Chevrolet has been keen on reasserting itself in the heavy duty truck segment. With Ford’s Super Duty lineup still at the pinnacle of the segment, and the redesigned 2019 Ram 1500 stealing the spotlight ahead of the reveal of its own HD big brother. Chevy had to act quickly to keep pace, and has unveiled the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD ahead of its February debut.
The exterior of the new Silverado HD will undoubtedly be the first thing that many buyers will notice when they lay eyes on the Silverado HD. Chevy claims that the bodywork is largely exclusive to the HD (only the roof is shared with the 1500,) and that it is supposed to be inspired by heavy machinery. While we are still pondering whether that analogy is indeed accurate, the front grille is massive and is perhaps the biggest in the segment, with the vast space being accented by vertical headlights, as well as small slender ones at the very top.
A big chrome bar with prominent Chevrolet lettering runs across the middle, and like the last generation HD model, a big but handsome hood vent rounds out the front fascia’s bag of tricks. Moving to the bed reveals a pair of steps in the sides of the exterior bed walls to help aide access to cargo. It was unknown what this feature would be called, but Chevy has ended the speculation by revealing that they would be known as “BedSteps.” The moniker’s distinct lack of orginality aside, we expect this particular feature to resonate nicely with buyers, especially those that farm or take their rigs to busy work sites and need easier access to bed mounted cargo.
While the world gets to take in the view of the truck in its full glory, Chevy is still keeping technical and interior information largely to itself, but it is known that two engines will be available, an all new gasoline engine with a six speed automatic, and a diesel engine with the 10-speed automatic co-developed with Ford. While the gasoline engine’s specs are currently shrouded in a veil of mystery, Chevy revealed that the diesel would wield 910 lb-ft of torque. This trickle of info pretty much gurantees that the 6.6 liter Duramax (which makes 910 lb-ft of torque to begin with) will be carried over from the previous generation model. The big question for us is whether the 10-speed automatic will add more refinement and poise into the already venerable Duramax to help give the big diesel a fighting chance against its bitter domestic rivals? The diesel already has a slight disadvantage with both Ford and Ram outgunning the Duramax in torque slightly, so increasing the amount of gears could help the Duramax regain some lost ground, especially in fuel economy and towing capability.
Look for more information to be revealed when the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD makes its debut in February. We are assuming that it will appear at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, which has a history of being a truck and utility oriented event, and would allow the Silverado to share the spotlight with the 2020 Ram HD, as well as the Ford Super Duty before it squares off with them in real world driving.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.