Dallas, Texas - General Motors’ best selling model, and cash cow of note, has been given a complete redesign in a fresh challenge to Ford’s F150, which outsells it on the US market.
Chevrolet’s left-hand-drive-only Silverado range has only ever been a fantasy to South African bakkie fans and now that GM has pulled out of our market, the chances of this new one reaching our shores has gone from slim to none.
Let’s take a look at what we’re missing out on.
According to Chevrolet, the 2019 Silverado has been completely redesigned from the ground up and boasts a muscular new design with more prominent sheetmetal creasing.
Interestingly Chevrolet has not followed Ford in making extensive use of aluminium, but the company does claim to have achieved a significant (although as yet unspecified) weight reduction through a mixture of materials and construction techniques.
The American carmaker has yet to disclose the engine line-up - that will likely happen at the Detroit show in January. For the record, the current Silverado offers a range of V6 and V8 petrol engines, culminating in a 313kW 6.2-litre powerhouse. The new one is likely to offer a fair share of V8s, but perhaps also alongside a downsized turbocharged alternative.
The new Silverado will be offered in eight different trim flavours, and what you see in the pictures is the LT Trailboss version, which includes the Z71 off-road kit and a two-inch suspension lift.