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2021 GMC Yukon configurator now open for play-money builds

The 2021 GMC Yukon configurator is open for real and imaginary business. It's missing a number of important options, though, like the AT4 trim and the Premium Capability Package that installs the Air Ride Adaptive Suspension, so the configurator is best suited for practice runs at the moment. Playing our usual game, we started with a livery build in base SLT 2WD trim for an airport shuttle to compare to the livery 2021 Tahoe we built a few days ago. Same as with the Chevy, the GMC offers nine exterior colors. Opposite to the Chevy, the GMC makes you pay for every color except Summit White. Our Onyx Black selection added $195, five colors cost $495, Cayenne Red Tintcoat costs $695, and the super gonzo White Frost Tricoat runs $1,095. We plumped for the SLT Luxury package's driver assistance and convenience features like memory settings for the front passengers, powered seating for the second row, a split third row, the Rear Seat Media Package, and a console lockbox. What began as $59,095 after destination — $4,000 more than the 2021 Tahoe — ended at $64,445, just $2,165 more than our livery Tahoe because the Yukon packages more kit.   The amounts add up a lot quicker at the top end. Our regional rep with a fat bonus check started with a $72,295 Yukon Denali 4WD in the $495 Pearl Beige Metallic with a Teak and Light Shade interior. The $6,500 Denali Premium Package normally costs $500 more, and who can resist a sale? At about 9% of MSRP, it's not a negligible option, but it includes the $1,780 Advanced Technology Package, the $1,500 panoramic sunroof, and a set of 22-inch wheels that are normally $2,995. Since the bonus was big enough to replace the two-year-old jet skis in the garage, our rep added the $465 Max Trailering Package and that automatically appends the ProGrade Trailering features. Put in the Rear Seat Media Package to occupy the kids, locking armrest storage to protect stuff from the kids, and hook up a set of illuminated GMC badges for $535 to wow oncoming vehicles, and the total comes to $83,320. That's more than $10,000 in options without the least effort. However, there aren't any big-money options left to add except a $1,499 rooftop tent.     GM Authority wrote about the package combinations necessary to unlock the Air Ride Adaptive Suspension on the AT4 or Denali trims. Summed up, the check boxes add $3,410 to the price of an AT4, $3,755 to the price of a 2WD Denali, and $6,015 to the price of a 4WD Denali.

The Hummer EV Edition 1 is sold out and it'll be years before other trims arrive

When the 2022 GMC Hummer EV was revealed, GMC noted that there would be lower trims available. The company has since provided a few more details on those lower trims, which is helpful to know now that the only trim on sale next year, the Edition 1, was sold out in a scant 10 minutes. However, it's going to be a long time before they're all available.  The entry-level GMC Hummer EV is the EV2. This is the model that will start at $79,995, and unlike the Edition 1, it gets just two motors, one for each end of the truck, each with electronically locking differentials. Output is down to 625 horsepower and a torque rating of 7,400 pound-feet. Note that this and all other reported torque numbers are after the torque multiplication by the single-speed transmissions, hence the extremely high numbers. The company hasn't given torque numbers at the motors, which would be more comparable to other electric cars. Range is also reduced to 250 miles, probably due to a smaller battery pack. Fast charging is also restricted to 400-volt charging, so it won't be as fast as the higher trim models. The removable roof panels, retractable rear window, MultiPro tailgate, Super Cruise and 35-inch tires are standard. This model only gets fixed steel suspension and two-wheel steering. The EV2 will be the last of the trim levels to go on sale, with a target of spring 2024. Yes, as in 3.5 years from now.  The next level is the EV2X, which will be available a year earlier in the spring of 2023. It gets the same powertrain as the EV2, but adds 800-volt fast charging and a 300-mile range. It also gets the adaptive air suspension and four-wheel steering, plus the associated party tricks of Crab Mode and Extract Mode. This model costs $89,995. The earliest Hummer EV that isn't an Edition 1 and therefore not yet sold out will be the EV3X, the entry-level three-motor model. It goes on sale in the fall of 2022 at a price of $99,995. It's not quite as potent as the Edition 1, though, with an output of 800 horsepower and 9,500 pound-feet of torque. It also lacks the "Watts to Freedom (WTF)" launch control feature. But it does get torque-vectoring with the dual rear motors, which can also lock their speeds to be equal like with the mechanical locking differential at the front. The EV3X's range is 300 miles like the EV2X.  As for the Edition 1, it started $112,595 before it was sold out. Customers are to expect them in fall 2021.

GMC's Denali offerings are going great guns

The Denali trim that GMC uses to denote its top-of-the-line vehicles was introduced back in 1999, partly as a way to challenge the recently introduced Lincoln Navigator. Fifteen years later, and with GMC the tenth-largest US automotive brand by itself Denali has become a sub-brand that keeps the cash registers ringing at the Renaissance Center HQ. While GMC increased sales by 9 percent in 2013, TheDetroitBureau.com reports that that Denali sales rose by 20 percent.
There are currently five Denali models in the GMC line, with the Denali trim available on all but its commercial vans. In 2010, when the now-discontinued Yukon XL Hybrid was also on sale, GMC sold 32,886 units of its top trim. Last year, that number had increased to 75,558, with almost no help from traditional marketing spends. Go to YouTube and search for "GMC Denali commercials" - the few actual commercial results are from years ago. GMC marketing director Roger McCormack tells TheDetroitBureau.com, "It's largely all been organic."
As sales have grown, so has the tide of money GMC rakes in from the additional luxury features on Denali models. The 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe starts at $44,600, yet its 2014 Yukon Denali doppelganger starts at $58,320, pricing that includes additional features like the larger 6.2-liter V8, nicer interior, head-up display and magnetic ride control suspension. The Yukon XL Denali starts at $60,965, but the article says the "average customer" likely to spend "up and above $70,000" to take one home. How does that happen? On a top-trim Tahoe LTZ, the top-tier wheel option is a set of 20-inch chrome wheels for $400; on the 'base' Yukon Denali you can swap for a set of 22-inch chrome alloys for $2,995. Add it up, and an analyst at AutoTrends Consulting said that kind of margin "epitomizes the concept of obscene profitability." We say when it comes to Denali, GMC appears to stand for "Grabbing More Cash."