another GM product!
There are normal sized cupholders on the right side of the shifter.
While it looks cool, it doesn’t seem any more functional. I own the ’20 Denali duramax and even though the inside looks “boring” it’s a very functional truck and I absolutely love it. I was hoping for more of a wow factor with this new refresh but it seems like the company aimed to make the ’22 Denali “good enough” to compete with Ram and Ford F150.
Monkey see, monkey do.
I would like to see what kind of interior you get in the regular Denali, that’s the one I’d go for, not the Ultimate.
Honestly my biggest complaint with GMC interiors is they’ve always been virtually identical to the Chevy Silverado interior, at least visually. I had hoped that GM would actually try to differentiate the two a bit more with the refresh. So far the only reason I’ve seen to go for the Denali over the High Country is if you want to pay $5k more just for messaging seats and brown leather.
You need to take a closer look at the ’22 refresh interior images. For the first time that I’m aware of the dash in the Denali and AT4 are a different design than the dash in the High Country and ZR2.
Not a fan of the new interior redesign. The climate controls are set too low and the buttons are small. I will miss the column shifter, since the shifter has been relocated to the center console, which takes up storage space. Also, the cupholders are now out of the way thanks to the new shifter placement. The phone charger has been moved under the center console storage compartment. It was better when it was out in the open. The headlight and 4WD knobs are practically at knee level, they should be placed higher. As far as the exterior refresh goes, not bad overall. The grille on the Denali is ugly and the fog light design is boring – there should be some sort of chrome trim around the fog lights.
Looking at the frontend picture of this article, the front end (to me) kinda looks like the Cheshire Cat.
I don’t care for the horizontal layout of the video display. It requires you to take your eyes further away from what’s going on in front of you. Without actually being able to sit in the cabin, I still worry that the interior materials could still be of the same cheap carnival toy plastic quality that GM has used for decades–it could look good in a picture, but be depressingly disappointing in person.
GM doing the bare minimum again with its trucks interior. They need to wake up and step up. This 75k-80k price tags ain’t worth it.
Ugly brown seats with a sea of black and gray everywhere. That’s cost cutting at it’s finest. Stupid console mounted shifter because GM thought copying it’s competitors was a great idea. The interior still isn’t up to the high end ram standards. I’d like to see a white and grey interior as an option. Most of the high end models don’t get used for work anyways.
Wow! “a combined total of over 40 diagonal inches of combined driver-focused digital displays”! Does that leave any inches to see/pay attention to the road?
The updated interior looks okay only because the previous interior was so atrociously cheap looking. GM still has a ways to go with interior design compared to the competition.
The words Chevy Impala come to mind when I see this dashboard… it looks like a car not a truck . I really hate they are doing a center console shift now ….too car like…
Looks like the 3rd Gen Tundra
I would prefer if you could get the Panoramic Sunroof like you can get if the Ford F150. Come on GM get with it.
With all my of this talk about interiors and front end design, a question for all of you GM enthusiasts; what is better looking, the Chevy Tahoe High Country or the GMC Denali ?
I just love be the fact that it is integrated with the interior design I am starting to think that iPad look in interior is cheap and contained no thought process “ hey let’s put the screen right here” see what I mean
When is the 3500hd getting the up grades?
GM didn’t fix the most glaring styling deficiency: the proportion of the ground to hood height and the windshield base to roof height. The hood should be a good 4-5″ lower to correct the eye-straining proportion imbalance and improve forward sightlines. Like the guy in NYC who says, “The rent is too d*** high!”, in GM’s case, “The hood is too d*** high!”.
I agree with the hood height comment. I had a 2005 Sierra and visibility from it was much better. My 2015 and 2020 Sierra not so much.
The new interior is a definite improvement. In fact, I hope they migrate some of these ideas to the Yukon Denali. The exterior changes are interesting. I have to see one in person (maybe today at the Car Show) before I make up my mind. The comments regarding color options are spot on. A few more options would be welcome. But regardless of design, there is no way I’m buying this rig, or a Yukon, until there is more on the lots to foster competition and lower price.
I left GMC for Ram 8 years ago and the interior was a big reason. The new Denali Ultimate looks awesome. I love the grille, I think the 2021 grille is ugly as hell, the new grille isn’t as big as you think, the lights were redesigned to flow with the grille which makes it look larger. The two-tone brown-black seats look great. The electronic shifter in the center console is perfect. My 2013 Ram had the console shifter and I loved it, Ram then changed to the on dash turning knob and I hated it. The back gate with all the options is interesting and love the corner step-ups. I like the look and style of the horizontal screen, don’t like the Ram tall vertical screen. The thing I will really miss on my Limited Ram is the Ram Box, the best thing they ever did for storage. I will be going back to my old favourite GMC dealer and ordering the new 2022 Denali Ultimate as soon as it is available. Something not mentioned is there are 3 new paint colours available, they will be interesting Titanium Rush Metallic, Dynamic Blue Metallic and Desert Sand Metallic. Can’t wait!
I don’t love it. I’ve had the 2022 Denali 2500HD for about a month because I got tired of waiting for the refresh. I’m glad I didn’t wait to be disappointed. I hope they do a lot better on the next generation.
Seriously, no heated or ventilated seats? No heated steering wheels. These are the 3 main features I loved about my 2018. Why is GM taking steps backwards? What next? No retractable steps? End deflation now! For 80k, we expect high end.
GM will retrofit these options when the parts become available. This is because of supply chain constraints.
Nicest truck on the market. No comparison. Cant wait for the electric version.
Haha… a bunch of haters. I had one of the first 2019 (in 2018) Ram Limited’s in AZ… if not the first. I kept it less than a year. Ended up in a BMW X3 M40i than traded that for a new 2019 GMC Sierra Denali with the 6.2. What a difference! The Ram’s A/C sucked. Took it to two different dealers that told me it was working fine. The 12 inch screen had bugs in it and would shut down or freeze up in the AZ summer heat. It drove big. The interior was nice and the ride was nice, but the GMC feels like a sports car in comparison. I get compliments on my beautiful red GMC all the time! My lease is up in July and I plan on getting a new 2022 Denali… not the Ultimate because I can’t justify the cost to myself, but a new regular Denali will do just fine. Ford interiors suck by the way. I looked at Fords. The interiors felt cheap in comparison to the Ram and GMC.
Ford interiors are poorly laid out, hard, cheap & “blocky”.It looks like they put their interiors together with legos. I also hate the “dip” in the front window sills. It creates a very strange aesthetic appearance. Dodge truck exteriors are not as refined as GM. They just look too “rounded”. The proportions & symmetry are strange with Dodge trucks. Gm trucks are much classier in their exterior & interior design. But, to each their own.
This is very nice interior compared to Dodge that’s for sure. Dodge’s big screen sticks up in the middle of the dash as though it were an after thought when designing the truck! This looks classy where as the Dodge screen looks tacky & cheap. GM has done a nice job making the dash flow together as a work of art instead of a truck dash with a computer screen slapped in the middle of it.
To address those complaining about the heated seats not being available in the GM trucks…..GM is giving people a credit “but” as soon as the chips arrive you “will” be able to bring your truck in and GM will upgrade your truck with the heated seats etc. This is only a delayed (non)feature until more chips arrive.
It’s nice. They hit the mark. Horizontal screens are better than vertical. The chrome piece on the hood though, not so much. Just to much going on with it. Chip shortage, no heated steering wheel or seats. Can confirm you can bring it back for heated steering wheel retrofit fall of 2022. But haven’t heard anything about the seat. Heated seats are pretty much standard on almost every vehicle and a must in cold climates. I’d wait.
GM IS SO FAR BEHIND THE OTHER TRUCK MANUFACTURERS. I HAVE A 2021 GMC SLT THAT HAS
LANE DEPARTURE WARNING OPTION THAT DOES NOT
WORK. $60,000 UNSATISFACTORY TRUCK. I HAVE DRIVEN $30,000 TRUCKS WITH THIS OPTION THAT WORKS FLAWLESSLY. GM HAS A LONG WAY TO GO. THAT IS SAD.
New truck looks good. I’m reasy to trade up my GMC Canyon if the price is right. The larger display was badly needed as well as the auto running step bars and better designed headlights. Tailgate is very creative and functional. I am surprised that the side mirrors didnt receive a touch-up.