Truck wars: Silverado gets more weapons for 2020
Henry Payne
In the truck wars, you can never rest on your laurels.
Just a year after introducing an all-new Silverado, Chevy is back for 2020 with a menu of upgrades. Chief among them is its best-in-class 13,400-pound towing capability, dethroning the Ford F-150.
The 2020 Silverado also offers adaptive cruise-control for the first time, a common safety feature that many reviewers found lacking in the 2019 model. The pickup’s performance Trail Boss trim also gets the brand’s signature 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8, making it the most affordable light-duty truck on the market with over 400 horsepower at $43,865.
“In today’s truck market, customers continually demand more features, more technology and more capability,” said chief engineer Tim Herrick. “For 2020 we are delivering more in each of these areas.”
The upgrades build on the all-new Silverado’s lightweight chassis, 10-speed transmission, and versatile, rolled-steel bed options. The truck is offered with a blizzard of options across eight trim lines. For 2020, more than half of those trim levels can be had with the top-dog V-8 paired with the sippy 10-speed tranny – in addition to V-6, turbo-4, and 3.0-liter diesel engine options.
The towing record comes courtesy of pairing the 6.2-liter V-8 with the lightweight, RST model.
The Silverado will need all those tools at it pursues the segment-leading F-150 while trying to hold off the resurgent Ram 1500. Media reviews raved about the all-new Ram last year as it took home an arm-full of prizes including North American Truck of the Year.
After closing the gap on Chevy the last two years, Ram surpassed its rival in the first quarter of this year: 120,026 to 114,313 units sold.
“It’s unlikely these Silverado changes were a response to market sales – and likely has more to do with product cadence,” says IHS Markit senior analyst Stephanie Brinley. “These are both highly competitive vehicles, and consumers are benefiting from the competition.”
The 2020 Silverado also benefits from technology recently introduced on the Silverado Heavy Duty bruiser. Features like 15-view and tailgate-mounted cameras have trickled down to the light-duty truck.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.