2019 GMC Sierra Denali: The Professional Grade Experience
Chevrolet Forum invades Canada to test out Detroit’s latest luxury pickup truck for the hard working professional.
For many years, if someone asked, “What is the difference between the GMC Sierra and the Chevrolet Silverado?” you’d have to shrug your shoulders and talk about the exterior styling. There wasn’t much to differentiate the two when you broke them down. For 2019, that’s changed with all-new versions of both the Silverado and the Sierra.
A few weeks ago, I tested out the new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Now I am off to Canada where I’ll be driving the 2019 GMC Sierra Denali in St John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador.
Newfoundland is a beautiful part of Canada, and a great place to introduce GMC’s most important pickup truck in years. Why Canada? Because Canadians love GMC! GMC clearly outsells Chevrolet in the Great White North. Driving around Canada, you wonder if the folks in Public Relations at General Motors staged the flux of Sierras spotted along our drive route. They were, quite literally, everywhere.
The local population also took notice of us being there. It’s hard to miss the front end on the new Sierra, especially in Denali trim. The grille is intimidating in the rearview mirror, and there’s no mistaking the manufacturer of the truck. Compared to the front-end on the Silverado (which is growing on me), the Sierra looks tons better, even with the chrome.
C-shape design elements make up everything from the headlight design to the shape of the wheel wells, and are a design theme both on the exterior and in the cabin. In profile, the Sierra is most resembles the sibling from Chevrolet, but you still have to know what you’re looking for.
At the rear is where things really diverge, since the MultiPro tailgate is standard on AT4, SLT, and Denali trims. It’s such a no-brainer design that I’m surprised nobody else has thought of it, but I commend the engineers at GMC for making it happen. People will buy this truck because solely because of this tailgate.
It has a 6-in-1 design that folds like a traditional tailgate. It also has a small top gate that can function as a bed extender to a load floor divider. One of the folding modes is also a tailgate step that can handle 375 pounds. Finally, a portion can drop away making it easier to reach into the bed, even with a fork lift at Home Depot.
2019 GMC Sierra Denali: The Professional Grade Experience continued…
