Rumored Future of GM's Full-Sizers

[nsap]

Rumored Future of GM's Full-Sizers
We clarify the future of the 900's...at least as-of today.
www.gminsidenews.com
October 13, 2008
By: Nsap

nick@gminsidenews.com

There has been a lot of talk about what is going to happen to the beloved full-size sport-utility vehicles and trucks at General Motors. And one has to admit, such discussion is acceptable considering current market conditions. Crude prices have similar motions to that of a yo-yo, the economy crashes on a daily basis and SUV’s just are not hot sellers anymore. Below is sort of a product “status check” on all of the current full-sizers at GM. Keep in mind that this is like taking a snap-shot of the product plans of each vehicle, which changes (and already has changed) hundreds of times. So it is imperative to note that the below is “as of today.” One thing becomes obvious when looking over the current plan; the full-sizers are getting split up and the bloat cut out.

Cadillac Escalade: It has already been reported several times that the Escalade is slated to move to Lambda. This makes sense; the new SRX is smaller and does not have three rows of seating, so now the Escalade can become Cadillac’s “big” crossover. Our sources have explicitly said that the Lambda-based Escalade will NOT look a thing like the other Lambda products. They plan to evolve the Escalade’s design just as they did between the last generations. We’ve also heard tid-bits that it could be tuned to be “rear-wheel drive” but that has never been confirmed.

Cadillac Escalade ESV: This is a new rumor we have been hearing; ESV will actually survive the product stirrup at GM. Currently they are looking at moving the ESV to an extended (hard to imagine a larger Lambda) Lambda platform. They seem to think that there is still room for two giant people moves at Cadillac. If this pans out, we will just have to wait and see.

Cadillac Escalade EXT: The EXT so far has survived as well! It is also slated to move to Lambda. Like it’s brother, it is said to stay mostly in its current form with an evolved design. GM is working on a Chevrolet Lambda SUT, so these two will likely have a relationship similar to what the current EXT and Chevrolet Avalanche have.

Chevrolet Avalanche: Amazingly, the Avalanche is not falling to the Lambda platform (yet). It is still slated to be redesigned onto the C3XX platform (successor to GMT-900). Outside of that, little is known about the future Avalanche.

Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra: The first order of business is the refresh of the HD trucks for 2010 model-year. That is still on (as the spy shots suggest). After that, the Silverado line is expected to stay intact on the C3XX platform.

Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon XL: This is certainly a tricky product. We had heard up until recently that it would be staying on the C3XX platform as well. However, lately we have been hearing that GM may move it to the extended Lambda platform. We’re not sure how we like that idea. The same will likely happen to the Yukon XL.

Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon: At last word, the future of the Tahoe and Yukon did not look good. GM is pondering killing both products as they feel the crossovers are going to just suck up nearly all of their sales. It’s important to note that they have NOT officially been killed yet, but we will be surprised to see them survive in any form.

Needless to say, we think the above sort of illustrates a “sign of the times” within the car market here in the United States. It is very well likely that economic conditions will change between now and when these products are slated to arrive (they are still quite a ways out), so maybe not as much will change as currently planned.

[mkwelbornjr]

There are people that always have and always will want a truck based large SUV. They to boats, they do many things with it.

[TheWraith]

all i have to say is that i attended a giant car show weekend in ocean city, md this weekend, and the need for "real" pickup trucks and full-sized suv's is alive and well. there were 1500+ muscle and classic cars, rods, trucks, etc, and there were probably 500+ full sized trucks as tow rigs.

if everything or near everything moves over to the fwd unibody lambda chassis, you're going to be losing customers, period. gas mileage is not an issue for the people that NEED the functionality of a larger body on frame truck - larger boat and trailer towing, plow trucks, off-road, etc.

[A.J.]

Gas prices are starting to come down - $3.09/gal in my area, so I imagine that the 900s will start somewhat selling again.

[tamatt27]

Why Lambda and not Zeta? I think the Denali XT conecpt should be considered as a model for the Escalade EXT.

[osv_alero]

I'm guessing that the change in products has as much to do with meeting EPA figures as it does sales.

[kenman923]

I think it's a good move for the SUVs. The Lambadas are on a car platform and the wave of the future is going to FWD based crossovers (Honda Pilot, Honda Ridgeline, Acura MDX, etc.) It's a move to make the SUVs more fuel efficient and attractive to buyers.

I wrote something on imposing a gas guzzler tax for SUVs and I was wrong. I think such a move would hurt consumerism and would definitely cause an uproar in the marketplace.

[skylark68]

Tahoe and Yukon can go away, but Suburban and Yukon XL have a place in the market as BOF full size V8 SUV's.

[member12]

The Tahoe/Suburban, Yukon/XL should stay on the full sized truck chassis along with the Silverado and Sierra.

The Avalanche could go either way....but seeing the stagnant sales of the Ridgeline, I'd suggest keeping it on a truck chassis too.

The Canyon/Colorado and perhaps a new Blazer and H3 need to be on a new worldwide mid sized truck chassis.

Escalade could go on a heavier Lambda provided it looks nothing like the other lambdas- Outlook needs to go away though. I don't see much of a market for the ESV when the GMC Denali is on sale.

No reason in the world for a Tahoe and a Traverse if they are on the same chassis. GM has not yet proven that it can make a unit body product with any balls. The people buying real SUVs now are doing so because they need to tow something. Better keep great product handy to compete against the Sequioa. There's no reason they can't sell the two along side each other. If most of GM's trucks are wussy crossovers, they will lose customers.

I think it's narrow minded and stupid for people to rush to judgement that crossovers are the future. There's absolutely no reason GM can't do both...just like they are doing now. GM has not yet proven that they are capable of making a crossover just as capable as a body on frame truck. Mercedes can...even Jeep can, but GM has not yet done so.




20 years ago, GM ruined their car products, and have never recovered. Let's not ruin the trucks by switching to the Ridgeline school of thought.

The Ridgeline is not better than a body on frame truck- it's just convinient for Honda to make because it's all they have to work with. This also applies to front drive mid sized cars like the Camry and Accord- these are simply overgrown economy cars. GM should be building downsized RWD performance cars to compete instead of trying to be the Japanese.

[Exploder]

I do not support Escalade going on Lambda unless the next-gen Lambda platform is RWD with 4WD/AWD capability. Even then, there's the question regarding the Traverse...if Lambda does go RWD the Traverse can be a new Trailblazer.

The Suburban/Silverado should stay body-on-frame.

[FierySolstice]

Personally I rather drive a Yukon or a Tahoe over an Acadia or Traverse. The truck based SUVs are just more masculine than the crossovers. I think the Lambdas should go down in size and keep the truck based SUVs the size they are.

[1G6]

Suburban is as good as dead if it's unibody.

[goblue]

Originally Posted by osv_alero

I'm guessing that the change in products has as much to do with meeting EPA figures as it does sales.

Gas prices obviated the need for EPA. What the customers want far exceeds the regulations.

[WishIhadatruck]

If the fullsize BOF suv's all disappear then they better beef up Lamda to be towing capable. 5200 lbs is pretty good for the Traverse for today's market where you have Tahoe's & Suburban's to choose from if you need them and it beats out its direct competitors. If the Tahoe disappears and the Suburban migrates to a larger Lamda platform then they better make it capable of towing much larger loads, at least the Suburban model. There is no reason a uni-body vehicle can't tow heavy loads, they just need to design it to do so or if it is already strong enough just beef up the weak spots that currently limit it (engine, trans?, hitch?, cooling?).

[bone]

Originally Posted by skylark68

Tahoe and Yukon can go away, but Suburban and Yukon XL have a place in the market as BOF full size V8 SUV's.

Totally agree. The Suburban should remain BoF and the same size as now. I favour calling both the Chevy and GMC, "Suburbans". Yukon XL means nothing to me.