General Motors Teases the GMC Sierra's New Mug

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

With the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado having been unveiled at the North American International Auto Show earlier this year, the GMC Sierra is unlikely to give us many surprises in terms of hardware when it shows up in March. But, as it’s also being fully redesigned for 2019, the Sierra won’t look the same as previous incarnations and still has to differentiate itself from its Chevy sibling.

Based upon the shadowy teaser image, now a common practice within the industry, the recipe for telling the two apart will remain largely unchanged. While the new Silverado adopted even smaller headlamps than the outgoing model, the Sierra will persist with fresh versions of the large C-shaped units. Unlike Chevy’s split grille, the GMC is likely to have singular “chrome” reaching beyond the top of the headlights. The Sierra is assured to have unique taillights and wheels as well.

Spy shots have suggested the two pickups will also have specially designed wheel-wells — rounded in the front and squared in the back to create a D-shape. Beyond that, we’re not expecting terribly disparate bodywork.

The same should be true of the engines provided. GMC’s Sierra should come available with the same 5.3 or 6.2-liter V8 that the Silverado does. We’d presume it’ll have the all-new 3.0-liter straight-six diesel mated to a 10-speed automatic too. Both of the V8s will have cylinder deactivation while the 6.2-liter will probably have the 10-speed as an available option.

General Motors is waiting until Thursday to announce anything official about trim configurations, but we’d expect to see with a rough-and-trouble All-Terrain variant as well as something wearing the ultra-profitable Denali label soon after launch. The truck will debut in Detroit later this week, and we’ll let you know for certain then.

[Image: General Motors]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Dave M. IMO this was the last of the solidly built MBs. Yes, they had the environmentally friendly disintegrating wiring harness, but besides that the mechanicals are pretty solid. I just bought my "forever" car (last new daily driver that'll ease me into retirement), but a 2015-16 E Class sedan is on my bucket list for future purchase. Beautiful design....
  • Rochester After years of self-driving being in the news, I still don't understand the psychology behind it. Not only don't I want this, but I find the idea absurd.
  • Douglas This timeframe of Mercedes has the self-disintegrating engine wiring harness. Not just the W124, but all of them from the early 90's. Only way to properly fix it is to replace it, which I understand to be difficult to find a new one/do it/pay for. Maybe others have actual experience with doing so and can give better hope. On top of that, it's a NH car with "a little bit of rust", which means to about anyone else in the USA it is probably the rustiest W124 they have ever seen. This is probably a $3000 car on a good day.
  • Formula m How many Hyundai and Kia’s do not have the original engine block it left the factory with 10yrs prior?
  • 1995 SC I will say that year 29 has been a little spendy on my car (Motor Mounts, Injectors and a Supercharger Service since it had to come off for the injectors, ABS Pump and the tool to cycle the valves to bleed the system, Front Calipers, rear pinion seal, transmission service with a new pan that has a drain, a gaggle of capacitors to fix the ride control module and a replacement amplifier for the stereo. Still needs an exhaust manifold gasket. The front end got serviced in year 28. On the plus side blank cassettes are increasingly easy to find so I have a solid collection of 90 minute playlists.
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