2007 Chevrolet Express 1500 135 Quot on 2040-cars

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Chevy brings back Midnight Edition Colorado and Silverado for 2016

Chevrolet is capitalizing on the popularity of last year's shadowy Midnight Edition pickups with new versions at the Chicago Auto Show. The package's darker trim allows buyers to make their trucks look a little more menacing straight from the dealer. The 2016 Midnight Editions don't deviate from last year's monochromatic theme. The trucks feature blacked-out trim from the grille, badges, bumpers, and headlight bezels. The obsidian shades also appear on the side moldings and painted wheels. Chevy completes the dark theme with a black spray-in bedliner. Available with the Z71 package, customers can also get off-road equipment like an upgraded suspension, locking rear differential, and hill descent control – depending on the model. Chevy offered the Midnight Edition for the Silverado and Colorado last year, in addition to other models, and customers couldn't get enough of the dark trucks. "The Silverado 1500 Midnight was by far the most popular model in 2015, as demand outstripped supply in a matter of months. It only made sense to expand our special-edition offerings for 2016, including new Midnight editions," Sandor Piszar, Chevy's truck marketing director, said in the models' announcement. Chevy spokesperson Monte Doran told Autoblog the 2016 Midnight Edition pickups will be available this spring, but he wouldn't comment on pricing. You can get a good look at what to expect in the gallery above and expect live photos soon. Related Video: Chevrolet Trucks Back in Black for 2016 New Midnight Special Editions available on Silverado 1500 Z71, Colorado Z71 DETROIT – Chevrolet is expanding the popular Midnight Special Edition with new models available on 2016 Silverado 1500 Z71 and 2016 Colorado Z71. They join a growing portfolio of special-edition trucks whose popularity helped Chevrolet truck sales increase 27 percent last year – double the increase for the total truck market. "We introduced several special-edition trucks in 2015 – each combining equipment and appearance packages designed for specific enthusiasts in mind," said Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet truck marketing director. "They clearly resonated with buyers, as the special editions sold in one-third the time, and to younger, more affluent buyers than the industry average. "The Silverado 1500 Midnight was by far the most popular model in 2015," Piszar continued, "as demand outstripped supply in a matter of months.

Chevy Express, GMC Savanna reportedly ending production for 2025

The oldest commercial vans on the market may only have a few years left, according to a report from Autoweek. The news outlet cited a "competitive analysis source" in saying that the Chevy Express and GMC Savanna commercial vans would be discontinued after the 2025 model year. They would then be replaced by a new electric van, likely Ultium-platform based, for the 2026 model year. We reached out to GM for comment, and this is the official statement sent to us: "We have said in the past that as part of GM’s larger EV acceleration plans that we will add two new vehicles to our commercial portfolio. The first is a full-sized battery electric cargo van and the second is a medium-duty truck that will put both Ultium and our Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell technology to work. We have not disclosed timing, names or shared any other details, so any articles reporting more are purely speculative." The GM vans are mighty old, having been introduced for the 1996 model year. They've barely changed since then, having received just some facelifts and updated powertrains over the years. And with GM's electrification plans, we're not surprised that these vans will be on the way out. We do have some disagreement about the reported timeline for replacement, though. We suspect that the upcoming electric vans will overlap with the old vans for at least a year. The reason being that there are a lot of these vans on the road, and there are a lot of pieces of equipment that fit them. Box vans, buses and more have components that have been designed for the Express and Savanna. If you're a fleet that has invested in these components, you might not be ready to shift over to a whole new platform. So GM will probably want to give fleet buyers one last opportunity to replace any old vans before committing entirely to a new electric van platform. It will also be interesting to see what kind of market the GM electric vans enter. Ford already has its electric Transit on the way, and Stellantis will be launching the Ram ProMaster electric van next year. Those are both based on existing gas-powered vans. And GM itself has already delivered the first of its larger BrightDrop EV600 electric vans to FedEx. The coming GM vans will likely be new platforms, which could give them performance and range advantages, though the Ford and Stellantis vans will have the advantage of being compatible with equipment for the gas variants.

General Motors shaking up its marketing... again

One of the things that dogs the full comeback of General Motors is the instability of its marketing. That part of the automaker got yet another big shakeup today when GM confirmed what I have been tweeting for a few days - strong rumors that the Chevrolet and Cadillac ad accounts are walking to new ad agencies.
Cadillac, GM's luxury brand, is going into review from Fallon Worldwide, Minneapolis and the indications are that Campbell-Ewald, Chevy's old ad shop, will end up with most or all of it. C-E just announced that it was moving from its long-time home in Warren, MI to a new downtown Detroit office next to Ford Field, just blocks from GM.
The other shoe to drop shortly will be the shift of GM's most important brand, Chevy, from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners of San Francisco to McCann-Erickson of Troy, MI. McCann used to be the agency for Buick and GMC, as well as GM's corporate advertising, and has retained some pieces of business over the last few years. Sources have even told us that it was McCann that did a lot of the creative work on Chevy's new ad platform, Find New Roads. (Not to be confused with a former McCann tagline for Saab, "Find Your Own Road.")