GMSV UPDATES CHEVROLET SILVERADO FOR 2024

On the back of the 8,000th Chevrolet Silverado being remanufactured locally for Australian and New Zealand markets, General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) has confirmed updates for the existing Silverado 1500 range, with remanufacturing of the Silverado HD for the local market underway ahead of an early 2024 release.

“The GMSV journey started in November 2020 with the launch of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500,” said Greg Rowe, Director of GMSV. “The popularity of GMSV and the vehicles we sell through our network has grown substantially in a few short years.”

For the Silverado 1500, both the LTZ Premium and ZR2 grades now come with an active performance exhaust system as standard. According to Rowe, this provides the flexibility of a standard exhaust with the option of opening up the bypass valves to accentuate that traditional V8 rumble.

Additionally, the Silverado 1500 ZR2 gains a bunch of new equipment, including a rear camera mirror, multi-colour 15-inch head-up display, power tilt/tele steering column adjustment, adaptive cruise control and a Bose premium sound system.

Other updates to the Silverado 1500 interior, including a new 12.3-inch digital instrument display and 13.4-inch centre touchscreen, were introduced earlier in 2023.

The Silverado HD (a Silverado 2500 in US terms) is larger than the Silverado 1500 and offers improvements in power and torque. Sold in ‘LTZ Premium’ grade in Australia, the Silverado HD runs with a 6.6-litre turbo-diesel V8 producing 350kW and up to 1,322Nm, compared to 313kW and 624Nm from the 6.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol V8 that’s in the Silverado 1500 LTZ Premium and ZR2. The 6.6 V8, matched to a 10-speed automatic transmission, is the only drivetrain offered here.

Like the Silverado 1500 LTZ Premium, the HD’s LTZ Premium grade is unique to Australia and New Zealand, combining the LTZ grade with the Z71 off-road package and some minor cosmetic changes. In North America, the HD is available in 2500 and 3500 form, as well as Work Truck, Custom, LT, LTZ, ZR2 and High Country grades. At this stage, there’s no indication of any other Silverado HD grade being released here.

While the Silverado HD offers a payload of up to 1,386kg (that requires a truck licence), the standard payload of 733kg allows the pickup to be driven on a car licence and is comparable to the Silverado 1500’s payload (757kg for the LTZ Premium grade, 717kg for the ZR2). Towing capacity of up to 4.5 tonnes (with a 70mm ball) is common for the Australian-release Silverado 1500 and HD, while the Silverado 1500 ZR2’s maximum is 4200kg.

Remanufacturing of the Silverado HD began back in September, with the first completed units landing in GMSV showrooms in December. MY24 versions of the HD are expected to be available from Q2, 2024.