GMC Sierra All Terrain HD Concept

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVMib1T4T4

I had to call JJ, guys. This one simply can’t walk on it’s own.

I think GM should build it along with next gen Sierra’s on next gen platform.

@ bmfk

Maybe you missed it, but an HD Terrain is a horible idea.

Not only would it overlap with existing HD products, but the platform it’s already own would need substantial reengineering to make it even any near capible of meeting any pre-determinded HD demands.

We’re not even getting to how unsellable it would be. What could it possible do that existing HD’s couldn’t do?

The Terrain already sells in it’s present form; An HD version would have an MSRP well above existing HD trucks.

I don’t think he meant to put HD in the GMC Terrain. I think he meant the ALL TERRAIN in the Sierra.

@Grawdaddy Yes, I’m pretty sure @bmfk meant the Sierra All Terrain HD Concept:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/01/naias-2011-gmc-sierra-all-terrain-hd-concept-doesnt-need-a-press-conference-for-attention/

@mbfk Outside of extreme cases, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the new Ford diesels — so no need to put a Duramax in it at all. But to the original story: there needs to be some kind of an off-road variant for the next-gen trucks; something to go against the Raptor. It doesn’t need to be a heavy duty, even. Just a good-ol’ F-150 Raptor fighter.

Oh, so this is something for the Raptor.

Then no. GM doesn’t need to build douche trucks for consumer minorities.

@bmfk

Wait, I thought you were the redneck… 🙂

@bmfk So consumer minorities buy Ford trucks, eh?

1. What’s wrong with that, and
2. Ford’s current truck line outsells that of GM by a sizable margin… and has continued to do so for many years. And it does so with higher transaction figures, as well.

What’s “minor” about that?

One can hate on Ford all one wants… but there’s no denying their current leadership in the industry and the guts to release a niche vehicle like the Raptor in the first place.

Also, can we please not stoop to name-calling the products of a competitor (example: Craptor)? That’s what 10 year-old boys do at a playground.

This isnt a playground? Why is this place so much fun then…

I dont see anything wrong with any company making niche minority products as long as their profitable.

The raptor showed that a truck like the raptor can be successful, theres no reason GM shouldn’t get in the game.

I would buy one, not that I would ever use its off road capability, but I love the looks and there’s nothing like the confidence you get on the road that comes from a truck like the raptor.

The only reason alot of raptors end up damaged is because some owners think that just because its been designed to go off road, they can do anything with them, like going over a huge jagged rock at a high speed, because you know, its been designed for off road so its invincible.

It’s a virtual playground! Now give me my Raptor or else I’m gonna tell my mom! 🙁

Your whole post is spot on: make a niche vehicle at a profit is the goal. But when some begin to count profit margin in percent of overall revenue, and that profit margin is slightly lower than what a bean counter thinks it should be… then we end up in situations where GM is now: no compact pocket rockets, no astoundingly cool trucks, and a lack of certain options across the board — all because it’s more profitable to NOT offer them.

@ bmfk

“Enough of this GMC needs to build the Serria HD Terrain Concept. It’s a money maker hands down”

No, it isn’t, and won’t ever be. It won’t be a “money maker” if GM has to spend over and above their annual GMT900 refresh budget to make a truck that will sell to just a few.

Shoot the bean counters? And what, listen to the douche truck people who think ‘truck nuts’ are statements of their professionalism and want the world to know? At least the bean counters have the math behind them to show they mean business, even if they’ve never turned a wrench.

Furthermore, I couldn’t care less about your work as a frame tech (it doesn’t mean you know about what does and doesn’t sell), or how misinformed you are about the auto industry as a whole. As of late, on YTD sales, Toyota is the largest automaker on earth, not GM – both of which got to their present size on the backs of volume products, NOT niche products like douche trucks. Your drawn parallels between the Ford Raptor and the Yamaha Raptor don’t extend to the Buick Century and the Toyota Century.

C’mon, bmfk, you can do better than this. Realistically, how many HD Terrains do you think GM would sell annually?

@ bmfk

Allow me to rub/smear Toyota’s total global sales number in your face:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10/toyota-tops-gm-in-global-vehicle-sales-in-year-s-first-quarter.html

It isn’t “mean ol Graw sticking up for Toyota”. It’s the cold, hard, eyeless facts that, apparently, scare you into denial. You can keep lying to yourself, but it won’t help you if you haven’t got the numbers to back you up…just like how the bean counters have the number to back themselves up.

I don’t see how being honest with the given facts of Toyota’s sales supremacy has anything to do with your country’s socico-political and socico-economic inequities; I belive that is a matter you American can sort out yourselves rather than gripe, bitch, and moan about “the good old days”.

I particually like this line you typed:

“building a truck like the serria terrain HD Concept and sell it overseas, and start exporting instead of importing,”

I don’t want to label you with the unfair stereotype of an uneducated American who knows nothing of the rest of the world, but you really are swinging hard to earn that label.

Tell me how an HD Sierra Terrain is suppose to be compeditive in places where the Toyota Hilux reigns supreme? Where the cost of diesel is astronomically high? Where the cost of car ownership is high? Where the demand for compact and mid-size trucks is in greater demand than what an HD Sierra Terrain could ever hope to achive in a full-size truck? Why export a truck nobody overseas would buy when GM already has the forthcoming Colorado pickup that is more affordable, easier on fuel, and doesn’t come with $10K worth of bling tacked on?

I’m not defending the Toyota Hilux, but people swear up and down of it’s reliability, and I very much doubt a larger, costlier, blinged-out GMT900 is going to make them drop their already competent Toyota Hilux’s for an unproved pickup that doesn’t meet their needs.

I already do work hard, and if I could, I would vote for O just as a block to keep theocrats from turning your nation into a cesspit. Perhaps you and the handful of people who liked the HD Terrain concept could do the same, but if you actually counted how many would buy the truck, even if it did come in over $75K, I think you’ll find that there would be few buyers for it. Certainly not enough for GM to cover the R&D costs, which matter more than how many people would buy it.

Lastly, it isn’t hypocracy for Ford to build the Raptor and for GM to not build a compeditor. Ford has the tiny niche segment all to themselves in the exact same way GM had the mid-size van segment all to itself years ago with the Chev Astro. It simply isn’t cost effective for GM to build a truck like the HD Sierra Terrain to chase after the few thousand who could afford such a truck. Just like how Ford never made a mid-size van, becasue it wasn’t cost effective to do so.

Does to truth hurt you more than it does me? I bet it does. Numbers can be downright painful and where you’re being motivated by emotion and not rationality, I can see why you’re in pain.

TL;DR

Toughen up; the auto industry is a very mean place where you can’t always get what your want, no matter how much you want it to be.

grawdaddy, those people who think “truck nuts” are cool or a statement of ‘professionalism’ are not truck guys there #$%^in retards. real truck guys want indecent power and some cool looking rims. maybe offroading prowess or not (take me for example i’m lowering my truck). ps. this is directed at your earlire comment but as i was about to post my internet crashed

I get ya Chevmax. It’s just that truck nuts embody a kind of person I don’t want to associate with, or even shake hands with. I’m fairly certain that most truck owners wouldn’t be caught dead with truck nuts, and many may see it as being a bit too “flamboyant”, if you get my drift.

Truck owners are completely free to rice up their trucks with any amount of stuff they like; bumper stickers, brush bars, lift kits, cliche girly silhouette mud flaps, bullet hole stickers, fake hood scoops, and so on. But for some reason, to me, an HD Sierra Terrain would likely come standard with truck nuts, and for that it simply shouldn’t exist beyond being a concept truck.

graw A. it’s not ricing up if theres performance to back it up. B. does the raptor come standard with truck nuts, no, on another one of my forums (duramaxforums.com) they are all GM truck guys and i’ll tell you the raptor has got some respect on there. But if GM did the same thing only with a duramax in it there would people tripping over eachother to get one. Also it would be a good way to start off the next generation truck.

GM should build either All Terrain HD or even LD (raptor fighter) this vehicle won’t sell in high numbers and GM probably won’t see profit from this model, but it will give a tough and better image to GM trucks which in result will boost sales to all GM trucks.

Guys, I think we could be missing an important aspect of the Raptor — and its possible competitor from Chevy/GMC: the halo effect.

To start, I know that the Raptor is, in fact, profitable to build and to sell for The Blue Oval. I had a chance to look at some numbers recently and boy are we mistaken when we think these companies are operating at record-slim margins.

But even if the Raptor were a loss-making vehicle, I believe that its pure existence would drive sales of other F-150s, since not everyone is able to pay $45,000+ for a Raptor. The model brings excitement to the brand and to the nameplate and you can think through the rest.

This is why Chevy and/or GMC needs such a truck. It doesn’t need to be a direct rock-crawlin’ and desert-stormin’ Raptor competitor, but it needs to look striking, be capable, and carry the exclusivity proudly.

PS: @bmfk It’s hard to admin for me as well, but GM is not the world’s most popular automaker. Toyota is.

What we need to consider is that GM’s sales in China — which are greater than those in the U.S. — aren’t entirely GM’s. GM counts the sales of its joint venture partners, Wuling and SAIC, as its own — which isn’t accurate. Strip away Wuling and SAIC sales in China out of GM’s global sales numbers, and GM is far behind Toyota in the numbers game.

well actually bmfk… they can start their truck ect with thier phones they just have to uy the onstar fmv mirror.

Are you serious? Youre main virtues to buy a GM over a Ford is because you can ” start your truck from your phone lock/unlock, check tire pressure, see how much fuel you have when your oil change is due send navigation directions to your navigation system”

Really? Well I woulnt base my very major decision over a few trival / not practical / probably never used features like those above.

And to clarify, Im not a “Ford fan” , I just think that the Silverado and the F150 are excellent trucks and dont believe that either one is significantly better than the other.

@bmfk is right — the FMV mirror only offers:
– roadside assistance
– stolen vehicle location assistance
– hands-free calling
– turn by turn navigation
– automatic crash response

If one wants the full OnStar experience like the RemoteLink app (with remote start, remote door lock/unlock, and vehicle information) as well as the vehicle health report, a GM vehicle with OnStar is the only way to go.

@Babersher For me, the value added by OnStar isn’t a “main virtue”, but it’s definitely a significant point of differentiation; for instance, when I had my Cruze, I used the RemoteLink app every day to remote start the car in the mornings and evenings.

It’s because some people are foolish enough to still think in terms of cross-town rivialry; the kind of thinking that went out 30 years ago.

As for the concept making production, it wouldn’t make “a killing” as GM would likely need at least 8-10K per annum to make any money off it.

I mean bmfk knows 3 people who would like it, so that’s gotta all that’s need to seal this deal and make this truck!

To summerize, GM shouldn’t waste their R&D money on vehicles nobody needs or wants.

@Alex

Obviously, Onstar isnt a “main virtue” , but @bmfk seems to be extolling it as it is a “main virtue”, its something you use and appreciate, but for me, I have no use for it, so thats why I wouldnt use it as a reason to buy a Silverado over a F150, not only because only a limited amount of people would use it, but also because such an aftermarket system could be easily installed on any car.

@Grawdaddy

Personally, I dont need a raptor type truck, but I sure want one.

And if the Raptor can make money for Ford, than GM can make money on such a truck as well.

Im not saying that it must be built and will be extremely successful out of the gate, but that its an idea worth being considered. Were not privy to information such as sales estimates and cost to build one that only GM has. On the outset, it would seem that such a truck would not be profitable, but then the raptor is. So Im just advocating that GM do a lenghty and detailed study into whether such a truck would be profitable, and if it is, by even a slim margin, then build it.

gradaddy, bmfk knows three i know a couple hundred (not including myself) aand those are the ones i know for sure. not to mention all the guys that already do that to thier sierras and silvys.

@Chevmax

A couple hundred that you know for sure? Seriously?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar’s_number

You can’t beat Dunbar’s number, and even then, you only know of possible interest in the truck. Having an interest in the truck is on thing. Having the finances will tell you who can actually buy one, and that’s only if they genuinely want one beyond what they already have.

first of all its chevtothemax. however if chevmax is a nickname i’m fine with that. yes a couple hundred i know for sure who also have the finances to buy one. (the perfering over what they have might drop the number a bit) its called online forums. much like the one we’re currently on actually 8-| . and the raptor has gained alot of intrest there is also the ram runner but thats a little bit too much for people (typical dodge over the toppness).

@grawdaddy I’m not at liberty to discuss specifics right now, but let’s just say that the break-even for the Raptor is much, much lower than you imagine above (10,000 per year). I had a chance to nab a peek at some numbers that I wasn’t supposed to see… long story short, the R&D costs as well as those associated with production variance are not even remotely high. In fact, the “toughest” part of putting a variant like the Raptor into production is sourcing the components and determining/finalizing logistics with suppliers.

That’s why it makes so much sense for a truck like this — and other inexpensive variants of existing models — to be put into production. The costs are insignificant, the margins are slightly higher than average (per unit of output), and the added image benefits drawn from said variant’s exsitence are huge, albeit mostly intangible.

I don’t why Chevy don’t have fighters for raptor, platinum, Harley Davidson, and king ranch. I just hope that GM will have all of those answers with the K2XX’s.

@Chevtothemax

“its called online forums. much like the one we’re currently on actually”

You think the number of people who post in forums that oh so common “build it now!” and “Do it GM!” and “If they build it, I will sell my X and buy it” are legitment sources to gauge interest in the production worthness of a vehicle? And you know them all personally? Seriously?

What you’re reading on those forums, chevtothemax, is the immediate impulsive responces to a concept; virtually all of them are gut reactions that aren’t based on direct reasoning. Of course there’s going to be page after page of people posting “build it now” comments, that’s becasue a concepts motivate people to be impulsive with their reaction; the “wow factor” that auto designers aim for when making a concept.

It’s easy to get the crowds to say “Wow!” but it’s another thing for the crowds to settle down and produce the money and a credit history report. I very much doubt you’ll find people on a forum eager to brag about the amout of disposable income they have and what they’re credit rating is.

It’s very likely the number of “build it now” posters are a inverse of the number of people who post “build it now and here is a proof of my finacial abillity to buy your product”.

GM is only interested in the latter anyway.

well grawdaddy how do you know that i dont actually know them personally (local diesle forums do exist and i have met with them at races and for coffee.) and i’m not talking about direct reactions to the concept. i’m talking about reactions from gm people to the raptor, which are mostly positive, the only negative comments are about the fact that it is a ford. now all of them would like to see a gm version ( i have no doubts most of them have, but they were talking about it long before the concept broke cover). yes there are people who want it and post for gm to build it that don’t have the ability to buy it me included. but there are people who WILL buy it and CAN. considering the amount of money people put into their trucks for the exact same product it’s plausible.

and lex i’m with you there. ford has soooo many more trim levels then silverado/sierra. now sierra has the denali trim that is up there with platinum and silverado has the GFX ultimate for harley davidson.

@ chevtothemax

“well grawdaddy how do you know that i dont actually know them personally”

Because of Dunbar’s number. You, me, and everyone else on Earth is impacted by it. Therefore, I can call your bluff.

For you and your online forum activities, you know OF these people, you know nothing of their genuine interest in the truck beyond their immediate gut reaction of when they first see it.

“yes there are people who want it and post for gm to build it that don’t have the ability to buy it me included.”

Then those people shouldn’t be the ones shouting “Build it now GM” or “I would buy it” on any forum. I mean, it would be unfair to GM to think that those people might actually want the truck, but then realize that the demand was built on the gut reaction of say 500 posters when only about 10 were genuinely serrious.

Those who want and can afford it should have their voices heard first, and not be allowed to get drowned out by the 500 posts “build it GM” who never really could buy the truck in the first place.

graw, seriously? “local diesle forums do exist and i have met with them at races and for coffee.” so no they aren’t just people on a forum, “this limit is a direct function of relative neocortex size, and that this in turn limits group size … the limit imposed by neocortical processing capacity is simply on the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained.” yes they aren’t close relashionships but there is some sort of personal-ness there.
“they were talking about it long before the concept broke cover” so no it was’nt thier gut reaction to seeing the concept.
“but there are people who WILL buy it and CAN. considering the amount of money people put into their trucks for the exact same product it’s plausible.”
now are we done arguing. we people who can’t buy it if it comes out but say for GM to build it on online forums like this one, yes we have no say in GM yes we can’t afford it but we want gm to succeed and we have some knowledge on what customers want from GM because of our interaction with such customers on a daily bases.

@bmfk

First, its Babersher

In my experience, the best judge of a car is yourself, not a magazine, not online, not your friends, but yourself, and I have never had a problem in the short time I owned a high mileage F150.

I am not in any construction or contracting business so I have no experiance at all with heavy duty trucks and largest thing I ever towed was a small u haul trailer, so I dont know, but I do know that there are people out there who will defend their respective brand just as crazily as you do and I know that if Fords and Rams were as bad compared to GM as you make them out to be, they woulnt be selling so well so long.

man, i cannot even believe chevy is questioning the new 2014 consept hd. i have 4 brothers, (we all own the newest gmc’s) and to the one of us, we would all sell and upgrade to this new consept truck if it looked just like the consept. i asked 4 of my friends wich truck they would buy, then showed them the consept truck and one of the off the line gimmies…guess wich one every dam one of us picked hands down?? (and “we” are the ones buying chevy’s tucks) the biggest complaint we had was the front ends haveing no ground clearance (whats up with that chevy??) the new concept has higher ground clearence and the front end looks so killer we all just drooled!!! NOW ;THAT IS A TRUCK!!!!
for some strange reason chevys bean counters can not see that all chevy trucks should look like this. so lets keep it simple for them so they get it…
get 500 guys and line them up and show them a standard production gmc then show them one of these consept trucks and ask them wich one they want…my guess is 85 % if not more would pick the consept truck. we are not worried about gass milage, we will just buy a gass sipper car to run errends if we are conserned about that. (but DAM IT, WE HAVE TOYS TO HAUL, BOATS,FOUR WHEELERS, SNOW MACHINES….) WE WANT A TRUCK. if chevy does not build this truck, they are CLUELESS as to what there customers want. WE ALL WANT THAT TRUCK!!!! GET your heads out of your buts chevy!