DETROIT -- The redesigned GMC Sierra pickup may be repositioned as General Motors' premium pickup.
GM is rethinking pricing and equipment levels for both the redesigned Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado. The pickups will go on sale next year.
The marketing strategy has proven successful to differentiate GMC's Terrain and Yukon models from Chevrolet's Equinox, Tahoe and Suburban.
Sierra models would have a longer list of standard equipment and a higher sticker price than a comparable Chevrolet Silverado, Mark Reuss, GM president of North America, said on Monday.
"Right now, there is about a $500 difference on a brand basis between the two," Reuss said during an interview at Detroit's North American International Auto Show.
Additionally, the incentives are nearly identical between the two brands, he said.
"I think you will see equipment and models attacked very differently because we should. If we are going to carry two brands, we are going to make them pay their way," he said.
An effort will be made to differentiate the sheetmetal between the two pickups "as best we can do with a pickup truck. A pickup truck is a pickup truck," he said.
Additionally, options and equipment packages may differ between the two brands. The details are being worked out.
Speaking of both pickups, Reuss said "we may provide customer access and features that previously would have driven wild changes in architectures and suspensions. We will do it in a good efficient way."
He did not elaborate.
