2012 Gmc Sierra Sle 1500 Z71 4x4 on 2040-cars

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GM dealers have ordered 30k Colorado and Canyon pickups, 3rd shift added

General Motors has an early success on its hands in the form of the initial rollout of the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks. According to the automaker, dealers have ordered nearly 30,000 of the trucks thus far, a number that far exceeded GM's early expectations.
This high demand for the Colorado and Canyon twins has prompted GM to add a third shift to its Wentzville Assembly plant where the trucks are built, starting early next year. An extra shift will add an additional 750 jobs at the location to the 1,315 that were already employed there, according to the press release that you're welcome to read down below.
Such positive sales projections for the Canyon and Colorado may portend good things for the midsize pickup segment, which was once hugely popular but has more recently contracted, with the Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma standing firm as the market leaders. Now that GM's entries are the most up-to-date, and with the segment's first diesel engine on the way, it will be interesting to see how the trucks continue to sell and if their hopeful success leads more automakers back onto the playing field.

Junkyard Gem: 1985 GMC Suburban K1500

General Motors has been selling Suburbans since 1935, outlasting the DeSoto Suburban, the Nash Ambassador Suburban and the Plymouth Fury Suburban. These days, the US-market GMC-branded twin to the Chevrolet Suburban wears Yukon XL badging, but GMC Suburbans were sold here from 1937 through 1999. Today's Junkyard Gem is a four-wheel-drive example of the very successful 1973-1991 Suburban generation, found in a car graveyard just outside of Reno, Nevada. The Service Parts Identification sticker on the glovebox lid tells us that this truck was part of a fleet order with some interesting RPO codes, including one for "Retail Amenity Delete." Yes, the cigarette lighter was an extra-cost option. The original engine was a good old carbureted Chevrolet 350-cubic-inch (5.7-liter) small-block V8, and this small-block may even be the one that was installed on the line in Flint, Michigan. The power rating was 165 horsepower and 275 pound-feet, not a lot of power (by our current standards) for a truck that scaled in at nearly two-and-a-half tons, but it was enough for the era. The transmission is the optional 700R4 four-speed automatic. The seat is a bench, as is proper. This is a half-ton with four-wheel-drive and the base Sierra trim level. The High Sierra and Sierra Classic packages (corresponding to Chevrolet's Scottsdale and Silverado names at the time) got you nicer-looking decorations plus some convenience features. The 1985 GMC and Chevrolet Suburbans had identical price tags, which started at $11,650 for the K1500 with 350 engine (about $24,682 in 2024 dollars). The eighth-generation Suburban showed up as a 1992 model, and it received the luxurious independent front suspension that had lived beneath C/K-series GM pickups since the 1988 model year. At some point, the tailgate from a Chevrolet Suburban was installed. Rust works slowly in Nevada, though we don't know where this truck resided before it came to the Silver State. An owner of this truck was a proud member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 12, which covers California and Nevada. What broke and sent this truck here? We can't know. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Suburban doesn't show up in this commercial for the 1985 GMC trucks, but it's still worth a view. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2016 GMC Terrain Denali Quick Spin

Here's a bewildering statistic – General Motors sold over 347,000 GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox crossovers in 2014, making the Theta platform twins the best selling vehicles in their segment. GM sold more Equinox/Terrain crossovers than Honda did CR-Vs, Ford did Escapes, and Toyota did RAV4s. After a week behind the wheel of the 2016 Terrain Denali, we can't fathom why GMC's entry, which accounts for nearly a full third of GM's annual small CUV sales, has been so popular. An inefficient engine, cheap interior plastics, uncomfortable seats, a shortage of technology, and a high price left us questioning why anyone would order this Denali over a Titanium-trim Ford Escape, a Jeep Cherokee Limited, or a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport with the Unlimited Package. Driving Notes While looks are subjective, we'd posit that GMC didn't go far enough with its 2016 mid-cycle refresh. New accents on the front bumper, a tweaked grille surround, and LED running lights round out the changes up front, while the rear gets a slightly different bumper. GMC claims there's a new hood, although we challenge you to pick out the differences – here are the official galleries for the 2013 and 2016, if you'd like to try. GMC missed a tremendous opportunity here. New headlights, some restyled taillights, and tweaked mirrors would have given the impression of a more significant refresh. As it stands, these changes don't add up to much. GMC also claims it made changes in the cabin, adding a "revised instrument panel center stack." Aside from the missing CD slot, which has been replaced with an oddly shaped and not terribly useful shelf, it's hard to spot much of a difference. The Terrain Denali's cabin materials feel cheap. You'll be spending at least $35,000 to park one of these in your driveway, but aside from the leather-and-faux-wood steering wheel, no material feels worthy of that price tag inside. The lower dash plastics are hard and scratchy, the center stack feels hollow and creaks when pressed on, and the too-small shade over the seven-inch display feels flimsy. The upper dash is covered in a cheap-feeling, leather-like material that looks unchanged from when the Terrain Denali debuted back in model year 2013. These materials don't make sense in a vehicle that, as tested, exceeded $41,000. The most egregious thing about the refreshed Terrain is the lack of content.