GMSV expected to add V8 SUV to its line-up

AT THE introduction of the facelifted MY23 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 range, General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) stated that it will make other new product announcements for Australia and New Zealand in 2023 – without confirming or denying any plans to introduce a V8-powered, right-hand drive SUV to appeal to buyers that want the Silverado’s towing and off-road ability in a vehicle that isn’t a pick-up truck.

When operating under the Holden brand, General Motors Australia had previously re-engineered (and rebadged) the long-wheelbase Chevrolet Suburban SUV for right-hand-drive, with limited sales success, from 1998 to 2001.

GMSV also said there will be further announcements about Cadillac expanding globally as an EV-only brand – expected later this year – following the reveal of GM’s electric-vehicle ambitions and the flexibility of its ‘Ultium’ EV platform in mid-2022, plus allusions to future confirmation of the Ultium platform being relevant to right-hand drive markets.

In the case of the C8 Chevrolet Corvette, right-hand drive models are produced alongside left-hand drive versions at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly Plant in Kentucky to satisfy strong demand in Japan and the UK, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Yet while the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up easily outsells the C8 Corvette in Australia – the full-size ute line-up achieving 2389 sales in ’22 versus 225 sales for the C8 Corvette – GMSV says that building right-hook Silverados in the US remains unfeasible given the relatively tiny percentage of right-hand drive versus total US production volume (523,249 units last year).

The Silverado’s local re-engineering process will also apply to any future V8-powered GM SUVs sold in Australia and New Zealand – filling an obvious gap in GMSV’s local product portfolio.

While the market for super-sized, larger-engined vehicles that can haul a huge caravan across the country, or an enormous boat to the marina, is growing steadily, the sole options for buyers are currently US-sourced dual-cab pick-up trucks – re-engineered for right-hand drive by Australian firms – not their mechanically similar SUV relatives.

When questioned by GoAuto News about whether the Chevrolet Tahoe SUV or the more upmarket GMC Yukon SUV – both closely related to the Silverado 1500 pick-up under the skin – might be on the table for our market, GM Australia and New Zealand managing director Marc Ebolo played his cards close to his chest, without refuting the idea.

“We do have product announcements this year, but we’re not prepared to go into them,” said Mr Ebolo.

“We’ve got a very staged comms plan that we really want to stick to … (so) I don’t think we’re going to comment on future products right now.

“We’ve got a lot (coming) this year, and when I say a lot, that’s across all of our business units. We’ve got announcements for AC Delco, we’ve got announcements that we want to do for Chevrolet Racing, for example. (But) yes, we do have product announcements this year.”

While the Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon SUV is based on the same T1XX platform as the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra pick-ups, the regular wagon-bodied versions ride on a significantly shorter wheelbase (3071mm versus 3745mm for the ute) are much shorter overall (5352mm versus 5931), yet only slightly narrower (2057mm versus 2074) and actually have a wider rear track (1735mm versus 1728).

That last measurement is related to the completely different rear suspension used in the SUV versions – a sophisticated multi-link independent set-up rather than the leaf-sprung live axle used in pick-up versions – which can be combined with optional ‘Magnetic Ride Control’ adaptive dampers or electronically height-adjustable adaptive air suspension.

In the US, the Tahoe/Yukon are available with either 5.3- or 6.2-litre petrol V8s, as well as a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel inline six-cylinder, though according GMSV’s marketing and communications manager Jodie Lennon, “we’ll stick to the swim lane of the V8 and we’re always exploring the demands of the market, (however) we’ve got nothing else to say on that this time around.”

What can be assumed is that the active-displacement, direct-injection 313kW/624Nm 6.2-litre petrol V8 with 10-speed automatic specified as standard in right-hand drive Silverados will almost certainly translate into an SUV application, given it already meets Australian requirements and is such a capable towing tool.

Combined with an optional ‘Max Trailering Package’ (with additional cooling and a two-speed transfer case in 4WD models), the Tahoe 4WD has a US braked towing capacity of 3682kg while the top Yukon expands that to 3818kg. In comparison, the MY23 Silverado’s braked capacity in Australia is 4500kg in LTZ Premium with its standard Z71 package and 4200kg in the new off-road-focused ZR2.

Based on its more luxurious interior specification (that more closely aligns to the appearance of the screen-heavy MY23 Silverado’s new interior), plus its more premium line-up, long-wheelbase Yukon XL (sharing a derivation of the same name, unlike Chevy’s LWB Suburban version), and the off-road-focused Yukon AT4, GoAuto News expects that GMSV will favour introducing the upmarket GMC over the lesser-equipped Chevrolet, if indeed the company decides to introduce a wagon alternative to the highly successful Silverado pick-up.

There’s also a chance that GMSV may consider introducing the sports-focused Chevrolet Tahoe RST Performance Edition, seeing that it shares the same 6.2-litre V8 drivetrain as the Silverado/GMC Yukon but with Chevrolet Performance induction and exhaust systems, and ‘police-spec’ steering, suspension and brakes.

Given that the Tahoe shares it’s front-end and A-pillar hard points with the Silverado pick-up, GMSV could insert its right-hand-drive Silverado dashboard in the Tahoe RST, instead of re-tooling for the US version’s different layout – in much the same way that right-hand drive versions of classic GM products often shared the same componentry.

In the 1960s, the Australian-assembled Chevrolet Bel Air/Impala and Pontiac Laurentian/Parisienne full-size sedans both shared the same Chevrolet dashboard (and narrow-track Chevrolet chassis) to save on production costs, rather than the completely different componentry featured on the US-built versions of the Pontiac.

As for any impending Cadillac announcements about right-hand-drive EVs being offered in Australia (as well as Japan and the UK), director of GM International communications Lauren Indiveri-Clarke confirmed that General Motors is “definitely scaling up the business in Europe and looking at launching there across several countries with an EV portfolio, and it’ll start with Cadillac.

“No announcements on specific product at this time … but we always study the other markets that are aligned to the business there. We look at all of our markets across GMI (General Motors International), and what opportunities we have,” said Ms Indiveri-Clarke.

“We don’t have anything to announce today … (and) we haven’t made a global right-hand drive announcement at this time. I encourage you to stay tuned, though,” she said, alluding to the likely confirmation of right-hand drive Cadillac EVs later this year or in early 2024.