GM News: GM Considering Changing Up Silverado, Sierra Sales Mix

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

November 5, 2013

October was a very good month for GM's pickup lineup. With the new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra in the mix, GM was able to move 59,163 trucks this past month. Still that wasn't quite enough to beat the Ford F-Series which sold 63,803 units in the same timeframe. Part of the reason is that Ford has been laying on the incentives as a way to keep sales up. But Kurt McNeil, GM’s chief sales analyst tells Wards Auto there is another reason at play.

“We are still over-weighted toward crew-cab and V-8 trucks. Our light-duty (pickup) mix will moderate over time as our launch progresses,” said McNeil.

GM decided to give dealers an abundance of crew-cab models equipped with the 5.3L EcoTec V8 since that was considered to be the most popular model. But with supplies of leftover 2013 models, which are being sold at heavy incentives, are beginning to shrink, buyers who are on a budget or want to splurge are looking elsewhere instead of going for one the popular models.

“We still have a little bit lower than our target” of double- and regular-cab pickups. We think by early in the new year, we’ll be in line with what our targets are. Early Q1, we should be there,” said Don Johnson, head of sales at Chevrolet.

Source: Wards Auto

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[Drew Dowdell]

I think the Crew Cab has more to do with it than the V8 v. V6 mix. GM started with a very heavy emphasis on the Crew Cab model to the exclusion of all others. And the Crew Cab is pricey

[David]

Too bad they did not have the king cab as most people looking for the regular cab will spend a little more for a king cab but will pass at the cost of a crew cab.

[Robert Hall]

Too bad they did not have the king cab as most people looking for the regular cab will spend a little more for a king cab but will pass at the cost of a crew cab.

The extended cab model is called the 'double cab' on the new model.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[ocnblu]

MOAR regular cabs!!!

[daves87rs]

Extended cab!

[GMTruckGuy74]

Extended cab!

I absolutely hate the term "double cab". To me double cab = crew cab, not an extended cab (which half a crew cab is). GM should have stayed with extended cab regardless of the way the door opens. It's been extended cab since they came out in 1987 as new '88 models. Why change that now?

[Robert Hall]

Extended cab!

I absolutely hate the term "double cab". To me double cab = crew cab, not an extended cab (which half a crew cab is). GM should have stayed with extended cab regardless of the way the door opens. It's been extended cab since they came out in 1987 as new '88 models. Why change that now?

No idea...Ford still calls theirs a 'Super Cab' after 40 years (I wonder if the next F150 will go to front hinged doors for this bodystyle?), Ram calls it a 'Quad Cab' (Ram has 4 cab styles)..IIRC, Dodge used to call it a Club Cab before it gained the 2nd set of doors.

'double cab' makes me think of the old VW bus-based pickup bodystyle or Toyota and Nissan pickups, which have called their crew cabs a 'double cab' forever, I think...

Edited November 6, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[David]

This gives me the sad feeling that some of the old GM still is sitting around waiting to screw things up since they cannot seem to settle on a standard. I agree with Roger that they should not change this.

[Cory Wolfe]

Of all the various new Silverados and Sierras I've seen on lots, I've spotted a mere two regular cabs, and both were as basic as they come. I'd like to see more regular cabs for people who don't need the extra space, but don't want a basic truck. I'm sure people like Ocnblu would appreciate it. I remember when I was young, things were different. If you bought a truck, you bought a regular cab and sat three wide, sometimes four. Not exactly safe, but everyone did it back in the day.