GMC expands Sierra's tech reach

DETROIT — GMC is adding technology and variety to its Sierra full-size pickups, while offering the brand's carbon fiber box without a premium on its best-equipped models.

A 2019 AT4 model with the CarbonPro box will start at $66,635 and offer a range of packages. The 2019 Denali model will start at $70,020. It includes an Ultimate Package, 22-inch premium wheels and other features.

Both versions will be available by July and come with a 6.2-liter V-8 engine and an audio speaker system that integrates into the pickup's six-function MultiPro Tailgate. All pricing includes $1,595 in shipping charges.

Duncan Aldred, global head of GMC and Buick, last week declined to comment on how much the box costs. But based on current pricing for other options in the package, there is no premium for it.

"We certainly made it into a very good value package, but we also wanted it to be associated with the best of everything we offer in GMC," he told Automotive News last week during a press event. "That's why we've really packaged it like that."

General Motors, Aldred said, plans to produce fewer than 1,000 of the carbon fiber boxes for the 2019 model year, followed by fewer than 20,000 for 2020.

Increasing availability of the carbon fiber box is one of several updates for the upcoming model year, a year after GM redesigned the Sierra and its Chevrolet Silverado 1500 sibling.

Other updates include expanding availability of its forthcoming 3.0-liter Duramax turbodiesel inline-six engine and 10-speed automatic transmission as well as offering more technologies such as adaptive cruise control.

GMC also will offer the Sierra Elevation, which is priced in the low $40,000s for a double cab, in the heart of the full-size pickup market, as a crew cab model for 2020.

The quick updates, according to Aldred, were planned and not a knee-jerk reaction to the increasingly competitive pickup market.

GMC expects a "minimal" price increase on the pickup for the 2020 model year, but pricing has not been finalized.