The Chevy Silverado is by far GM’s best-selling product and second only to Ford F-Series on the U.S. sales charts. Combined production of the light-duty Chevy Silverado 1500, the heavy-duty Chevy Silverado HD, and the fully electric Chevy Silverado EV is handled through no less than five assembly plants, one of which is located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Now, production is underway for the Chevy Silverado HD ZR2 in Oshawa.
“Our Oshawa Assembly Plant has started production of the Chevrolet Silverado HD ZR2 Edition!” GM Canada declared on social media. “Canada loves trucks, and our manufacturing team is ready to meet the demand.”
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Previously, GM wasn’t producing any ZR2 variants of the Silverado at the Oshawa plant. In 2023, GM cited a reduction in build complexity and an improvement in manufacturing efficiency as the reasons for this. However, the new tariff environment was likely part of the decision to expand Silverado HD production in Canada to include the Chevy Silverado HD ZR2 for the Canadian market.
The Oshawa plant is now building all Silverado HD trims, but only in the Crew Cab Standard Bed configuration. Oshawa also doesn’t build any duallies, and there are some constraints on the paint options offered.
| Buildable | |
|---|---|
| TRIM LEVELS | |
| Work Truck | Y |
| Custom | Y |
| LT | Y |
| ZR2 | Y |
| LTZ | Y |
| High Country | Y |
| BODY STYLES | |
| Regular Cab Long Bed | N |
| Double Cab Standard Bed | N |
| Double Cab Long Bed | N |
| Crew Cab Standard Bed | Y |
| Crew Cab Long Bed | N |
| REAR WHEELS | |
| Single Rear Wheels | Y |
| Dual Rear Wheels | N |
| ENGINES | |
| 6.6L V8 L8T | Y |
| Turbodiesel 6.6L V8 L5P | Y |
| PAINT COLORS | |
| Black (GBA) | Y |
| Cypress Gray (GBD) | N |
| Iridescent Pearl Tricoat (G1W) | N |
| Lakeshore Blue Metallic (GXP) | Y |
| Radiant Red Tintcoat (GNT) | N |
| Red Hot (G7C) | Y |
| Slate Gray Metallic (GNO) | Y |
| Sterling Gray Metallic (GXD) | Y |
| Summit White (GAZ) | Y |
Essentially, the Oshawa plant maximizes production efficiency and costs by building the most popular Chevy Silverado HD configurations in the most sought-after paint colors. This is part of a new industry-wide effort in North America to assemble vehicles in the same country where they’re sold.
The 2024 Chevy Silverado HD received a mid-cycle refresh that rounded an updated front fascia on some trim levels, a revised Duramax diesel engine, towing capacity revisions, more upscale cabins in higher-end trim levels, as well as paint color swaps. The 2024 model year also introduced the off-road-focused Chevy Silverado HD ZR2 and the even more extreme Silverado HD ZR2 Bison Edition. The 2025 Chevy Silverado HD received many changes, including adding the Trail Boss Package, some equipment reshuffling, and paint color revisions.
Comments
Seems tariff motivated. ZR2 HD was Flint only so US and Canada market builds both rolled down Flint. This could be to build Canadian market ZR2 and keep Flint building US market ZR2 HD?
Mary doesn’t want American’s to work .. Mary you ruined GM enough time to go ./..
Trump rolled down Flint….its not Canada’s fault! He insulted and stepped all over Canadians with his 51st state crap, what did we expect them to do? What would we have done? Shame on him!
Buy em all Canada!!! Im in market but next time, you bail GM out!!!