Chevrolet has dropped a darkened teaser image of its upcoming medium-duty truck, the 2019 Silverado 4500 and 5500. The truck will compete directly with the Ram 4500 and 5500, along with the Ford F-450, F-550, and even the F-650. Chevy officially announced the trucks were coming at the 2017 Texas State Fair.
In a statement at the fair back in September of 2017, John Schwegman, Chevy's U.S. director of commercial product, said, “We are earning new business because we have more solutions to help businesses grow. The Silverado 4500 and 5500 will stand out because we've designed the trucks around how customers work. They will be powerful, maneuverable and among the easiest trucks on the market to upfit with specialized bodies, such as dump bodies, rollbacks, freight boxes and more."
The Silverado 4500 and 5500 will be powered by the current 6.6-liter Duramax V-8 turbodiesel and use the Alison 1000 six-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel drive and 4WD will be offered, as well as the regular cab and crew cab configurations. Important to upfitter companies, the trucks will come in a variety of wheelbases and GVWRs to accommodate a wide range of jobs. Fleet managers will also appreciate the optional of 4G LTE connectivity, which is great for keeping track of fleet maintenance and vehicle locations.
Continue reading for more information.
The Teaser Photo After Editing
We ran the mysterious, darkened teaser photo through some edition software and came up with more detail than Chevy likely intended for us to see. The shadows were easily lightened and the grille, headlights, and bumper were quickly revealed.
The headlights are from the current Chevy Silverado Heavy Duty (2500 & 3500), while the bumper, hood, and grille are all unique pieces. Unlike the Cab of the TopKick and Kodiak, the new 4500 and 5500 won’t be based on the Express van. Rather, these will have the Silverado’s cab and interior.
Chevy’s Resurging Commercial Fleet
General Motors’ commercial presence took a huge nosedive during the 2008 recession. The Chevy Kodiak and GMC TopKick medium-duty trucks were dropped and GM’s partnership with Isuzu floundered. Thankfully, Isuzu and Chevy announced their revived partnership in 2015 with the Low-Cab Forward medium-duty trucks. Now with the return of the 4500- and 5500-series trucks, General Motors will once again be able to compete against Ford’s impressive F-Series lineup. While Ford doesn’t offer a low-cab forward truck, the automaker does have a Stripped Chassis vehicle that can be upfitted in the aftermarket with nearly any cab and body. Ford also has the E-Series and Transit van cutaways. In the medium-duty segment, the F-Series includes the F-650 and F-750. Bridging the gap are the Super Duty-based F-450 and F-550.
On the Ram size, the Ram 4500 and 5500 are designed after the Ram 2500 and 3500 series truck. Ram currently doesn’t build a true medium-duty or a low-cab forward truck, but does offer cutaway vans thanks to the ProMaster.
References
Chevrolet Silverado
Read our full review on the 2017 Chevrolet Silverado HD.
Read our full review on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado.
Read more Chevrolet news.