To each his own, but I would NEVER buy one of these "premium" pickups. Complete waste of money, IMHO--but I am sure it is a huge profit for the companies that sell these to suckers, er, customers... .

That interior is hideous! It looks like Tupperware wrapped in leather. Glad you could finally make it to the game though with an upscale trim GM/Chevy

It's funny that these premium trucks have such a big market yet th Lincoln LT and Cadillac EXT couldn't get a foot hold.

I do like the looks of this Chevy.

Premium packages, especially with the monotone look, are supposed to enhance the lines of the truck. The F-series Limited and the short-lived 2012 Ram Limited (which was stopped because the interior-material suppliers couldn't keep up) are better looking trucks to begin with. The blocky Silverado design just looks worse in this treatment, especially with the thick chrome surrounds of the upright rectangular-as-Wyonimg grille.

In these shots, you can even see how GM didn't sweat the details - look at the two exterior pics and see how the rear bumpers sticks out on the rear sides. Both the F-150 and Ram 1500 have their rear bumpers flush to the rear bodyside to maintain smoother airflow.

As for the High Country interior, it's all "me too" from the long-established King Ranch and the well-received Longhorn.

Chrysler could have made the 2013 Ram a typical industry refresh, with a couple of detail changes to make it seem a little updated. The fact that they spent the money for thorough re-engineering (all-new frames, air suspension on the 1500, etc.) shows how cutthroat this market really is. Announcing the VM diesel for 2014 was another move to stay in front - same 420 lb-ft as the EcoBoost gasoline engine, but potentially 35-40% better fuel economy. Ford is a year from taking the wraps off their 2015s, and Ram will get new bodies for 2016... once again leaving Chevy/GMC in the rear view mirror in terms of styling, features, and innovation.

The problem with any cheap vehicle for the masses is the conversion of it into an agreeable high end product.

Sometimes it works, but in this case it doesn't. It looks like 'mutton done up as lamb', terrible.

Get rid of the silver bezel around the cab and use black. Use a different colour for the wood. If they want a rustic look, then use rustic decor.

GM is becoming reknown recently for making some sub par interiors.

LONGHORN IS THE KING OF ALL TRUCKS!!!!!!

" However, from these photos it looks like Chevy (and maybe GMC?) has plenty of room move upward if it wants to go head-to-head with the likes of Ford's Platinum and King Ranch Editions, as well as the Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn."

That's just a nice way of saying that, once again, GM falls well short of the standard set by Ram and Ford. Way to go, GM. Again.

Sorry Tony, the fiat spam is a nice truck but FORD has the best packages. gm is trying but too late. Give credit where credit is due, The spam has come a long way but not yet ready to play with the big boys.

@RoadTrip - the Chevy bumpers have plastic cladding wrapping the leading edges. It gives the appearance of huge gaps in the pics but it isn't the case.

I like the looks of the outside of the truck. I'm not sure I like the shape of the centre section housing the infotainment and HVAC controls. The vents at either end don't look right. It could be a case of the wide angle lenses distorting the lines.

I like the colour of the leather. The wood grain - no. Looks like plastic pretending to be wood.

A good first step for Chevrolet.

Their new dash is just ugly, the rest of it looks ok.

Chevy came up short and built a Lariat fighter.

It also looks like Mahindra handled the dash design.

I've said it before in a previous comment section--why do they insist on keeping the column shifter in such a premium trim level? I don't care one way or another for where it is, but I understand that Ford, Ram, Toyota, and even Nissan offer a console shifter on their upscale trims. Leaving it on the column like that just reeks of miserliness, and it leaves that gaping hole in the console.

Also, is it just me, or is the leather surrounding the "entertainment center" (can't think of the official term right now) reminiscent of those pleather carrying cases you can get for an iPad?

Otherwise, it looks alright. Not for me, definitely--I don't think I'd ever pay more than $45K for a brand-new pickup, but if you're into that sort of thing, go ahead.

@Lou, not referring to longitudinal "gaps" - rather, the fact that the bumper extends laterally beyond the sheetmetal and width of the truck body. The ends of the Ford and Ram rear bumpers are vertically flush to the sheetmetal and taillights. The GM design causes airflow disruption down the bodyside because the air is now abruptly running into something wider than the bed. No excuse for that in today's designs.

http://preview.netcarshow.com/Chevrolet-Silverado-2014-1600-0b.jpg

@RoadTrip - I suspect that it is how they integrate the bumper step into the overall package. It is cheaper to have the bumper protrude the same amount with the bumper steps or without them.
It is a lame design.
GMC should of been more inventive but heaven forbid that they admit that their Howie Long attack ads were stupid and backfired for them.

I do look the like the looks of the new Silverado as it reminds me of the 80's era trucks. There is a pristine black '87 Chevy 4x4 in my neighbourhood and every time I see a pic of the 2014, it reminds me of that truck.

Wow. That is one ugly vehicle. Outside could maybe get to be tolerable...the interior: hands down it is the ugliest interior. Ever.

Awesome interior. The seats are nice and wide. Looks like the inside of my brothers 2013 Ram. Great job GM, this is the upgrade needed for me to get a new GM.

Personally I think that 'high country' is a pretty weak 'me too' to the King Ranch and Longhorn but hey that's me. I think they should have gone with a partnership with Filson. "Might as well have the best."

"I do look the like the looks of the new Silverado as it reminds me of the 80's era trucks. There is a pristine black '87 Chevy 4x4 in my neighbourhood and every time I see a pic of the 2014, it reminds me of that truck."

@Lou, I agree man. This is an obvious modern take on the 80's and 70's square body trucks. I liked those so that's good. Not as much as I like the Chevrolet trucks of the 50's and 60's but they were still awesome in the 70's and 80's. After that they kind of lost me. Especially after the 90's. But they did a great square body tribute here! But what's up with the black steering wheel? Why isn't it brown like the rest of the interior? Looks weird and out of place. Like it came from a spare parts bin. Outside of that, I think they did a great job. They should do a High Country XL trim or something and add a few more goodies though like my Platinum has. Chevrolet would be back in the hunt then. And where's the Outlaw? Will that be a Colorado package? Or will that be their Raptor fighter? Will the Colorado have a floor shifter and stuff? Hmm. I'm feeling a tad nostalgic for Chevy at the moment. Kind of cool really!

GM could also concentrate all their resources in just one truck brand. While still selling in numbers similar to Ford, GM trucks are lacking in innovation or appeal to very conservative buyers. Since they started losing market share to RAM, not sure if that's the best decision.

About the exterior styling, it looks cool to me. Better then the F-150, but not the RAM 1500. On the other hand, the interior styling is very outdated, or once again too conservative.

I do like it. Especially as a square body tribute but why are the fenders flared out so much? That's the one thing about the exterior that just looks goofy. I thought the same thing about the current model. This looks better yet somehow worse. I did a quick chop of this at work this morning and gave it some round wheel openings and sides off the Dodge truck and it looks so much nicer. They should have cleaned this up. The interior I like also but it looks a bit dated now. Especially the dash. I think this truck would have been a huge success if it came out in 2007. Now, it will keep a few Chevrolet buyers from finally jumping ship. Why don't these guys just make 1 truck and stick all of their resources into building a great one? Why keep spending money on 2 truck lines? It seems to be holding their product back. I do wish them luck.

@Jack. The reason that the Caddie EXT and the blinged 150 aka Lincoln did not make an impact is really simple: They don't have enough dealerships. For every Lincoln dealer there are 100 Ford shops. Ditto Caddie and Chevy--its also why GMC sells so few trucks compared to Chevy. There is definitely a market for upscale pickups but you have to have a dealer network able to support it!

The key word here is HIGH. You would have to be HIGH to buy one of these.

Jack, they claim this truck gets 23 mpg, that is pretty good considering the aero dynamic flaws you elude to. Heck if they could get the aero dynamics right it would be no contest when it comes to the fuel mile mileage war.

Is it just me or are they still off setting the stearing wheel from the center of the driver, on my GMT400 the staring wheeel lined up center with the driver, than they moved it to the right and switched the side that the 4x4 controls where on in the GMT 800s. when every other bran has its 4x4 and TBC to the right of the stearing wheel why is GM trying to be diffrent? The offset stearing wheel caused me more fautigue when driving why did they stick with this poor layout. It also looks like they just used brown leather not the nicer stuff used by competitors and they look like they couldnt decide between wood or the mat silver , the trim around the naz screen and ac vents should mathc the other trim peices otherwhise it looks cheap. Fords have the Nav unit trim match the other rtim pices in thier trucks comon chevy all you had to do was google f150 interior. You Get an F

@kyle dennis: the other side of that is if Ram went with 2.94 instead of the 3.21 gears, as GM currently currently uses the lowest gearset, a 3.08 and at the upper gear ratios, GM uses 3.73s, while Ram uses 3.92s with 4x4s, and 4.1 with 4x2s (R/T Ram) and really they don't need much gear as 3.55 and 3.92 with the 8 speeds, so had they dropped those two gear choices off and did 3.21 only, it would tow better then any 3.73 geared GM 1/2 5.3 4x4, and have even more torque. Then Rams numbers would be much higher. Then if they did away with 3.55 and up, and went with 2.94s in 4x2s, their numbers would be higher then GMs. You can't evenly compare the axle gears of an 8 speed with a 6 speed.

As it is, most of us realize these GM and Ford "who can rate their trucks higher" thing is just a game, and realisticaly nobody will really want to tow 11,500 with any Chevy 5.3, atleast in anywhere hilly. Maybe Illinois or Florida? You would get better mileage towing with a diesel if you tow that heavy anyway, it would justify buying one, which the Ram v-6 will smoke that 5.3 in REAL WORLD towing and mileage, or a person can get whichever HD they want.

GMs gas mileage and towing numbers only fool peoplenot in the knowof real world stuff. LOL.

Did the Ram 4x2 Hemi 8 speed numbers come out yet, officially? People are talking about 16/23 but I will believe it when I see it.

@TRX-4

15/22 (17 combined)

http://www.trucktrend.com/features/news/2013/163_news130503_2013_ram_1500_rwd_v_8_mpg/index.html

@TRX4 Tom
My understanding is that the GM's use cylinder deactivation to achive these MPGs a feature that penstar and ecoboost dont have. In order for the system on the GM to function the truck has to be perating in a certain range, ie not going up a hill or a strong head wind otherwhise it will be running on all 8 cylinders. THe other trucks will not suffer asbig a hit on their MPGs when they ar working. the Penstar has 2 more gears to work with and the ecoboost has two turbos. cylinder deactivation is just a trick to get past the epa and not really help many people.

@ Carilloskis: A friend of mine has an '01 Silverado (so, GMT 800), and his 4x4 is on the left. I never understood them doing that, expecially when everyone else puts it on the right.

It could also potentially be a safety issue, I've always thought, if you were coming from one of the other trucks. Say you had to quickly engage the 4x4 or bump up the trailer brake, and you reached for the controls to the left of the wheel, and...nothing! You'd remember that you were in a Chevy, and then quick look to the right, but that split second might be all you need to get into a bad situation if conditions were poor or you were inexperienced.

@David, Carilloskis - it doesn't make sense to deviate from what seems to be an industry standard. Even commercial transport trucks have trailer brake controllers on the right.
Maybe GMC figures that once you are a GMC fan always a GMC fan and the same applies to Ford and Ram?

Eh, Chevrolet is dying a slow death as we speak. Good riddance. The only things they had good were fast cars anyway. Why buy a regular Chevrolet truck or car for every day street use when it's not anywhere near Ford levels, Dodge levels, Toyota levels or even Nissan levels? GMC will just end up as GMC trucks and Buick for America and China primarily.

Come on people they will sell. Heck I would buy one.

@David and Lou

It really has me upset, when i ent formm my 400 to my 800 having the 4x4 controls on the wrong side was bother some, i have been in some winter driving conditions where i have had my passenger engage the 4x4 bc i dint want to take my hands of the wheel or my eyes off the road. i have been oninterstates when the weather sudenly went from sunny to blowing snow and icey roads with my 400 and my ford i can have somebody help especially when your hitting trafic in utah or colorado and people are sliding around on the road. ITs just so upseting to see GM do things that are only hurting them and making me not want many of their products, IMO the only vehicle that GM makes better than Ford is the Suburban the rest of the GM line is subpar, GM needs to start focusing on the little things because that makes all the diffrence. GM is the only truck maker in this country that does not have an elocker on any one of their trucks, Ford half tons, and HDs in 2wd and 4x4 do, Nisaan Frontier and Titan Pro4x and off road pkgs on earlyer models do, Toyota Trd off road Tacomas do , and the Ram Power Wagon, and select Jeep Wranglers do. But not GM they only care about the worthless G80 a glorified LSD that only engages after you loose traction which by then is too late your stuck and have a long recovery. and if your out in the elements you could suffer from extrem heat and cold as well.

@ Carilloskis: I think the only reason the Suburban is better than the Expedition EL is that Ford has literally put no money into the Expedition line since 2007; if it had a more modern powertrain like the EcoBoost and the 5.0 (save the 6.2 for the Navigator, of course) it could make Ford a lot of money.

There's still a lot of money in the full-size SUV market, mostly because, unlike compact and midsize SUVS like the Explorer, Pathfinder, etc., they fill a niche that can't be filled by crossovers. If you need a vehicle that can haul 7, 8, or even 9 people comfortably, while easily towing 8000 lbs and even go through snowy, wet, or mild off-road conditions, there's no other choice.

I bet it is more comfortable then the King Ranch interior offered by Ford. Made a trip to Florida and back to Pennsylvania in a King Ranch Ford pickup during the last two weeks and my back is still hurting.

@Greg: Was it in a F-150 or a Super Duty? If it was a Super Duty, then I understand. Even '08 and newer SD's still ride like trucks. But the F-150 is carlike in comparison. An '06 XLT (my primary Ford ride when I'm not up at school) is comfortable enough to sleep in.

I'm not saying "That's not true, that's impossible," or that you're a liar just because I think Ford has the best interiors, I'm just saying that a little more info would be appreciated. Perhaps it was the bad roads?

@Greg - I spend 40 to 60 hours a week in everything from F-150 to F-550 basic work trucks and my back could not be better. We're talking mostly washboard roads, when there ARE roads.

You sound like you've got chronic back issues and should seek a chiropractor. STAT. I also hike up to 30 miles a week. But I'm only 45.

@Greg - your back might hurt less if you stopped riding up Brokeback Mountain.

@Lou
You mean Broken Crack Mountain.

Chevy now has a premium trim level so ALL YOU CRYBABY FORD FANBOI GIRLY GIRLS can shut your pie holes. As I have said BEFORE, I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT premium trim levels and have NO USE for them PERIOD!!!! Knowing this blog and all of the WHINEY GIRLY GIRLS IN IT you ladies will find something else to B!TCH about. No wonder I hardly ever visit this place these days.

@Michigan Boob, maybe you don't visit much because you are too cheep to get a decent internet plan. Hows that rust bucket 350 holding up? Selling vachuums out of an Impala slow lately?

Michigan Bob = Legend

@Michigan Boob, maybe you don't visit much because you are too cheep to get a decent internet plan. Hows that rust bucket 350 holding up? Selling vachuums out of an Impala slow lately?
Posted by: Lou | May 6, 2013 9:39:06 PM

Well hello Lou. I see you still haven't lost your touch, and you still haven't learned yet how to spell cheap or vacuum. SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!

@MichiganBob - I thought I'd throw in a few misspelled words so you wouldn't f-e-e-l d-u-m-b.

I suspect that "cheap" and "vacuum" are words that you say or use a million times a day in your line of work.

@mike
If that interior is hideous than the 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Summit interior is deplorable.

@Carilloskis: The Ram 5.7 has MDS, so I know a thing or two about it, snce I have a 2010 5.7. Sure, it goes in 4 cylinder mode when not alot of power is needed. That's the purpose. I have even seen it work going up hill if the conditions are right.

I was reffering to the 5.7 Hemi numbers, and it's very obvious was talking about the 5.3 Chevy.

My truck gets good mileage, I can't really compare to your Raptor because you apparently drive 45-55 to get the 18-19 you stated on here before, just like those F-250s with 4x4 crew, and 8 foot beds with 6.2s you claim get 18 or so (once again, at the same slow speed on flat groud.

@MichiganBob - I thought I'd throw in a few misspelled words so you wouldn't f-e-e-l d-u-m-b.

I suspect that "cheap" and "vacuum" are words that you say or use a million times a day in your line of work.
Posted by: Lou | May 6, 2013 11:55:27 PM

@ Lou

I heard through the grapevine that you HAVE MORE SUCTION THAT A RAINBOW VAC.

Lol@ GREG the TROLL,

If your back is still hurting, you are just Old. Sad, an old troll, just like HEMI V8, a Grandpa TROLL!

Greg the troll meet Michigan Bob, your trophy troll.

@Michigan Bob - looks like you are trolling for alternative lifestyles too. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I personally don't play on that side of the fence. That would explain why you act so butt hurt all of the time. That new truck with the haptic lane change warning and heated and cooled seat will be just the thing for you.

I figured that Frank, THE LEADER OF THE FORD TROLLS would show up in here eventually to stand side by side with FELLOW TROLL LOU. A match made in heaven. LMAO

Michigan Bob, Welcome back. Please post longer and more often!