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2019 GMC Sierra carbon fiber bed: How it's made

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The redesigned 2019 GMC Sierra has some pretty nifty features, and the one that has had the most attention is the MultiPro flipping and folding tailgate. But the Sierra also features the first-of-its-kind carbon fiber truck bed. It's interesting, of course, for its capabilities, such as being 62 pounds lighter than the all-steel box. It even adds more cargo volume since the material can be assembled and shaped differently from steel. As it turns out, the assembly process is cool, too, which we learned when GMC invited us to see the beds being made. Every GMC carbon fiber bed starts out as perfectly flat sheets of thermoplastic carbon fiber. The sheets consist of a mix of fibers and resins, a bit like the molded carbon fiber parts Lamborghini uses. The sheets are manufactured by Japanese company Teijin, which collaborated with GMC to develop the bed. They're all delivered to Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) in Fort Wayne, Ind., for construction into the actual bed. The company, a subsidiary of Teijin, makes a wide variety of composite and plastic parts for the car industry, including body panels for the C7 Chevy Corvette. The rectangular sheets are cut to shape and stacked up at a giant stamping press. Robots pick up sheets and slide them onto a conveyor that goes into a large oven. The heat softens the parts so they can be stamped. The large primary bed parts such as the base are stamped by CSP's enormous 3,600-ton press, and the smaller ones go through a 1,000-ton press. Each press can do different parts using different stamping dies, and CSP switches between dies to produce different batches of parts. After stamping, the parts roll out mostly ready for assembly, but there are rough edges that are trimmed off by water-jet cutters. These cutting machines also create holes for fasteners and for parts such as tie-down hooks and lights. The stamping process also provides the carbon fiber bed with a unique Easter egg. On the bottom of the base of the bed, there are two words: "Connors Way." This is a tribute to Tim Connors, who was the chief engineer of manufacturing at GM and a strong proponent of the carbon fiber bed. He was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash a few years ago. The words were added to honor him, and they were fortunately approved for production. There are some components to the bed that aren't stamped from the flat sheets of material.

GM pauses 3.0-liter turbodiesel production due to a supplier shortage

General Motors confirmed it has temporarily stopped taking orders for trucks and SUVs equipped with the 3.0-liter Duramax turbodiesel six-cylinder engine. It blamed the last-minute pause on a supplier-related shortage. Website TFL Truck first reported the news, and a representative from General Motors quickly confirmed it. The spokesperson explained the issue is due to a "temporary part shortage" and added that production will resume "as soon as possible," meaning the Duramax engine (which is called LM2 internally) is not going away permanently. Additional details are not available, so we don't know if the issue is related to the ongoing chip shortage. Rather than delay deliveries and create a backlog, General Motors is reportedly asking its dealers to encourage buyers who want a turbodiesel engine to instead select either the 5.3-liter V8 or the 6.2-liter V8, depending on the model selected. Both are gasoline-powered units. There's no word yet on when Duramax production will resume. The shortage affects several models, including Chevrolet's Tahoe, Suburban, and Silverado 1500 and GMC's variants of these trucks. Cadillac's Escalade is temporarily diesel-less as well. Heavy Duty variants of the Silverado and the Sierra are not affected because they're powered by a different Duramax engine with eight cylinders. Motorists seeking a full-size SUV powered by an efficient turbodiesel engine are temporarily out of options because the Tahoe/Yukon and the Suburban/Yukon XL had the segment to themselves. The Duramax was surprisingly popular, too: in May 2021, GM Authority reported that the turbodiesel straight-six represented 8% of Suburban sales and 6% of Tahoe sales. Installed in a rear-wheel-drive Tahoe, the engine returns 21 mpg in the city, 28 mpg on the highway, and 24 mpg in a combined cycle, figures that make the body-on-frame behemoth more efficient than the unibody, front-wheel-drive Chevrolet Blazer that's 20 inches shorter and approximately 1,700 pounds lighter. Related video: 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe 3.0L Duramax engine

2024 GMC Canyon Review: Ready for the trail, happy on the commute

Pros: Stellar exterior styling for all trims; punchy powertrain; outstanding AT4X off-road trims; great tech and interior amenities Cons: Only one cab/bed combination; gets expensive quick; firm ride for most trims The 2024 GMC Canyon is an excellent midsize pickup. So is the Chevrolet Colorado, its bowtie-branded twin, though with the new generation, the Canyon does a better job than ever of differentiating itself. It starts with the styling where GMC offers a pick-your-own-adventure amongst the various trims. You can go classy and upscale with a Denali or rugged and mean with the AT4. Off-road junkies can find all they might want in the Canyon lineup now, too, as the AT4X is basically the Colorado ZR2’s doppelganger, enjoying its magical Multimatic dampers for outstanding performance no matter the surface. And if you want even more extreme, thereÂ’s the AT4X AEV Edition. The turbocharged four-cylinder powertrain is more than potent with its 430 pound-feet of torque, and unlike the Colorado that offers various output levels, the Canyon only comes in the highest power spec no matter the trim level. The one downside to the Canyon is its high price, but at least it backs that price up with tech and capability. In fact, the Canyon and Colorado are so good that theyÂ’ve instantly become some of our favorite pickups, regardless of size or segment. Needless to say, then, GMCÂ’s version stacks up very well within its actual segment, leading us to prefer it over stalwarts like the Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier. It might not have an efficiency answer to the Toyota TacomaÂ’s new hybrid variant, but the Canyon is about as good as it gets for the midsize truck segment in 2024. Interior & Technology   |   Passenger & Cargo Space   |   Performance & Fuel Economy What it's like to drive   |   Pricing & Trim Levels   |   Crash Ratings & Safety Features What's new for 2024? The GMC Canyon was all-new for 2023, so there arenÂ’t many changes for the truck in 2024. GMC did add a new model for the new year with the AT4X AEV Edition that improves off-road performance beyond the already impressive AT4X. You can find our first drive review of the AEV Edition here. Beyond the introduction of the AEV model, GMC makes the 11-inch digital instrument cluster standard across all trims – it was previously only installed on the Denali and AT4X. Other trims had an 8-inch version. What are the CanyonÂ’s interior and in-car technology like?