GMC has upped the ante in terms of luxury for the Yukon lineup by introducing a new top-of-the-line trim called the Denali Ultimate. It comes with distinctive exterior and interior styling, which includes chrome embellished exterior trim, 22-inch machine-cut alloy wheels, Alpine Umber trim with premium leather upholstery, and a lot more features. Speaking of features, the Yukon Denali Ultimate allows you to drive hands-free on compatible roads using the Super Cruise driver assistance tech, which is derived straight from the Sierra Denali Ultimate. The Yukon Denali Ultimate is the quintessential luxury three-row SUV, complete with all the features and richness you'll ever need to prove your wealth.

How does the exterior of the 2023 Yukon Denali Ultimate look?

Like the other Yukon trims, the new Denali Ultimate has a big boxy look, which came as a part of the fifth-gen 2021 model year. The front fascia has the same C-shaped LED DRLs and LED headlights on the sides. The middle part has the huge intake grille and like the Sierra Denali Ultimate, the Yukon Denali Ultimate has the lower part has the Vader chrome accents. The front fascia also features Galvano accents like that of the Escalade. Coming to the sides, they expose the huge 22-inch machine-cut seven-spoke wheels with both dark and bright chrome accents. There are chrome stripes around the window and door panels, too. We should normalize having a lot of chrome on luxury cars. GMC did not post any photos of the rear fascia, but it will have similarly shaped C-shaped taillights and a couple of chrome surrounds, and the badging.

How does the interior of the 2023 Yukon Denali Ultimate look?

We have seen how GMC decorated the Sierra Denali Ultimate’s interior, and the new Yukon Denali Ultimate is no less. There is the Alpine Umber interior with full-grain high-quality leather seats which come with exclusive contrasting stitches. The dashboard is something that will make you feel excited. It has the Paldao open-pore wood, which has Mount Denali’s laser-drawn map on it! How cool is that? The front seats have the “Ultimate” badging, with the same Mount Denali map on the front and back of the seats. The front seats are 16-way power-adjustable with heated and massaging functions, all fitted as standard. For the first time, GMC has placed speakers on the sides of the headrests on the front seats, apart from the other speakers available for the audio output. For the audiophiles, you will have a premium Bose audio unit with 18 speakers on offer.

The headrest speakers, as GMC calls them, will provide headphone-quality sounds through them. As for the displays, you will have a 12.3-inch driver information display and a touchscreen 10.2-inch display, surrounded by wood trim. Both the screens, at start-up, display a cool animation centering the Mount Denali. As for the infotainment features, you will have the Google-based interface, which is feature-heavy and intuitive at the same time. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have been integrated into the system, along with Amazon Alexa for voice assistance. The Super Cruise driver assistance features can be summoned through the buttons integrated on the steering wheel. GMC claims that this system allows you to tow or change lanes hands-free on select roads.

What about the powertrain under the hood?

Like the standard Yukon Denali, the Ultimate trim will be offered with the same engine options. So you will be able to choose between a 6.2-liter V-8 and a 3.0-liter straight-six diesel engine. The big 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V-8 puts out 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. The smaller 3.0-liter straight-six is a turbocharged engine, which has good low-end punch and is preferable if you want to do long-distance touring. This engine puts out 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. Both the engines come mated to a ten-speed automatic gearbox that drives all four wheels. In addition, you will have the full suite of four-wheel drive with an electronic limited-slip differential, along with a two-speed transfer case which GMC calls Auto Track. Air suspension with adaptive dampers is fitted as standard as well, to give you the utmost comfort on the road.

Final Thoughts

We think that the Yukon Denali Ultimate is a very important trim addition to the Yukon’s already populous trim list. After the “Ultimate” treatments given to the Sierra Denali truck, it was predicted that the brand will offer an SUV trim with similar features. GMC claims that the Yukon Denali Ultimate will go on sale in the fall of 2022, and we think that it will be priced at sub-$100,000. If you are looking for an American full-size SUV, then the Yukon Denali Ultimate will be a great choice. Upon hitting the market, it will compete with the Cadillac Escalade ESV, and the Lincoln Navigator.