GMC Yukon: GMSV says ‘stay tuned’

“Say tuned”. That’s the message from General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) when it comes to the GMC Yukon and the potential for the full-size 4x4 wagon to be sold in Australia.

Speaking in the wake of a pair of IP Australia trademark filings for the Yukon coming to light recently, GMSV marketing and communications boss Jodie Lennon confirmed the Toyota LandCruiser rival was a possibility for Australian release.

But she couched that possibility in generic terms.

“We have a practice of always trademarking brands and there are a lot of things we need to consider when we bring any new vehicle to market,” Lennon told carsales in an exclusive interview during the Australian public unveil of the new Corvette Z06 supercar at the Corvette Nationals in Ballarat on the weekend.

“Is it the right fit for the market? Can we get enough? Is it going to be the right price? These are the sorts of things we think about.

“But nothing’s impossible and I guess we would say stay tuned.”

The GMC Yukon makes sense for GMSV and Australia because it is based on the same ladder-frame architecture as the Silverado pick-up that’s already converted to right-hand drive for GMSV by Walkinshaw Automotive in Dandenong, Victoria.

While it would mean GMSV adding a fresh brand – GMC – alongside Chevrolet to its line-up, the upside of breaking into a new market segment could outweigh that.

Pricing of the latest 300 Series LandCruiser, which now tops out at more than $140,000 before on-road costs, also opens up the market for a locally-converted Yukon.

The upcoming 2024 Nissan Patrol Warrior would also be a player in this part of the large off-road SUV segment.

“We always watch the market and nothing is impossible, so when we have got information to share we will share it with you,” Lennon said.

In media interviews at the launch of the new MY23 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 two weeks ago, GMSV execs confirmed there will be further new product announcements in 2023.

However, Lennon was non-committal about expectations GM will soon confirm Cadillac as a global EV brand for markets outside the US including Australia – despite recent trademark filings locally and overseas sightings of right-hand drive Lyriq electric SUVs being tested.

“We have no information to share,” she said.

For the record, the Cadillac Lyriq has just been launched in the US and is the first production model to be based on GM’s new BEV3 modular EV architecture and Ultium lithium-ion pouch-style batteries developed with LG Chem.

Aimed at mid-size electric premium SUVs like the Audi Q8 e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, Jaguar I-PACE and Tesla Model X, the Lyriq will be available in single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains, with a 100kWh battery pack offering a circa-500km driving range.

The GMC Yukon, meantime, is a big American ladder-frame SUV that is effectively a rebadged version of the Silverado-based Chevrolet Tahoe – effectively a short-wheelbase version of the big Chevrolet Suburban that was sold by Holden between 1998 and 2001.

Positioned as an upmarket alternative to the Chevrolet Tahoe, the GMC Yukon was first introduced in North America and the fifth generation was revealed in the US in January 2020, two years after the release of the fourth-generation Silverado in 2018.

The Yukon 4x4 rides on a significantly shorter 3070mm wheelbase than the Silverado and are much shorter overall (5350mm) but only slightly narrower at 2055mm, although the rear track is wider due to multi-link independent rear suspension instead of a solid leaf-spring rear axle.

Produced in regular and XL forms, the Yukon is available in the US with a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel inline-six and, like the Silverado, a 5.3-litre petrol V8 or an optional 6.2-litre petrol V8 (standard in Australia). Towing capacity is 3820kg.

The V8-powered Denali is the top-spec Yukon variant and could capitalise on much of the expensive RHD engineering work already completed for the MY23 Silverado – including its fancy new digitalised dashboard – given it’s all but identical to the pick-up from the A-pillar forward.

If the GMC Yukon program goes ahead for Australia we’d expect pricing to be somewhere the MY23 Silverado’s $128K starting price and the $140K-plus price tag of the top-shelf LandCruiser.

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