The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 range is receiving a new interior and a new flagship variant to fend off the popular Ram 1500 and upcoming Ford F-150.
GMSV has detailed the 2023 range, which will continue to be manufactured in North America and re-engineered for right-hand drive locally in Melbourne.
Arrivals of the updated LTZ Premium are anticipated to begin in the second quarter of 2023, while the new Silverado 1500 ZR2 will arrive in mid-2023.
The LTZ Premium will be priced from $121,000 before on-roads, up $6010 on the 2022 model, while the ZR2 will be priced at $124,000 before on-roads.
Full specifications of the ZR2, including dimensions and towing capacity, have yet to be released as the certification process is underway.
It’s a new off-road-oriented variant in the Silverado 1500 range, though it hasn’t been designed to be quite as extreme as the likes of the Ford F-150 Raptor and Ram 1500 TRX.
Off-road gear includes electronic locking front and rear differentials, Multimatic DSSV spool-valve dampers, 33-inch mud terrain tyres, and a unique front bumper designed for improved off-road durability and clearance.
It promises to be more off-road-capable than the outgoing LT Trail Boss, which features only a mechanical locking rear differential.
At its reveal in September 2021, Chevrolet also confirmed it would offer a Terrain Mode that allows for one-pedal rock crawling.
It’s visually distinguished from the LTZ Premium through its black chrome grille, unique badging, more aggressive wheel arch flares, black bonnet insert, and 18-inch gloss black alloy wheels.
Inside, it features a Jet Black/Graystone leather-appointed interior with dark trim.
Like the LTZ Premium, it’s powered by a naturally-aspirated 6.2-litre V8 engine with 313kW of power and 624Nm of torque, mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Design tweaks to the 2023 Silverado range included a revised front fascia with new daytime running lights and a restyled grille, while the LTZ Premium gets new 20-inch alloy wheels with all-terrain tyres.
The headline changes, however, are inside where there’s a completely redesigned dashboard.
There’s a new 13.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 12.3-inch configurable digital instrument cluster. The outgoing model has only an 8.0-inch screen, plus analogue gauges with a digital information screen.
US-market ZR2 shown
GMSV hasn’t detailed the full list of features for each model, but says the LTZ Premium will be available with a Jet Black leather-appointed interior, adaptive cruise control, and a Technology Pack with a digital rear-view mirror, 15-inch colour head-up display, and a bed-view camera.
At the updated truck’s reveal, Chevrolet also confirmed the Silverado’s infotainment system runs on Google’s operating system with built-in Google Assistant and Google Maps.
Unlike other vehicles using Google built-in, like the Polestar 2, Chevrolet says the new system has both wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
It also said all updated Silverado models will come standard with autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, as well as lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning and automatic high-beam.
New v outgoing Silverado 1500
The outgoing, locally re-engineered LT Trail Boss lacked some of these features, including AEB.
To the end of May 2022, GMSV has sold 565 Silverado 1500s and 198 examples of the Silverado HD.
That puts the two Chevrolets behind their rival Rams: the 1500 (1680 sales) and 2500 (235), with Ram Trucks Australia selling a further 24 examples of the Ram 3500.
Like the Silverados, the Rams are locally re-engineered by Walkinshaw.
Both pickup truck lines will have to contend with another rival, as the Ford F-150 – the best-selling vehicle in its home market of the US – will come here in 2023, with RMA Automotive re-engineering the imported truck to right-hand drive for Ford.
Like Ram, GMSV brings over only a handful of pickup truck variants, but a sprawling range is offered in North America.
There, the Silverado is available in WT, Custom, Custom Trail Boss, LT, RST, LT Trail Boss, LTZ, ZR2 and High Country variants.
It’s also offered with different tub lengths, regular, double and crew cab body styles, and a choice of engines comprising turbo-petrol four- and turbo-diesel six-cylinder engines plus a choice of 5.3-litre or 6.2-litre petrol V8s.
