Chevy's Silverado Lining

Chevy's redesigned flagship pickup may just be the best truck on the market but can it outsell long-time category leader the Ford F-150?

by Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Versatility, refined interior, fuel economy, towing capacity

The Bad: No manual transmission, choppy automatic transmission

The Bottom Line: The new leader among full-size pickups—but for how long?

Reader Reviews

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Up Front

I'm normally a veggie-burger type of guy, but after driving the new '07 Chevy Silverado pickup truck for a few miles, I pulled into a Burger King (BKC) and did something I hadn't done in years: chowed down on a Double Whopper. The new Silverado—especially with the big crew cab, 20-in. machined aluminum wheels, and powerful V8 engine my test truck came with—has that effect on a person. It's a real meat-eater's vehicle.

General Motors (GM) pulled out all the stops to make its new flagship pickup truck a winner with everyone from weekenders and suburban dads to plumbers, building contractors, and other traditional truck owners. The Silverado comes in more configurations than Anna Nicole Smith, with three choices of cab (regular, extended, and crew), bed length (5.8 ft., 6.5 ft., and 8 ft.), and trim level (Work, LT, and LTZ), as well as five suspension systems and seven engines (counting flex-fuel versions that can run on an 85% ethanol/15% gasoline mix).

There are even two styles of interior to choose from, a functional traditional truck cabin and a fancy one reminiscent of a luxury SUV. Heavy-duty versions of the Silverado will start hitting showrooms in February.

The new Silverado matches or surpasses its main rivals—the Ford F-150 (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/19/06, "America's Favorite Pickup Truck") and the Dodge Ram—in just about every respect, from fuel economy to features and options to plain old versatility. For instance, if you're on a budget and just want a basic pickup, you can just go with the regular cab, two-wheel drive, and the basic Z83 suspension.

If off-roading is your thing, go with the Z71 suspension and the off-roading package ($275), which includes extra under-body protection, a stabilizer bar, and an extra big air cleaner. If you want to tow a boat or trailer, go with NHT suspension (which includes special tires and heavy duty rear springs) and the maximum trailering package ($1,260), which includes a 6.0 liter, 367-horsepower V8 engine, a heavy-duty rear axle and cooling system, and raises the maximum towing capacity to a segment-leading 10,500 lbs.

The various versions of the '07 Silverado cost the same, or only marginally more, than the models they replace. The entry level, two-wheel-drive Silverado with a regular cab and the smallest available engine—a 4.3 liter, 195-horsepower V6 (not available until April)—starts at just $18,760. At the other end of the spectrum, the four-door, four-wheel drive, crew cab LTZ with the powerful 6.0 liter V8 starts at $40,250, and can easily top $45,000 if you load it up.

Options include a navigation system ($2,250), a rear-seat entertainment system ($1,295), 20-in. wheels ($1,295), a power sunroof ($685), rear parking assist, side curtain airbags and adjustable pedals ($715), and XM satellite radio (a bargain, and a definite must, at only $199).

So far, the '07 Silverado's average buyer, at 47, is only a year older than the average F-150 buyer, but significantly older than buyers of the Dodge Ram (44) and Nissan (NSANY) Titan (41) (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/12/06, "Nissan's Bulked-Up Family Truck"), according to the Power Information Network.

Only 14.6% of Silverado buyers are women, which is low even by full-size pickup truck standards. The comparable figure is 16.2% for the F-150, 19.1% for the Ram and 20.8% for the Titan. (Like Business Week, J.D. Power and the Power Information Network are units of the McGraw-Hill Companies.)

Winning in the full-size pickup market is crucial to GM because it's a huge source of profits. The Silverado's sales fell 11.7% last year, to 636,069 units sold, and trailed the F-150, with 796,039 units sold in 2006. But it's still GM's top-selling model of any type by a wide margin.