Latest news with #GMSV
NZ Autocar
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
GMC Yukon Denali
GMC won't exactly be a household name for most folk from the Antipodes. However, with the Yukon Denali launching in May, people will soon notice the presence of this large SUV on the streets. Massive 24s you wouldn't want to curb. GMSV is bringing in the top example of the Yukon, and it's dotting down in a niche occupied by very few indeed, at least on our side of the ditch. There's really only one like-sized and like-priced rival in the eight-seat area. And that's the LR Defender 130 with the eight-seat option. As to its name, the Yukon borrows the title from the rugged territory in the Northwest of Canada. With switchable 4wd, high and low ratio, height adjustable air suspension, and LSD, this has off-road credentials. It's build for taming the rugged wilds. Not quite rugged wilds, more like tame gravel. Meantime, the Denali suffix literally means 'the tall one', as in Mt McKinley. And at 1.95m in height, the descriptor is apt, for a vehicle at any rate. Contributing to its elevated status are 24-inch wheels, said to be the largest standard rims on any passenger vehicle in Australasia. It's so tall that part of the package includes deploying and retracting sidesteps. Handgrips also help with ascent. Other key dimensions include length of just under 5.4m, a wheelbase exceeding 3m and width of over 2m. And that's with the mirrors retracted. Little wonder then there's room in the rear for eight adults, and still 722L of luggage space left over with all seats in use. Fold the third row away and it rises to 2056L. With all the seats flat in the back, there's not far off 3500L of luggage space (3480L). That's 1000L more than its LR rival. That's just with the third-row folded away; massive luggage space here. And while we're on numbers this tips the scales at 2810kg. That's in part due to its body-on-frame platform, the T1XX underpinnings shared with Silverado, among others. Which happens to imbue it with the best braked towing figures in the class at 3628kg, a specific number right? Turns out it's 8000 pounds for US residents. So another best in class claim. That compares with a figure of 3000kg for the Defender 130. Behind that whopper of a chromed grille lies a 6.2L naturally aspirated V8 that distributes power via a 10-speed automatic transmission. The engine, which features displacement on demand (Active Fuel Management) and infinitely variable valve timing, generates power of 313kW and torque of 624Nm. That's sufficient, evidently, for a sprint time to 100 of 7.2sec. Which seems conservative to us, at least by the stopwatch. What it did feel was unbelievably relaxed in its demeanour; nothing bothers this. Even with a trailer hitched up, it just gets on with the job and doesn't need much in the way of revs in everyday use. GMC rates mean fuel use at 12.8L/100km. We saw low 14s when cruising on day one, and on the way up to Sydney a mean of 11.3L/100km. GMC Yukons en route to NSW. This is a rather imposing machine to behold. You ride high here. Driving behind small cars, they seem almost toy-like. Either side of the square-rigged grille are L-shaped DRLs and LED headlights, while at the rear are four square exhaust outlets, a pair each side. Mirrors are body coloured and so too wheel arches. In profile, those 24-inch rims dominate proceedings. Inside is also impressive, though not so much in a modern idiom; the central screen isn't master and commander here, though it is big. Instead of minimalism there are switches and buttons galore. The central screen is essentially for infotainment purposes. Big central screen, big bin. Everything is big in Yukon. Expect swathes of gloss black finishes, a few woody bits, oddly in brown fading to black, and powered, heated and ventilated front seats finished in perforated leather. A few semi-soft surfaces were unexpected. There's evidently 42 inches of screens if you add 'em all up. Centre stage is a 16.8inch portrait offering, while the driver gets an 11.8inch configurable screen and there's a 15.8inch head-up display. In the rear are 12-inch screens for the outer seat occupants, and also seat heating and independent AC controls. While there's no native navigation, AA and ACP are wirelessly integrated to the Bose 13-speaker infotainment system. We missed not having Traffic Sign Recognition. So much space in the middle-row seats, and tech too with a pair of screens. Even seat heating. Other standard kit includes a dual-panel panoramic sunroof with tilt and slide function and powered blind beneath, a powered fifth door and opening window, a shifter on the right side of the steering column, pushbutton start, two seat memories, an auto retracting steering column and wireless charging. Four drive modes comprise Normal, Sport, Off-Road and Tow/Haul. Mention of which, this has 11 camera views, several optimised for towing, a standard tow hitch and 12-pin harness, and trailer sway control. There's a digital mirror view too, which compensates for the outer rear headrests that impede visibility through the rear view window. A rear wash wipe unit proved handy on the day when rain was ever present. So for an SUV it genuinely ticks the major practicality and spec boxes. We had a really rather generous time behind the wheel. First a three-hour road trip from Canberra to the NSW border and then another similar jaunt up the coast for the return trip home out of Sydney. Four exhaust outlets hint at the big V8 under the hood. People who buy big SUVs have a love affair with V8s, at least in America, according to GMSV. And you can see why. They sound good, provide easy-going power and lope along on the open road without any real sense of effort. A 10-speed auto helps, though for the life of us we couldn't activate the paddle shifters. Turns out there's a button on the wheel for that, labelled L. Why not M for manual which makes way more sense? Mention of wheel, the actual hoops are 24 inches in diameter, the biggest in Australasia. And on the button thing, this is almost the polar opposite of the EV norm where buttons seem to be a dirty word. Sure, it takes a little time to acclimate but the same can be said for confounded central screen controllers. Many of the buttons are on the right side of the dash, by the door, while those below the central screen are for the heating and ventilation. We rather liked the heated wheel. And the standard tints for the rear half of the car make it look a bit presidential. Not so noticeable in a visual sense is the acoustic glass but it sure is quiet on road as a result. Not that SUVs aren't quiet anyway but this one is hushed quiet. With its stout body on frame chassis, this can haul braked trailers weighing up to 3628kg. Handling and ride? It's not often body on frame efforts are impressive in the ride department but this sure is. All that weight carried high means, despite the big beefy tyres, that this needs to be driven sensibly. It's important to set speed accurately before the bends but provided you do that it handles fine, given its weight, and feels planted. Despite the wet conditions, 2wd (to the rear natch) was fine. We tried AWD as well but it felt well grounded as a rear driver so reverted back. It was the same on the 20km of dirt roads we plied; the TC and ESP handled any minor loss of traction issues adeptly. Some slight oddities; you can scarcely here the indicators in action, and the seat vibes if you cross a white line on the side of the road. That's sure to rouse drowsy drivers. As to rivals? In Australia a few of the Land Cruisers offer eight seat options but not in New Zealand where Hyundai Palisade does and so too CX-90 and Nissan Patrol but these aren't as big or generous with space inside. The main opposition comes from the eight-pew Land Rover Defender 130. It too has a V8, a twin turbo mild hybrid and is quicker, with a sprint claim of 4sec. It is also 5.4m long but isn't as generous in the luggage capacity or towing stakes. Prices are similar, the GMC slightly less at $184,990. The Yukon Denali goes on sale in May and is backed by a three-year, 100,000km warranty.
NZ Autocar
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Autocar
GMC launches here with Yukon Denali Large SUV
NZ Autocar has just attended the Australasian launch of GMC's Yukon Denali. And that might sound like double Dutch to some of you. Others will have heard of GMC, a division of GM. And those into their American machinery will have come across Yukon before. It has been around since 1992. Huge 24-inch rims fill body-coloured wheel arches of Yukon Denali. Before a further explanation, we should just mention that there's an embargo on drive impressions. Check back here on May 12th for details on how it drives. The launch route kicked off in Canberra and ended in Sydney, much of it on roads less travelled. GMC is the division of General Motors that deals with trucks and SUVs. Or in GM speak, vehicles with 'rugged reliability, technology, and luxury'. The company is certainly long of tooth, founded in 1911. Until the launch of the Yukon here, there have been no GMC products officially imported into Australasia. The Yukon is a large eight-pew SUV and it's named after the rugged territory in the northwest of Canada, right alongside Alaska. GMC is clearly borrowing imagery here, the SUV designed for the rigours of the great outdoors. For that it is well outfitted. Four exhausts mark out the Yukon Denali rear. The only model we're getting here is the top-shelf Denali. Its name means 'the tall one' – it is also the indigenous name for the tallest mountain in the US. Measuring up at almost 2m in height, the Yukon Denali has running boards that extend and retract when the doors open and close. It also has grab handles to make entry easier. Long it is too at almost 5.4m and it's well over 2m wide. With its switchable AWD and high/low transfer case, along with a limited slip diff, an off-road drive mode, and height adjustable suspension, this should also cope with barely formed roads and basic trails confidently. The vehicle itself is built in Arlington, Texas and shares its body-on-frame platform with the likes of Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe and Suburban. That's why it has a braked towing capacity of 3628kg, claimed by GMSV to be the best in class. The odd number makes more sense in US parlance (8000lbs). A towbar is standard fit, as is an 11-view camera and trailer sway control. What the Yukon Denali interior looks like after remanufacture. Anyhow, once it arrives in Australia, it is shipped to Dandenong, Victoria, where it is remanufactured from left hook to right-hand drive. This facility has just ticked over 10,000 conversions, many of them Silverados. Prior to going on sale in the Antipodes, GMSV has been durability testing the Yukon, 10 vehicles having completed over 100,000km. Some have done the 14,000km around Australia circuit. Since GMSV indicated that the GMC Yukon Denali would be coming down under, there have been 2500 expressions of interest. There's almost room to party aboard the Yukon Denali. And there's a good reason for this – there are very few eight-seater luxury grade large SUV options for big families with a love of the outdoors. At least on this side of the Tasman where the asking price is $184,990. A few other points about the Yukon. It's big enough that there is genuine seating for eight adults inside, especially as the middle-row seats are on sliders. They also fold and slide forward for ease of entry to the third-row seats. Even with all pews in use there's still 722 litres of luggage space, rising to 2056L with the third-row seats out of action and to 3480L with all rear seats folded flat. Loading is facilitated by a powered tailgate and separately opening glass section. Ride height may be lowered by 50mm to make entry and loading easier too. An illuminated GMC badge for the Yukon Denali. It's coming here as a highly specified model following a recent refresh, sporting new front and rear fascias, liftgate badging, animated lamps and a panoramic sunroof with a powered section up front. Jeweled headlights bookend a bold hexagonal chrome-plated grille. The GMC badge up front lights up at night too. Denali features 24-inch machined alloys, the biggest standard rims on any production vehicle sold in Australasia. So it looks the part in that can-do way. This is as big as it gets in the alloy wheel department. Powering the Yukon Denali is a 6.2L naturally aspirated V8 featuring displacement on demand, and fully variable valve timing. Output is rated at 313kW and 624Nm, and the power is processed by a 10-speed automatic transmission. A 0-100km/h time of circa 7sec is quoted. GMC rates mean fuel use at 12.8L/100km, and the tank holds 91L. It requires 95 ULP for optimum performance. The cabin features wood and gloss black finishes, powered, heated and ventilated seats finished in perforated leather, three-zone AC, and 42 inches of screen. The main unit is 16.8 inches and incorporates wireless AA and ACP, while there's also a wireless charge pad. Other items include 12.6 inch screens, charge points, heated pews and an AC zone for the two middle row occupants, comfort entry and push button start and every safety whatsit available, apart from traffic sign recognition. There's no native sat nav either, but smart phones integrate wirelessly and there's a head-up display. This is almost primarily for infotainment. Most functions are controlled by buttons. As to rivals, there are only a few eight-seater SUVs on sale, but they're not as big. Arguably its main rival is the similarly sized and priced Land Rover Defender 130 with the eight-seat package. It too features a V8, although that's turbocharged with a mild hybrid set-up. While somewhat quicker, it doesn't have the luggage capacity of the Yukon Denali (2200 vs 3480L), nor the tow capacity (3000kg vs 3680kg). GMC Yukon Denali is on sale here imminently. The GMC Yukon Denali goes on sale in New Zealand this month. For more on this vehicle, see the June issue of NZ Autocar.
Perth Now
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Perth Now
Why GM chose to bring yet another brand to Australia
General Motors will soon have three brands being distributed across two retail channels in Australia, even though it no longer has a mass-market, high-volume marque here following the demise of Holden in 2020. The GMC Yukon Denali is reaching dealers over the next couple of weeks, with first customer deliveries occurring over the third quarter of this year. Like the Chevrolet Silverado, it's being remanufactured locally in right-hand drive by Walkinshaw Automotive, and sold through GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) showrooms. Unusually, GM has chosen to launch the GMC Yukon here despite the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands offering the mechanically related Tahoe and Escalade, respectively. GM has already confirmed Cadillac will be an electric-only brand in Australia, so why not launch full-size Chevrolet SUVs instead of debuting the GMC nameplate? Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Chevrolet Tahoe High Country Credit: CarExpert 'If you look at the market here, it's really going to be those buyers that are either in the very top end of the LandCruiser space, the Mercedes, the Lexus, those larger SUVs – when you look at the appointments… it really is a premium level, and that's why that extra step up from a Chevy Tahoe to a GMC Yukon made more sense,' explained Jess Bala, managing director for GM Australia and New Zealand (GM ANZ). 'When it came to what we see the opportunity as, and when you look at that extra-large SUV space, and the price point that we're going to command and the level of technology, features, luxury appointments that need to go into that, that's why we felt the GMC Yukon Denali fit was better and more appropriate for that buyer, that segment, and the attributes that come with that car versus a Tahoe.' However, the Tahoe can be had in a range of trims culminating in the High Country, which can be had with much of the same high-end features as the Yukon Denali including 24-inch alloy wheels, Magnetic Ride Control, adaptive air suspension, a head-up display, and a digital rear-view mirror. In the US, it also comes with the same 6.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol V8. GMC Yukon Denali Credit: CarExpert It would therefore appear to be a simpler fit for GM Specialty Vehicle (GMSV) showrooms, and sit neatly alongside the Silverado pickup with which it's mechanically related. 'I wouldn't necessarily say it was simpler,' Ms Bala contested. 'When you look at the symmetry of the vehicles, specifically, I wouldn't say it's simpler.' Notably, the Yukon has a different dashboard design to the Tahoe, featuring a portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen instead of the angled, landscape-oriented unit of the Chevy. 'From a branding standpoint, I understand the question for sure, but if we look at the price point and the positioning within our own parent company, GMC is the higher-specced, higher level of luxury vehicle so that's why we went down that path,' continued Ms Bala. 'It wasn't just a left-hand to right-hand drive conversion analysis, it was a bigger strategic play.' Much as Cadillac is being rolled out to markets like ours and New Zealand, GMC is also being pushed outside of its traditional North America and Middle East domains. Old-school GMC: the 2025 Savana Credit: CarExpert New-age GMC: the 2025 Acadia Credit: CarExpert GM launched the 'Professional Grade' brand in South Korea in 2022, where it offers only the Sierra 1500 in posh Denali and Denali-X guises. The brand is also being launched in China. GMC used to be little more than another dealer network for Chevrolet, with its vehicles typically sold alongside Buick and Pontiac models and swapping the gold bow-tie for a red-letter badge… and receiving little else in the way of changes. But in the 2000s, GM started making more of an effort to differentiate GMC models from Chevrolets in terms of sheetmetal and interior design, and the launch of the posh Denali trim level shortly before this in 1999 also started the brand on a path towards where it currently sits in the market. In terms of positioning, GMC sits between Chevrolet and Cadillac, though it's not always as clean-cut as that – as mentioned, there are posh Chevy models available, while GMC still sells straight rebadges like the ancient Savana van. GMC Yukon Denali Credit: CarExpert 'It's a brand that over time we've continued to reach higher and higher and take advantage of those white spaces, if you will, that exist in between the mainstream and the more obvious luxury brands,' said Tim Simmons, senior product marketing manager for GMC in the US. Making GMC an easier brand to launch than, for example, Buick is the fact its name is almost identical to that of its parent company. But GM also says Australians love of American pop culture has given the brand a leg up. 'American pop culture helps us a lot here… We get people who know the GM brand, they recognise the car, they don't know necessarily what the badge on the front is but they know it's a GM car and they know that they've seen it in TV and that's the car they like, that's the car they want, we get asked all the time,' said GM International communications director Lauren Indiveri-Clarke. 'Cadillac was the same, people knew the brand Cadillac. Could they point to a logo? Probably not, but they'd heard of Cadillac. 'So when we launched it here, it was pretty easy for us to overcome that lack of brand recognition. We were able to say that it's a Cadillac and people knew that name. They didn't know that car was like a Cadillac because they hadn't seen the modern-day Cadillac, but they knew the name.' Chevrolet Corvette Credit: CarExpert Cadillac Lyriq Credit: CarExpert Unlike Cadillac, the GMC Yukon Denali will be sold through GMSV showrooms alongside Chevrolet models. 'We care that it's GMC on the front, but customers are looking at it as a GM, it's part of the GM product portfolio,' said Ms Indiveri-Clarke. That 'house of brands' approach allows GM ANZ to take vehicles from throughout GM's global portfolio, though it has ruled out offering any Buick models. 'We do have a job ahead of us to get the [GMC] brand familiarity up and awareness up and then ultimately consideration to buy the vehicle as well,' conceded Ms Bala. GM isn't the only carmaker rolling out multiple brands successively in our market. After relaunching here in 2023 as a factory-backed operation, Chery introduced its spinoff brand Jaecoo this year and will add the Omoda brand later this year. It has also confirmed the iCaur brand for our market. MORE: Everything GMC Yukon
West Australian
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- West Australian
Why GM chose to bring yet another brand to Australia
General Motors will soon have three brands being distributed across two retail channels in Australia, even though it no longer has a mass-market, high-volume marque here following the demise of Holden in 2020. The GMC Yukon Denali is reaching dealers over the next couple of weeks, with first customer deliveries occurring over the third quarter of this year. Like the Chevrolet Silverado , it's being remanufactured locally in right-hand drive by Walkinshaw Automotive, and sold through GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) showrooms. Unusually, GM has chosen to launch the GMC Yukon here despite the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands offering the mechanically related Tahoe and Escalade, respectively. GM has already confirmed Cadillac will be an electric-only brand in Australia, so why not launch full-size Chevrolet SUVs instead of debuting the GMC nameplate? Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now . 'If you look at the market here, it's really going to be those buyers that are either in the very top end of the LandCruiser space, the Mercedes, the Lexus, those larger SUVs – when you look at the appointments… it really is a premium level, and that's why that extra step up from a Chevy Tahoe to a GMC Yukon made more sense,' explained Jess Bala, managing director for GM Australia and New Zealand (GM ANZ). 'When it came to what we see the opportunity as, and when you look at that extra-large SUV space, and the price point that we're going to command and the level of technology, features, luxury appointments that need to go into that, that's why we felt the GMC Yukon Denali fit was better and more appropriate for that buyer, that segment, and the attributes that come with that car versus a Tahoe.' However, the Tahoe can be had in a range of trims culminating in the High Country, which can be had with much of the same high-end features as the Yukon Denali including 24-inch alloy wheels, Magnetic Ride Control, adaptive air suspension, a head-up display, and a digital rear-view mirror. In the US, it also comes with the same 6.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol V8. It would therefore appear to be a simpler fit for GM Specialty Vehicle (GMSV) showrooms, and sit neatly alongside the Silverado pickup with which it's mechanically related. 'I wouldn't necessarily say it was simpler,' Ms Bala contested. 'When you look at the symmetry of the vehicles, specifically, I wouldn't say it's simpler.' Notably, the Yukon has a different dashboard design to the Tahoe, featuring a portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen instead of the angled, landscape-oriented unit of the Chevy. 'From a branding standpoint, I understand the question for sure, but if we look at the price point and the positioning within our own parent company, GMC is the higher-specced, higher level of luxury vehicle so that's why we went down that path,' continued Ms Bala. 'It wasn't just a left-hand to right-hand drive conversion analysis, it was a bigger strategic play.' Much as Cadillac is being rolled out to markets like ours and New Zealand, GMC is also being pushed outside of its traditional North America and Middle East domains. GM launched the 'Professional Grade' brand in South Korea in 2022, where it offers only the Sierra 1500 in posh Denali and Denali-X guises. The brand is also being launched in China. GMC used to be little more than another dealer network for Chevrolet, with its vehicles typically sold alongside Buick and Pontiac models and swapping the gold bow-tie for a red-letter badge… and receiving little else in the way of changes. But in the 2000s, GM started making more of an effort to differentiate GMC models from Chevrolets in terms of sheetmetal and interior design, and the launch of the posh Denali trim level shortly before this in 1999 also started the brand on a path towards where it currently sits in the market. In terms of positioning, GMC sits between Chevrolet and Cadillac, though it's not always as clean-cut as that – as mentioned, there are posh Chevy models available, while GMC still sells straight rebadges like the ancient Savana van. 'It's a brand that over time we've continued to reach higher and higher and take advantage of those white spaces, if you will, that exist in between the mainstream and the more obvious luxury brands,' said Tim Simmons, senior product marketing manager for GMC in the US. Making GMC an easier brand to launch than, for example, Buick is the fact its name is almost identical to that of its parent company. But GM also says Australians love of American pop culture has given the brand a leg up. 'American pop culture helps us a lot here… We get people who know the GM brand, they recognise the car, they don't know necessarily what the badge on the front is but they know it's a GM car and they know that they've seen it in TV and that's the car they like, that's the car they want, we get asked all the time,' said GM International communications director Lauren Indiveri-Clarke. 'Cadillac was the same, people knew the brand Cadillac. Could they point to a logo? Probably not, but they'd heard of Cadillac. 'So when we launched it here, it was pretty easy for us to overcome that lack of brand recognition. We were able to say that it's a Cadillac and people knew that name. They didn't know that car was like a Cadillac because they hadn't seen the modern-day Cadillac, but they knew the name.' Unlike Cadillac, the GMC Yukon Denali will be sold through GMSV showrooms alongside Chevrolet models. 'We care that it's GMC on the front, but customers are looking at it as a GM, it's part of the GM product portfolio,' said Ms Indiveri-Clarke. That 'house of brands' approach allows GM ANZ to take vehicles from throughout GM's global portfolio, though it has ruled out offering any Buick models. 'We do have a job ahead of us to get the [GMC] brand familiarity up and awareness up and then ultimately consideration to buy the vehicle as well,' conceded Ms Bala. GM isn't the only carmaker rolling out multiple brands successively in our market. After relaunching here in 2023 as a factory-backed operation, Chery introduced its spinoff brand Jaecoo this year and will add the Omoda brand later this year. It has also confirmed the iCaur brand for our market. MORE: Everything GMC Yukon
7NEWS
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- 7NEWS
Why GM chose to bring yet another brand to Australia
General Motors will soon have three brands being distributed across two retail channels in Australia, even though it no longer has a mass-market, high-volume marque here following the demise of Holden in 2020. The GMC Yukon Denali is reaching dealers over the next couple of weeks, with first customer deliveries occurring over the third quarter of this year. Like the Chevrolet Silverado, it's being remanufactured locally in right-hand drive by Walkinshaw Automotive, and sold through GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) showrooms. Unusually, GM has chosen to launch the GMC Yukon here despite the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands offering the mechanically related Tahoe and Escalade, respectively. GM has already confirmed Cadillac will be an electric-only brand in Australia, so why not launch full-size Chevrolet SUVs instead of debuting the GMC nameplate? Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. 'If you look at the market here, it's really going to be those buyers that are either in the very top end of the LandCruiser space, the Mercedes, the Lexus, those larger SUVs – when you look at the appointments… it really is a premium level, and that's why that extra step up from a Chevy Tahoe to a GMC Yukon made more sense,' explained Jess Bala, managing director for GM Australia and New Zealand (GM ANZ). 'When it came to what we see the opportunity as, and when you look at that extra-large SUV space, and the price point that we're going to command and the level of technology, features, luxury appointments that need to go into that, that's why we felt the GMC Yukon Denali fit was better and more appropriate for that buyer, that segment, and the attributes that come with that car versus a Tahoe.' However, the Tahoe can be had in a range of trims culminating in the High Country, which can be had with much of the same high-end features as the Yukon Denali including 24-inch alloy wheels, Magnetic Ride Control, adaptive air suspension, a head-up display, and a digital rear-view mirror. In the US, it also comes with the same 6.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol V8. It would therefore appear to be a simpler fit for GM Specialty Vehicle (GMSV) showrooms, and sit neatly alongside the Silverado pickup with which it's mechanically related. 'I wouldn't necessarily say it was simpler,' Ms Bala contested. 'When you look at the symmetry of the vehicles, specifically, I wouldn't say it's simpler.' Notably, the Yukon has a different dashboard design to the Tahoe, featuring a portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen instead of the angled, landscape-oriented unit of the Chevy. 'From a branding standpoint, I understand the question for sure, but if we look at the price point and the positioning within our own parent company, GMC is the higher-specced, higher level of luxury vehicle so that's why we went down that path,' continued Ms Bala. 'It wasn't just a left-hand to right-hand drive conversion analysis, it was a bigger strategic play.' Much as Cadillac is being rolled out to markets like ours and New Zealand, GMC is also being pushed outside of its traditional North America and Middle East domains. GM launched the 'Professional Grade' brand in South Korea in 2022, where it offers only the Sierra 1500 in posh Denali and Denali-X guises. The brand is also being launched in China. GMC used to be little more than another dealer network for Chevrolet, with its vehicles typically sold alongside Buick and Pontiac models and swapping the gold bow-tie for a red-letter badge… and receiving little else in the way of changes. But in the 2000s, GM started making more of an effort to differentiate GMC models from Chevrolets in terms of sheetmetal and interior design, and the launch of the posh Denali trim level shortly before this in 1999 also started the brand on a path towards where it currently sits in the market. In terms of positioning, GMC sits between Chevrolet and Cadillac, though it's not always as clean-cut as that – as mentioned, there are posh Chevy models available, while GMC still sells straight rebadges like the ancient Savana van. 'It's a brand that over time we've continued to reach higher and higher and take advantage of those white spaces, if you will, that exist in between the mainstream and the more obvious luxury brands,' said Tim Simmons, senior product marketing manager for GMC in the US. Making GMC an easier brand to launch than, for example, Buick is the fact its name is almost identical to that of its parent company. But GM also says Australians love of American pop culture has given the brand a leg up. 'American pop culture helps us a lot here… We get people who know the GM brand, they recognise the car, they don't know necessarily what the badge on the front is but they know it's a GM car and they know that they've seen it in TV and that's the car they like, that's the car they want, we get asked all the time,' said GM International communications director Lauren Indiveri-Clarke. 'Cadillac was the same, people knew the brand Cadillac. Could they point to a logo? Probably not, but they'd heard of Cadillac. 'So when we launched it here, it was pretty easy for us to overcome that lack of brand recognition. We were able to say that it's a Cadillac and people knew that name. They didn't know that car was like a Cadillac because they hadn't seen the modern-day Cadillac, but they knew the name.' Unlike Cadillac, the GMC Yukon Denali will be sold through GMSV showrooms alongside Chevrolet models. 'We care that it's GMC on the front, but customers are looking at it as a GM, it's part of the GM product portfolio,' said Ms Indiveri-Clarke. That 'house of brands' approach allows GM ANZ to take vehicles from throughout GM's global portfolio, though it has ruled out offering any Buick models. 'We do have a job ahead of us to get the [GMC] brand familiarity up and awareness up and then ultimately consideration to buy the vehicle as well,' conceded Ms Bala. GM isn't the only carmaker rolling out multiple brands successively in our market. After relaunching here in 2023 as a factory-backed operation, Chery introduced its spinoff brand Jaecoo this year and will add the Omoda brand later this year. It has also confirmed the iCaur brand for our market.
