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Buyers ditching expensive European sedans to buy expensive American trucks

The New York Times ended the automotive week with a story that adds numbers and context to a range of other stories, from the crossover craze to the increasing median price of a new car to ever more grandiose pickup trucks. The NYT piece reveals that the shift to larger vehicles isn't merely about the average U.S. buyer swapping the midsize sedan for a Ford Edge. Luxury buyers are migrating from plush sedans to plush SUVs and trucks that creep close to six-figure prices, and the Detroit Three are running Treasury presses because of it. From 2013 to 2017, the truck category — everything from pickups to minivans — climbed from 30 percent of the market to 41 percent. In January of this year, trucks claimed 66 percent of new vehicle sales. At the milk-and-honey end of profits, GMC alone accounted for 11.3 percent of all vehicle sales over $60,000, not just trucks. That puts the luxury truck maker behind Mercedes-Benz and Ford, The Blue Oval's feasting on Lariat, King Ranch and Raptor versions of the F-150, which make up more than half of that pickup's sales, putting it ahead of Chevrolet, Porsche and Lexus on the high-dollar sales list. The average transaction price of a GMC in Denali trim last year was $56,000; it's easy to see why, when one dealer told the NYT he just swapped a 2012 BMW 550i for a $71,000 GMC Sierra Denali. That truck starts at $52,900. The NYT started its story with a buyer who took home a Ford Raptor instead of an Audi A6, and optioned that $50,020 Ford Raptor close to $80,000. Over at Lincoln, the new $72,055 Navigator — the one so popular that Ford will increase production — crossed hands for an average sale price of $77,000 in January. And a Jeep dealer told the NYT that the two $93,000 Trackhawks he had on his lot "won't be here more than a few weeks." While trucks head up in sales volume and price, cars are headed so viciously in the opposite direction that "the Detroit Three and even some foreign manufacturers acknowledge they are now losing money on many of the cars they sell." So ... get ready for a lot more crossovers and trucks. Related Video: Find out what vehicle is right for you. Give our Car Finder tool a try.

GM to offer 2 years free maintance on most 2014 models

A day after Ford announced it was scaling back the complimentary maintenance program for its Lincoln brand, General Motors has gone in the completely opposite direction, offering most of its 2014 lineup with free maintenance. Since 2011, Cadillac models have all come with a four-year/50,000-mile complimentary maintenance program, but Chevrolet, Buick and GMC vehicles will now come standard with free maintenance for two years or 24,000 miles for the 2014 model year.
The program will give vehicle owners and lessees free oil changes, tire rotations and 27-point inspections following the recommended maintenance schedule laid out in each vehicle's owner's manual. We contacted GM to see which vehicles were eligible for the program, and a spokesperson got back to us with the following comment:
"All 2014 models are eligible, it's just that the included services vary by model, e.g., Spark EV would not need oil changes, Corvettes don't recommend tire rotations."

2019 GMC Sierra interior looks just like the Silverado's

The GMC Sierra has pretty much always been a Chevy Silverado in disguise. There was maybe some fancier trim plus the availability of the ritzier Denali trim, but the differences mostly amounted to different makeup on identical twins. As we can see from the spy photos above, the yet-to-be-shown 2019 GMC Sierra will actually have a more distinctive exterior, but the interior will continue the me-too tradition. Immediately apparent is the fact that the whole dashboard is carryover. It's the same chunky, plasticky place to be that, while likely highly functional, did little to impress when unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show. Really, only the volume, tuning and climate control knobs look different from those in the Silverado. They appear to have a different ridged pattern on the edges, and are possibly a shinier, glossier finish. The steering wheel also looks different, with a chunkier center and more svelte spokes. The Sierra exterior would seem to be better differentiated. The headlights are very different in that they wrap around the fenders more so than on the Chevy. The grille looks more vertical and aggressive than the Silverado's. The wheel arches also differ in that the forward corners are rounded and the rears are more squared off. The GMC Sierra will be revealed March 1 in Detroit. As per usual, it will probably share all of its powertrain bits with the Silverado. That means at least 5.3- and 6.2-liter gasoline V8s and the new turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six diesel engine. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.