GMC Canyon Is a Midsize Striver
DETROIT - General Motors introduced its step-up entry in the midsize pickup market on Sunday, a day ahead of the opening of press previews for the Detroit auto show. The 2015 GMC Canyon takes its place in the G.M. lineup just a bit upstream of the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado, which was introduced at the Los Angeles auto show in November.
While the two trucks share mechanical components, each has a distinctive look. The new GMC entry invokes big-truck imagery with a hefty crossbar grille, large flared fenders that ride high and a cab that might look at home on an 18-wheeler. The Chevrolet Colorado, by comparison, is sleek and swoopy, with a nose that bends back to meet the front fenders and body trim that suggests a sporting intent.
A Chevrolet spokesman, Tom Wilkinson, said in a phone interview that consumer tests of the Colorado and Canyon designs revealed an almost even split in terms of preference, with some embracing the more rugged GMC version and others favoring the slippery Chevrolet. In the past, those would have been exactly the results G.M. hoped for, and there is no reason to think the positioning of the 2015 models is any different.
Powertrain choices are identical for the Canyon and the Colorado. Two gasoline engines are offered: a 193-horsepower 2.5-liter 4-cylinder a 302-horsepower 3.6-liter V6, the latter being an extra-cost option. Both engines have direct fuel injection and variable valve timing. A 6-speed automatic is standard fare. A 6-speed manual is available with the 4-cylinder engine in extended cab models. Diesel engines be offered in both trucks in their second model year.
Three versions of the GMC Canyon will be available: base, SLE and SLT models, with two- or four-wheel-drive systems. Four-wheel-drive models will have a mode that provides automatic range selection, much like an all-wheel-drive car. Body configurations include an extended cab truck with 6-foot bed, a crew cab with 5-foot bed and a crew cab with 6-foot bed. With tailgate down, an 8-foot load can be accommodated in models with the 6-foot bed. The bed can be divided into upper and lower tiers with a platform, a benefit to those who wish to conceal tools, and a plethora of fixed and reconfigurable tie downs are provided.
Typically, Canyon interiors are somewhat more luxurious than those of the Colorado, in keeping with the product differentiation scheme that G.M. has applied to the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups. Heated leather seats are standard on Canyon SLT models and an All-Terrain package delivers trim upgrades, including embossed seatbacks and contrast stitching.
The 2015 GMC Canyon will be doing battle in a midsize truck market that is by no means a pushover. The very well equipped Toyota Tacoma does well here, though it costs almost as much as a full-size pickup. Toyota and Nissan will soon have new midsize trucks, hoping to take advantage of a segment that has been shrinking but some see as poised for growth. Ford is apparently not convinced and has declined to participate in the domestic midsize pickup market since 2012. It still offers a midsize truck to international markets but has not indicated that it would introduce a new midsize here.
Mr. Wilkinson said General Motors research suggested midsize trucks appeal to urban and suburban buyers.
'A full size truck is too big for some,' he said. 'It's hard to get into parking decks and it can't be parked in a standard garage. We're convinced there's a significant group of customers who want a truck but won't buy a full-size.'
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