The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado is in for a hell of a fight. Dodge/Ram and Ford have upped their game with Toyota and Nissan following closely behind. Gas mileage has improved, build quality is better than ever and interiors are becoming rather palatial, all except for Chevy. Remember when GM’s trucks were the top of the heap? It’s been a while and consumers are getting sick of green displays and instrumentation from the 80s.
There are a few things that are apparent right off the bat when looking at the body of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado:
1. The nose is thicker and taller, but the overhang looks much smaller.
2. The cab looks larger than the outgoing model with, what looks like, a bigger greenhouse.
3. The effort made for drag reduction is pretty extreme. Just look at how low the front air valance comes to the road. You can bet that the entire body is smoother and there is a significant increase with more efficient aerodynamics.
Here’s the only thing GM would print about the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado:
“DETROIT – GM engineers are conducting the final validation of the next generation Silverado light-duty pickups. In addition to torture testing, the team is paying attention to delivering a comfortable, well-balanced ride, which is being refined on a variety of track surfaces at GM’s Milford Proving Ground. The new Silverado will start production in 2013.”
Here’s what we at The Fast Lane Car know about the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado:
1. It will have a host of new tech features like “MyLink” which is their app-friendly infotainment system.
2. It will be more efficient as the competition has become more efficient. That means more efficient, direct-injection V6s and revised V8s. There is a rumor of an eight-speed automatic which would be a few years out.
3. There will be more trims as Chevrolet has to compensate for the loss of the Chevrolet Avalanche and growing differentiation of the competition’s trucks.  Items like V8s/EcoBoost V6 for Ford and eight-speed/air suspension for Ram will force GM to build a truck platform that can multitask.
Yes, we only have tidbits and conjecture, but it’s based on solid logic. GM needs the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado to be a solid contender right out of the box or face another financial debacle. Let’s hope the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado brings back that old sizzle that made them a top contender in the past.
Here’s a video that illustrates some of the competition Chevy can expect from Ram:
