Holden to sell Chevrolet Silverado

Chevrolet’s iconic Silverado pick-up will become available for the first time via official Chevy-branded retail outlets at GM Holden and HSV dealerships around Australia by mid-2018.

The news was announced today as part of Holden’s new long-term deal with HSV, which will commence production of the Silverado 2500HD in April and the 3500HD in June.

HSV will import the heavy-duty Silverado trucks from the US and convert them to right-hand drive at its new Clayton factory in Melbourne. The same factory already produces the RAM 2500/3500 in a similar arrangement, this time as part of the American Special Vehicles (ASV) joint-venture with Ateco Automotive.

As part of its new business model following the closure of Holden’s Commodore factory, HSV will also import and convert the Camaro coupe, and the two models will form the basis of a new, official Chevrolet model range in Australia and New Zealand by md-2018.

Further afield, HSV is also expected to offer the smaller Silverado 1500 pick-up, which is due for renewal soon in the US, and the large Suburban SUV that shares its ladder chassis.

Silverado pricing is yet to be announced so it's not clear whether the 2500 entry price will undercut the circa-$140,000 starting price currently charged by a range of local Silverado converters.

American Special Vehicles (ASV), whose RAM 2500 and 3500 models are already produced in the same Walkinshaw Park facility as part of a joint-venture with Ateco Automotive, has a similar $140K starting price for the RAM 2500.

Like Ford’s F-Series — North America’s most popular new vehicle and also available here in RHD via Performax International and Harrison F-Trucks — the full-size Silverado pick-up is designed for carrying big payloads and towing heavy loads like boats, caravans and horse floats.

Like ASV, GM/HSV could focus on limited-edition models priced from about $150,000, as evidenced by the five 4x4 Crew Cab variants it says it will aim at farmers, miners, tradespeople and the ‘lifestyle’ market.

Chevrolet will offer the Silverado 2500 here in three model grades -- 2500HD WT, 2500HD LTZ Midnight Edition and 2500HD LTZ Custom Sport Edition -- alongside the Silverado 3500HD LTZ.

While the 2500HD’s minimum towing capacity of 3500kg and payload of 1140kg is at least a match for popular utes like the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger, it can raise those bars to around a hefty 6.1 tonnes and 1848kg.

All models will be powered by a circa 332kW/1234Nm 6.6-litre Duramax V8 turbo-diesel matched with an Allison 1000 six-speed automatic transmission and produced with full-volume ADR compliance.

Standard features across the dual-cab 4x4 range will include four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, an automatic locking rear differential and 3.72 final drive ratio.

“The availability of the Chevrolet Silverado range opens up some wonderful new opportunities for our business in a market segment whose potential is relatively untapped, and we believe has high growth potential,” said HSV managing director Tim Jackson.

“Whether it be the farming or mining sectors, those who need to pull a large caravan or horse float or simply those who want awesome towing and load carrying capability, Silverado is the pinnacle of the GM range,” he said.