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Buyers ditching expensive European sedans to buy expensive American trucks

The New York Times ended the automotive week with a story that adds numbers and context to a range of other stories, from the crossover craze to the increasing median price of a new car to ever more grandiose pickup trucks. The NYT piece reveals that the shift to larger vehicles isn't merely about the average U.S. buyer swapping the midsize sedan for a Ford Edge. Luxury buyers are migrating from plush sedans to plush SUVs and trucks that creep close to six-figure prices, and the Detroit Three are running Treasury presses because of it. From 2013 to 2017, the truck category — everything from pickups to minivans — climbed from 30 percent of the market to 41 percent. In January of this year, trucks claimed 66 percent of new vehicle sales. At the milk-and-honey end of profits, GMC alone accounted for 11.3 percent of all vehicle sales over $60,000, not just trucks. That puts the luxury truck maker behind Mercedes-Benz and Ford, The Blue Oval's feasting on Lariat, King Ranch and Raptor versions of the F-150, which make up more than half of that pickup's sales, putting it ahead of Chevrolet, Porsche and Lexus on the high-dollar sales list. The average transaction price of a GMC in Denali trim last year was $56,000; it's easy to see why, when one dealer told the NYT he just swapped a 2012 BMW 550i for a $71,000 GMC Sierra Denali. That truck starts at $52,900. The NYT started its story with a buyer who took home a Ford Raptor instead of an Audi A6, and optioned that $50,020 Ford Raptor close to $80,000. Over at Lincoln, the new $72,055 Navigator — the one so popular that Ford will increase production — crossed hands for an average sale price of $77,000 in January. And a Jeep dealer told the NYT that the two $93,000 Trackhawks he had on his lot "won't be here more than a few weeks." While trucks head up in sales volume and price, cars are headed so viciously in the opposite direction that "the Detroit Three and even some foreign manufacturers acknowledge they are now losing money on many of the cars they sell." So ... get ready for a lot more crossovers and trucks. Related Video: Find out what vehicle is right for you. Give our Car Finder tool a try.

GM to unveil new SUVs at the State Fair of Texas?

With General Motors just having rolled out its new fullsize truck twins - the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra - for 2014, now it seems to be time to focus on its big SUVs. The Truth About Cars is reporting that the 2015 Chevy Tahoe/Suburban and 2015 GMC Yukon lineup will be making their debuts later next month at the State Fair of Texas, which kicks off on September 27.
To date, we've only seen spy shots of the new Chevy and GMC SUVs (shown above in Yukon XL guise). Based on those spies both trucks seem to be taking a different styling direction than their pickup truck counterparts - just check out the Ford-looking headlight design on the next-gen Chevys.
We reached out to GM for comment and heard back simply that there is no official announcement about the new Tahoe, Suburban and Yukon. Still, the report definitely makes a solid leap of logic, as Texas is a top market for GM's fullsize SUV lineup. It also appears that GM is still planning a separate launch for the next-gen Cadillac Escalade.

2024 GMC Sierra EV revealed with 754 horsepower, 400 miles of range

This is the 2024 GMC Sierra EV in all its Denali Edition 1 glory. You probably knew this was coming. After all, when Chevrolet debuts a new pickup, the GMC version of said truck is typically quick to follow. That’s exactly the case here yet again as the Sierra EV follows the somewhat recent debut of the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV. Per usual, the Chevy and GMC versions of the electric truck share a lot of similarities. TheyÂ’re also different in many of the same ways weÂ’re accustomed to within the GM pickup family. The biggest differentiator is design. If the Silverado EV wasnÂ’t your cup of tea, perhaps the Sierra EV is! Just like the Silverado EV, the Sierra rides on GMÂ’s Ultium platform. ItÂ’s being offered exclusively in Crew Cab form at launch. GMC designers emphasized its upright stance and proportions as typical truck styling. However, close examination will show a lot of curved edges and a focus on aerodynamics to achieve a lower coefficient of drag. The front grille is devoid of any flashy patterns, as GMC has opted to go for the shield aesthetic. Light is heavily used to bring a flash of design to the face — the whole grille features a light-up surround. A three-bar charging status indicator can be seen on the front end, and engineers intentionally mounted the headlights lower in the front fascia than usual. For the Denali Edition 1 (the only version of the Sierra EV available at market launch), all of the exterior trim is done in glossy black, except for the areas you might step on, which are finished in a flat black. The rear features GMCÂ’s MultiPro tailgate, and just like the Silverado EV, the Sierra EV comes with the fancy MidGate. GMC calls it the “MultiPro MidGate,” but itÂ’s the same tech used here as youÂ’ll see in the Silverado EV. With the MidGate down, you get nine feet of storage between the cab and the tailgate. Storage can extend out to 11 feet if you use the MultiPro tailgateÂ’s stopper feature with the tailgate down. Also, the MidGate can be folded with a 60/40 split, so you can get that extra length and still retain some backseat passenger room. All of the powertrain and battery tech is similar to the Silverado EV. That means you get a pair of electric motors for all-wheel drive capability with a combined output of 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. YouÂ’ll need to be in “Max Power Mode” (we know, much less exciting than WTF mode in the Hummer EV) to realize all that power.