2019 Gmc Sierra 1500 Slt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM may have teased a whole group of electric vehicles

During GM's big CES press conference, the automaker highlighted a number of its upcoming electric car-related projects from delivery vans to the upcoming flagship Cadillac Celestiq. In the middle of it all, a collection of mystery cars sat in the background behind speakers. They were in the dark, lit only with their running lights, and while it's possible they're just generic filler cars or concepts, we think they could be future products. Our best shot of the cars together is shown above, and we can pretty easily identify three of the vehicles. In the center is obviously the GMC Hummer EV. On either side of it are Cadillacs. To the left seems to be the Lyriq crossover, and to the right is the Celestiq sedan. Two of these cars have production dates, and the third has been confirmed for eventual production, just without timing. This is why we think the rest of the cars are upcoming models. The next most easily identified car is on the near right behind the Cadillac Celestiq. It very clearly has a Chevy bowtie illuminated in the running lights. And looking closely, it appears to be a pickup truck. It's difficult to make out anything more than that. The nose does look a bit more rounded and swept back than the brick-like designs of the Silverado truck line. That also squares with what seemed to be the upcoming truck that appeared in the background of yet another GM presentation. GM previously said this electric Chevy truck will be a full-size model with up to 400 miles of range. That leaves us with three more mysterious models. Over to the left behind the Cadillac Lyriq are what appear to be a pair of crossovers. The one on the far left looks low, curvy, and possibly with a fastback roof. The one on the right is taller, boxier, and probably more of a full-size people hauler. It's hard to say much more beyond that. They could be new electric Buicks, which would fit in nicely with that brand's crossover portfolio, and would likely be highly successful in China, where Buicks, crossovers and electric cars are all rather hot commodities. As for the mystery car on the far right, it's quite a puzzle. We can at least rule out Buick and Cadillac, and GMC since it's definitely a car, and a rather small one compared with the other cars on display. That leaves Chevy, and possibly the autonomous division Cruise. We're leaning toward it being a Chevy, since the first Cruise vehicle is going to be a boxy pod of sorts.

2020 GMC Sierra 1500 Interior Driveway Test | Still lagging behind

GM has caught nothing but grief for the interiors of its full-size pickups since they were redesigned. Some of it is about perspective. Ram blew everybody away with the new 1500’s interior, but it's not like the Ford F-150 is embarrassed by it. Chevy and GMC are. Even a top-shelf Sierra Denali doesnÂ’t live up to the luxurious environment its price tag would promise.  The trim of Sierra we're testing is an AT4, though. ThatÂ’s the light off-roading version of the Sierra thatÂ’s mechanically the same as the Silverado Trail Boss we recently reviewed. Looking at the interior from a pure functionality standpoint, the Sierra is perfectly fine at performing its truck duties. The seats are wide, flat and comfortable. It has huge armrests on both sides so you can stretch out as much as your truck stretches the boundaries of the road (seriously, this thing is huge). All the buttons in the center stack are well-labeled, easily found and big enough to stab away at without hitting the wrong one. It even has a volume and tuning knob. Yeehaw!  But look at the design. And the styling, or lack thereof. ItÂ’s plain and lacking in imagination. The whole center stack is just one big slab of black plastic, and the only splashes of color or style to distinguish it visually are bits of silver surrounding knobs and bits of gray surrounding air vents. That's certainly not enough to make it attractive. There are token pieces of "wood" inserted on Denali models, but they're almost hidden away along the center console and doors.  The screen looks as if itÂ’s scrunched into the top of the stack due to the vents curving in on both sides, making it look smaller than its perfectly acceptable 8-inch size. That just makes it more obvious that GM doesn't offer something to challenge the gigantic 12-inch optional screen on the Ram 1500. Not good, because size does matter when it comes to trucks, even if it's measured in a touchscreen's inches rather than engine displacement. LetÂ’s not discount how good all of the tech is in the Sierra 1500, though. GMÂ’s infotainment software that runs on the screen is glitch-free and runs like lightning through screens and menus. The performance is impressive, and of course both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are on board.

Auto sales in March and first quarter down nearly across the board

Nearly every major automaker reported weak U.S. sales for March and the first quarter of 2019, citing a rough start to the year, but said a robust economy and strong labor market should encourage consumers to buy more vehicles as 2019 rolls on. GM, which no longer releases monthly sales figures, saw first-quarter sales fall 7 percent, with declines across all brands. Sales of Silverado pickup trucks fell nearly 16 percent and the high-margin Chevy Suburban large SUV dropped 25 percent. Ford also no longer releases monthly sales numbers, but is due to release its first-quarter sales figures on Thursday. According to industry data, Ford's sales fell 2 percent in the quarter and 5 percent in March. Ford representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. FCA reported a 7 percent fall in U.S. sales in March and a 3 percent drop for the first quarter. All of FCA's brands dropped in March, except for Ram, which saw a 15 percent increase in pickup truck sales. "The industry had a tough first quarter, but with spring finally starting to show its face and continued strong economic indicators ... we are confident that new vehicle sales demand will strengthen going forward," FCA's U.S. head of sales, Reid Bigland, said in a statement. Toyota reported a 3.5 percent fall in U.S. sales in March and 5 percent for the first quarter, hurt by declining demand for its Corolla sedans and Camry vehicles. "While some of our competitors are abandoning sedans, we remain optimistic about the future of the segment," Toyota said in a statement. Nissan posted a 5.3 percent drop in sales in March, and its first-quarter sales were down 11.6 percent. Honda and Hyundai bucked the trend. Honda's U.S. sales rose 4.3 percent in March and 2 percent in the quarter, while Hyundai's were up 1.7 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Passenger-car sales suffered throughout the January-March quarter compared with the same period in 2018 as Americans continued to abandon them in favor of larger, more comfortable pickup trucks and SUVs, which are far more profitable for automakers. The battle for market share in the particularly lucrative large-pickup truck market intensified in the quarter, as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Ram brand outsold the U.S.' No. 1 automaker General Motors' Chevrolet-brand trucks. The two automakers have both launched redesigned pickup trucks.