Chevy engineers also spent a lot of time in the bed, adding tie-down points, wiring new LED lights, and nipping, tucking and stamping metal until the whole bin was seven inches wider. The truck will now fit a standard sheet of plywood on top of the wheel wells, providing a two-layered system of storage for DIYers with an OCD streak.
It’s the kind of pragmatic tweak that has made contemporary pickups so good. No one was really asking for an in-bed layer cake of gear—and pickup trucks are more cultural artifact than utility these days—but they’re going to like it. Meanwhile, a few dozen designers in Detroit justified their salaries for another year.
What’s most critical for truck-makers isn’t really towing power anymore; rather pricing power. On a great truck, Chevy pockets about $10,000 profit for each sale. On a slightly less-great truck, that figure might fall to $8,500 as the company is forced to roll out incentives. In the course of a typical year, that distinction adds up to almost $1 billion (with a “b”) for Chevy.
This, in short, is why the little things matter so much.
To be sure, Ford has plenty of its own party tricks that one won’t find in a Chevy: a tiny, 4-cylinder engine (for which about one-third of buyers opt), a 10-speed transmission, a giant moon-roof and a drive-by-knob system that helps trailer rookies back their boats into the bay of the garage without taking out a wall.
For those who seldom leave the interstate, the Silverado is a pleasant machine, though it has other shortcomings that may disappoint the Audi crowd, in addition to being a little unwieldy to park. The largest of the optional touchscreens in its pricey High Country iteration would look small in a little SUV, let alone a half-ton truck. The seats won’t massage like a Volvo, and there’s no atomizing scent in the glove box to mist over a stale dog, as the thoughtful folks at Mercedes provide. And no, the Silverado won’t drive itself, not even a little bit.
“I don’t think anyone has really figured out how high the top end of the market is here,” Milne conceded.
No sweat, there’s always next year. In the meantime, that robot tailgate will be a big hit.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.