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There's an impending shortage of new trucks in America's heartland

URBANDALE, Iowa — Jerry Bill is worried the novel coronavirus could hurt business at the Des Moines auto dealership he runs, but not because of a shortage of buyers for the big Ram pickups on his lot. "Our biggest issue will be if we don't get more inventory," said Bill, general sales manager of Stew Hansen Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, which sells around 2,700 new vehicles a year in Urbandale, a suburb of Iowa's capital Des Moines. After a drop in sales in April when consumers stayed home, Bill expects pickup truck sales to end May similar to where they were a year earlier. And if demand remains strong, Bill said he will run out of popular models in June. Fiat Chrysler began slowly restarting Ram truck assembly lines on Monday after a two-month shutdown. The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter at its sharpest pace since the Great Recession of 2007-2009 because of lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Economists warn the second quarter will be much worse. Still, far from the lockdowns of states like New York, Michigan or Ohio, dealerships like Stew Hansen have provided FCA and Detroit rivals General Motors and Ford a rare bright spot: strong sales of pickup trucks in America's heartland. Overall U.S. sales of cars and light trucks crashed to the weakest pace in 50 years last month. But sales of big Detroit brand pickups, particularly in southern and western states less affected by the outbreak, significantly outperformed the market, industry executives and analysts said. Pickup trucks are one of the most profitable automotive segments in the world. They account for a huge portion of the Detroit automakers' profits and formed a huge lure for Peugeot, which expects to merge with FCA by early 2021. The pressure is now on to boost pickup truck production and send vehicles to dealers in parts of the country with dwindling supplies. That is particularly true for GM, which is running short of certain truck models after losing 40 days of production to a strike last fall. "If you don't have what someone wants, they can choose to go to another brand," said Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs. 'Easiest swap ever' Detroit automakers in March rolled out large discounts — such as interest-free loans for seven years — to keep vehicles rolling off dealer lots.

2023 GMC Canyon revealed with new ZR2-based AT4X trim

Following up on the reveal of its twin, the Chevy Colorado, the 2023 GMC Canyon has made its appearance. Naturally, it shares much with the Chevy pickup, but GMC has gone to greater lengths to differentiate the truck. It comes standard with the high-output engine, all versions feature the wide-track suspension setup, and in addition to the now more luxurious Denali, there's a ZR2-based AT4X trim. As with the new Colorado, the Canyon gets an overhaul of the design. It's down to one bed and cab configuration (short-bed, crew cab), and it features a longer wheelbase with the front axle pushed forward. The Canyon does get a variety of unique design features, though. It has its own front fascia with a tall, rectangular grille. LED lighting is standard on all Canyon models all the way around. That includes the unique fender lights like those found on the Sierra HD. All Canyons also feature the wide-track off-road suspension like the Colorado Z71 and Trail Boss. There are no narrow-track, narrow-body versions, even on the base two-wheel-drive Elevation. That suspension also means all Canyons have a roughly two-inch lift over base Chevy Colorados. The GMCs also get standard 32-inch tires, and they don't feature a front air dam in order to provide better approach angles. The bed, while only available in one trim, is available with a unique storage bin in the tailgate. On the topic of suspension specs, the Elevation and AT4 trim levels have 9.6 inches of ground clearance. The Denali increases that to 10.5 inches, and the AT4X features 10.6 inches. It also picks up the Multimatic spool-valve shocks from the ZR2. But we'll talk more about what comes on the AT4X in a bit. Under the hood of the Canyon is just one engine. It gets the highest-output version of the 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. The engine makes 310 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. The only transmission is an eight-speed automatic. Two-wheel drive comes standard on Elevation, and other trims come standard with four-wheel drive. The inside of the Canyon is very similar to the Colorado, but it has some unique cues. It has air vents that are more integrated into the squared-off dashboard design, rather than the Chevy's round vents. It has a differently shaped dash pad and trim surrounds, too. The really big differences come on the Denali and AT4X trims, though. The Denali features real wood trim with laser etchings. It also gets lots of real leather and fancy stitching.

2020 GMC Sierra HD pricing announced

Just as with its Chevy twin, pricing for the 2020 GMC Sierra HD has been revealed. Unlike the Chevy, though, prices haven't dropped across the board. The ultimate base prices for the 2500 HD and 3500 HD are technically less than the 2019 models at $37,195 and $38,395 respectively, but that's because those are the reintroduced regular cab models. Matching up the body styles of the last year's cheapest Sierras with their new equivalents, and the prices have crept up a few hundred dollars. But the next highest trim level, SLE, drops in price by nearly $2,000 between equivalent trucks. Equivalent SLT trucks are up nearly $2,000 each, though, and the base Denalis have gone up by about $7,000. This is due in part to the 2020 Sierra Denali no longer being offered with two-wheel drive. Comparing the old and new four-wheel drive models, the price is still up by about $4,000. While the new Sierra HD is only more affordable than the last one in certain circumstances, they all feature more capability. The standard 6.0-liter gas-powered V8 makes an extra 41 horsepower and 84 pound-feet of torque than the old one for a total of 401 horsepower and 464 pound-feet of torque. The 6.6-liter diesel V8 still makes 445 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque, but it now gets a 10-speed automatic transmission. Maximum fifth-wheel towing has increased, too. For the 2500, that number jumps from 15,400 pounds to 18,500 in the new model. For the 3500, fifth-wheel towing goes from 23,100 pounds to 35,500 pounds for the new truck. And of course, you can get GMC's fancy MultiPro tailgate on the new Sierra HD. One final note on the Sierra HD's pricing: it has the highest base price of the full-size heavy duty trucks. The Ford F-250 Super Duty is the cheapest at $34,745 and is closely followed by the Ram 2500 at $35,090. The full range of GMC Sierra HD pricing is listed below: Sierra 2500 HD Regular Cab Sierra: $37,195 SLE: $41,595 Double Cab Sierra: $39,795 SLE: $43,595 SLT: $52,195 Crew Cab Sierra: $41,595 SLE: $45,395 SLT: $53,995 AT4: $59,295 Denali: $65,295 Sierra 3500 HD Regular Cab Sierra: $38,395 SLE: $42,795 Double Cab Sierra: $41,195 SLE: $44,995 Crew Cab Sierra: $42,795 SLE: $46,595 SLT: $55,195 AT4: $60,495 Denali: $66,495 Update: The estimation of price difference between 2019 and 2020 Sierra Denalis has been corrected. Additional clarification of Denali price changes has also been added.