GMC Sierra 1500

A New Era Of High Class

It’s no secret that we’re fans of GMC. For evidence, look no further than our previous Pickup Truck of the Year tests, in which the Sierra 1500 Denali won for 2016 and the Sierra 2500HD Denali for 2018’s trophy. For this reason alone, we had high hopes for the all-new ’19 Sierra 1500. At our request, GMC delivered a pair of Sierras, one in Denali trim and the other AT4, both equipped with the company’s 6.2L V-8 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission.

While its Silverado cousin stunned the pickup-enthusiast collective, for better and worse, GMC’s debut of its all-new Sierra was met largely with a sigh of relief as it sported exterior panels more closely aligned with the outgoing generation. Folks were quick to brush off the pair of GM pickups in the past as mere clones of one another, but with this new generation, the Silverado and Sierra part ways fully (design-wise), sharing only glass, the rear doors, and roofskins.

For the ’19 Sierra, beauty is not just skin deep. While our judges share the same overall disheartened feeling over what could have been, GMC has improved upon its version of the new GM interior with copious use of leather and soft touch surfaces. Also sprucing things up is GMC’s use of real open-pore ash wood and genuine brushed-aluminum trim.

Where Chevy could have picked up a few points by sending a High Country instead of an LTZ, GMC capitalized with Denali and AT4. While we continue to lament the lack of adaptive cruise control, both GMCs showed off an impressive suite of technology that included the company’s class-exclusive head-up display and rearview camera mirror. Admittedly, our judging crew was split almost down the middle on the usefulness of these, with half loving them and the other half confused at their function.