2012 Gmc Sierra 1500 on 2040-cars

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GM sees 'strong year' in 2018, then gold in Chevy Silverado for 2019

DETROIT — General Motors said on Tuesday it expects earnings in 2018 to be largely flat compared with 2017, but that profits should pick up pace in 2019 as its revamped line of high-margin pickup trucks hits the U.S. market. The 2018 earnings outlook was above market expectations, sending GM shares up more than 3 percent in premarket trading. "GM had a very good 2017 as we continued to transform our company to be more focused, resilient and profitable," GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said in a statement. "We are positioned for another strong year in 2018 and an even better one in 2019." GM and its Detroit rivals, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, are bringing on new trucks at a time when overall U.S. new vehicle sales have been falling, but truck sales continue to grow as consumers abandon passenger cars in favor of pickups, SUVs and crossovers. GM on Saturday fired a new round in the battle for profits from one of the U.S. auto industry's most lucrative segments when it showed a new generation of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at the Detroit auto show. The new Silverado, a highlight of the event, is the successor to GM's best-selling vehicle in North America. Sales of the current Silverado rose nearly 2 percent to 585,000 vehicles in 2017. In the coming months, the company will also reveal a revamped GMC Sierra pickup truck. U.S. new vehicle sales fell 2 percent in 2017 after hitting a record high in 2016, and are expected to drop further in 2018 as interest rates rise and more late-model used cars return to dealer lots to compete with new ones. GM said on Tuesday that while it retools a factory in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, to make the new pickup trucks, it will shift some production to an Oshawa, Ontario, plant in order to avoid missing sales in a hot market for the vehicles. The No. 1 U.S. automaker said it will record a $7 billion non-cash charge for its fourth-quarter 2017 earnings related to deferred tax assets. GM said it expects capital expenditure in 2018 of around $8.5 billion, about $1 billion of which will go toward funding self-driving car technology. Last week, the company said it is seeking U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car — one without a steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal — to enter the automaker's first commercial ride-sharing fleet in 2019. GM said it expects 2017 earnings per share at the high end of its previously forecast range of $6 to $6.50.

GMC Sierra Denali CarbonPro bed is finally, almost here

GMC revealed the Sierra 1500 with the optional CarbonPro bed on March 1, 2018. The bed wasn't available at launch, though. You can't buy it now, either, but it will hit dealerships with limited availability after production starts in early June, exclusively for the Denali 1500 and AT4 1500 trims. The carbon floor and sides replace the steel panels in a normal bed, providing "strength, durability, and scratch resistance" and a potential 59-pound weight saving, depending on the truck's configuration. To make sure the bed had a chance, development engineers replicated "extreme use scenarios" like dropping 1,800-pound gravel loads, 450-pound steel drums, and cinder blocks from various heights. They put a 250-pound man on a snowmobile with studded tracks, had him drive into the bed and then go wide-open throttle. We're told the result was "minimal scratching." On top of the extreme weather testing any vehicle goes through, the team also put a generator in the bed and aim the exhaust into a corner to ensure vibration and direct heat wouldn't deform the carbon fiber. Because of the finer shaping area-specific strength possible with carbon fiber, the bed provides one cubic foot of additional payload space by having its sidewalls pushed further out. The CarbonPro bed doesn't need a bedliner, and is grained at the top for better traction but smooth on the bottom for easier hosing down and dirt removal. Tie-downs at the front of the bed work with molded indentations to hold motorcycle tires, and slots in the sidewalls hold two-by-sixes. The truck maker says the carbon-lined payload area confers "best-in-class dent, scratch and corrosion resistance," but we suppose the nation's pickup truck army will prove that or not. The trucks likely won't have the hardest life at the start, since the Sierra Denali costs $56,790 before even a basic option like four-wheel drive. The real test probably won't come until around 2029, when third owners begin treating their aerospace-inspired thoroughbreds like dray horses.

2020 GMC Sierra gets small price bumps, package discounts and tweaks

A couple of months ago we covered a brace of changes GMC made to the 2020 Sierra 1500. Those included availability of the 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet of torque, the 5.3-liter V8 getting the 10-speed automatic transmission, the CarbonPro Editions debuting for AT4 and Denali trims, and a new bed view camera. But GMC has made a few more smaller changes throughout, as GM Authority found, part of a detailed overhaul among GM's pickup lines that's already changed trim names, trim volume, and prices on the Chevrolet Canyon and GMC Colorado. We'll start with MSRP adjustments on the 2020 Sierra: 4WD drivetrains in SLT, and the AT4, and Denali trims that only come in 4WD, see a price increase of $200. There are also more MSRPs to consider this year, with a handful of new Elevation models filling price gaps.  The only changes inside are AT4-logoed all-weather floor liners that come standard for that trim, and adaptive cruise control joining the Driver Alert Package II available on the SLT, AT4, and Denali trims. Speaking of packages, the Value Packages represent truth in advertising. The new base-model Sierra Sierra Value Package costs $860 to combine the Convenience Package and Trailering Package. Those two cost $1,640 when ordered separately. Sticking with the base trim, the Chrome Exterior Package disappears because the chrome bumpers it added are now the standard finish. Black bumpers front and rear can be ordered at no charge, and the 17-inch Bright Silver painted aluminum wheels can be ordered alone. One trim up, the SLE Value Package lumps Convenience and Trailering, too, but it only costs $380, which is $15 less than the Trailering Package by itself. The Elevation Value Package gets cut by $1,330 to $585. On the AT4 trim, GMC dropped the price of the CarbonPro Package from $1,060 to $560, and the Premium Package comes down by $500 as well. The same $500 discount applies to the SLT Premium Package. The new 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is the optional engine on the base, SLE, and Elevation trims, saving $235 on the first trim and $395 on the other two compared to ordering the standard 4.3-liter EcoTec V6. Smokey Quartz Metallic exterior paint is expected to disappear come Q2. Two new wheels enter the range in the upper reaches, one being a 20-inch Carbon Grey painted rim available on the AT4 CarbonPro Edition.