A slick, silver streak of hope for GM with a GMC badge.
The Chicago Auto Show is a truck-heavy show, and with the truck business in a state of flux, all eyes are on the domestic brands—which have felt the greatest squeeze in the face of falling demand for full-size pickups and SUVs—for some sign of hope that they’re prepared with fresh ideas for their core market.
GMC does not let us down, showing the slickest pickup concept we’ve seen in years: the Denali XT hybrid concept. It could be just the thing to keep the brand afloat in the murky waters of the truck market.
Denali Doesn’t Have to Mean Huge Anymore
Until now, most of us have equated the Denali name with size and luxury, but the Denali XT shows that GMC has broader plans for the Denali name. At 205 inches long and 76 inches wide, the Denali XT casts roughly the same shadow as a Honda Ridgeline pickup, although its radically chopped roof is eight inches lower than the Ridgeline’s. GM calls it a “compact” truck.
Moreover, the cargo bed is just four feet, seven inches long by four feet wide—hardly full-size pickup load-carrying capability. However, a folding midgate extends the cargo area into the cab while the rear window remains in place. So what, exactly does Denali mean? Certainly not binge-shopping at Home Depot.
Bringin’ da Bling
As it always has, the Denali name does involve bling. And truthfully, it really works. Among the styling cues we would love to see in production are the broad front fenders, high-set headlamps, and flush-mounted tailpipes. And that window line could make it the Chrysler 300 of pickups.
The LED headlamps remind us of the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, and the XT offers a fresh take on GMC’s trademark grille (now with four lattice-trimmed louvers), as well as side vents, glitzy door handles and monstrous 23-inch wheels, all rendered in shiny chrome. Without dispute, there’s enough brightwork on this thing to earn the name Denali, no matter how “compact” it may or may not actually be.
Inside, the Denali XT’s four-place interior is full of show-car pizzazzery, including sexy leather bucket seats, aircraft-inspired dash bits, exotic lighting and more. With masculine colors and polygonal forms, this is the interior of the Chevrolet Camaro concept adapted for truck duty. We’re not sure how much of it will make it to production, but we’ll be looking to the production Camaro to gauge how good GM has become at translating show interiors into real interiors.
Switching to Unibody?
The most intriguing aspect of the Denali XT is its unibody architecture, portending a possible switch from body-on-frame to unibody for the truck that might ultimately replace the Canyon. This makes easy work of packaging a rear-wheel drivetrain, an independent rear suspension and the aforementioned midgate in the same vehicle whilst retaining a low profile and thus, good aerodynamics. GM says the body is stiffer than its body-on-frame compact counterparts.
Equally interesting is what’s stuffed under the blunt, tapered hood of the Denali XT: the same hybrid powertrain system used by GM’s family of hybrid full-size SUVs and pickups, including the 2009 GMC Sierra hybrid.
In this case, however, instead of using a 6.0-liter V-8 as its base, GM has installed a 4.9-liter version of its ubiquitous small-block V-8 with variable cylinder management. Said to produce 326 horsepower, the V-8 can also run on E85.
As for GMC’s “Professional Grade” slogan, well, with that chopped roof and those massive rollers, it may apply more to professional athletes and rap stars than cowboys and contractors, with a respectable payload capacity of 1100 pounds but a meager tow capacity of 3500 pounds. And don’t even think about off-roading in the XT, even with its height-adjustable suspension.
Is the Future of the Compact Pickup Unibody?
The Denali XT debuts less than a month after Toyota introduced its own wacky hybrid pickup concept the A-BAT concept, which the Denali XT looks like it could devour like a slimy piece of mackerel on a bed of sticky rice. Could car-based pickups be a sign of things to come from carmakers? Could the Ridgeline’s monopoly of the niche finally be coming to an end?
Clearly, yes. In addition to Toyota’s hybrid truck plans, GM is expected to import a version of Holden’s unibody, rear-drive Commodore Ute, a.k.a. the “Australian El Camino,” from its Australian division, which, incidentally, is the same group that developed the Denali XT. Hmmm.
Either way, we think the Denali XT is hot. GMC: ditch the Canyon and build this.
Sourse: Automobile Car Blog
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