2004 Gmc Sierra Z71 4x4 -lift, Air Intake, Exhaust, Nice, 54,000 Miles, Pictures on 2040-cars

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GM trademarks 'GearOn,' possibly for pickups

On May 27, a week before General Motors applied for a trademark for the word "Zora," GM filed a trademark application at the US Patent and Trademark Office for "GearOn," characterized as a "truck bed cargo system comprised of tiered storage cross rails, utility rack stanchions, cargo dividers and cargo tie down rings."
We have no idea what it will be or if we'll see it used on anything, but GM Authority reckons it could be GM's name for a pickup truck feature to rival the BoxLink system Ford introduced on the 2015 F-150. BoxLink has been described as having "dozens of configurations of stowable cargo ramps and lockable die-cast aluminum tie-down cleats," giving owners the ability to arrange the bed in they way they need and load unwieldy items like motorcycles without needing extra equipment.
Getting purely speculative, a month ago GM pickup truck engineers said there would be more and more regular updates for the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra starting next year. Beyond the suspected capability and fuel economy changes GearOn could be one of the "neat things coming in a whole host of areas."

Even if GM does close all 5 of those plants, it'll still have too many

DETROIT — General Motors' monumental announcement on Monday that it will close three car assembly plants and two powertrain plants in North America and slash its workforce will only partially close the gap between capacity and demand for the automaker's sedans, according to a Reuters analysis of industry production and capacity data. Sales of traditional passenger cars in North America have been declining for the past six years and are still withering. After GM ends production next year at factories in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario, it will still have four U.S. passenger-car plants — all operating at less than 50 percent of rated capacity, according to figures supplied by LMC Automotive. In comparison, Detroit-based rivals Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will have one car plant each in North America after 2019. The Detroit Three are facing rapidly dwindling demand for traditional passenger cars from U.S. consumers, many of whom have shifted to crossovers and trucks. Passenger cars accounted for 48 percent of retail light-vehicle sales in the United States in 2014, according to market researchers at J.D. Power and Associates. This year, sedans will account for less than a third of light vehicle sales. That shift in turn has left most North American car plants operating far below their rated capacities, while many SUV and truck plants are running on overtime. The collapse in passenger-car demand is a challenge for nearly all automakers in the United States, including Japan's Toyota and Honda, which have the top-selling models in the compact and midsize car segments. Toyota executives said last month they are evaluating the company's U.S. model lineup. But Toyota also plans to build compact Corolla sedans at a new $1.6 billion factory it is building in Alabama with partner Mazda. The obstacles facing GM in its plans to close more auto factories became apparent on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to block payment of government electric vehicle subsidies to GM. While it is not certain that Trump unilaterally has the power to do that, he made it clear he intends to use his office to pressure the company to keep open a small car plant in Ohio that GM says will stop building vehicles in March.

2020 GMC Acadia AT4 Review | A soft-roader in steel-toed boots

For carmakers today, the perfect lineup would be focused almost entirely on trucks and crossovers, favoring profitability at the expense of diversity. Just look at FCA’s Ram and Jeep showrooms. In the General Motors portfolio, that brand is GMC, with not a car to be found in its lineup and several body-on-frame offerings meant to take a serious beating. It should be a license to print money. But a lineup of trucks and SUVs isnÂ’t enough. Some folks want the rough-and-tumble edge of an off-road vehicle, albeit one that can still credibly serve duty in the school pickup line. Enter the AT4 trim level, an off-road package that spans the gap between the GMC's upscale professional image and the off-road oriented buyer. The 2020 GMC Acadia AT4 is the latest member of the family AT4 slots in between the mid-grade SLT and the range-topping Denali, but simply saying itÂ’s the second-most expensive Acadia variant isnÂ’t really doing it justice. If the SLT trim is understated, and the Denali trim opulent, the AT4 trim promises ruggedness and adventure – even if it canÂ’t deliver it.  The Acadia is definitely a soft-roader and AT4 doesnÂ’t do much to change that – itÂ’s effectively an appearance package. It adds a unique grille, 17-inch wheels and AT4 badges — all blacked out — plus a set of Continental TerrainContact A/T tires engineered to offer a comfortable ride while still enabling some off-pavement excursions. There are several unique interior treatments as well, including “AT4” embroidery on the seats, regardless of whether you go with the base upholstery or the upgraded perforated leather ($1,000) that was added to our test vehicle. Note that we didnÂ’t mention anything beyond the small wheels and meaty tires that would actually make the AT4 any better off pavement. ThereÂ’s no extra ground clearance (it remains a meager 7.2 inches), low range 4x4 system or suspension enhancement to be found here. This would be a departure from other GMC AT4 models, including the Sierra 1500 and upcoming 2021 Yukon, which get extra ground clearance, underbody protection and a rugged suspension, but it won't be an outlier. The similarly soft-roading Terrain AT4 has already been announced.  Yet, off-road models tend to get hammered with on-road handling and ride quality criticism and here's where the Acadia AT4 being more of an appearance package pays off.