More GMC models on the horizon besides the Yukon

General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) announced in November that it will release a remanufactured version of the GMC Yukon in Australia in early 2025 as rival for the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, but a recent GM announcement suggests there could be more new models on the way here from Chevrolet’s upmarket sibling brand.

Such models include the GMC Canyon pick-up, Terrain SUV and the formidable Hummer EV pick-up and SUV duo, which could all feasibly be converted from left- to right-hand-drive by Walkinshaw Automotive as per the existing Chevrolet Silverado line-up and the upcoming Yukon.

GM hasn’t made any such confirmations just yet, but it formally announced GMC’s Australian introduction in North America overnight.

“Following stellar results in North America and beyond in 2023, GMC today confirmed the brand’s global expansion into three new international markets,” the brand said.

“Customers in Australia, New Zealand and China will soon join the GMC family with the brand set to launch the Yukon full-size SUV in these high-growth markets.

“China sales are expected to begin in 2024, with Australia and New Zealand following in 2025.”

Cadillac is another GM brand given the greenlight for our market, with the upmarket Lyriq electric SUV set to arrive here by the end of this year as the first of several promised (factory-produced) right-hook luxury EVs.

With Australia being deemed a ‘high-growth market’ by North America’s second biggest car-maker, there’s every chance GM will want to continue the momentum of the Silverado, Corvette, Yukon and Lyriq by introducing more models and establishing a presence in several key segments – chief among which could be the huge mid-size ute class.

All of GMSV’s current models are high-end vehicles carrying six-figure asking prices, which therefore bodes well for the Ford Ranger-poaching GMC Canyon that is essentially a sexier version of the current Chevy Colorado.

The Holden Colorado disappeared from our market in late 2020, leaving the Ranger, HiLux, Navara, D-MAX and Triton to have things largely their own way, but the Canyon would set the cat among the pigeons given it’s powered by a 231kW/583Nm turbo-petrol engine as standard.

The same ‘TurboMax’ engine can be found in the current Colorado still sold overseas and GM has trademarked the TurboMax nameplate Down Under.

But the GMC Canyon, which would need to be converted to RHD for Australia, would be a better fit with GMSV’s current premium price/spec strategy and, while Thai production ceased in 2020, the Canyon/Colorado is still produced in LHD in the US and Brazil.

Sticking with the ute theme but potentially more of an outside chance to come here is the monstrous GMC Hummer EV, which shares much of its DNA – platform, basic powertrain architecture – with the looming right-hook Cadillac range.

More plausible but further off, however, is the reported shrunken Hummer EV earmarked for the European market in the second half of the decade.

Word is design models of the Ranger-sized electric ute already exist and the project has been deemed something of a priority as GM looks to go global with both Hummer (off-road) and Cadillac (luxury).

A mid-size electric dual-cab would no doubt cause some headaches for the established brands as they work towards electric pick-ups of their own.

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