Welcome to our roundup of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.
Here’s what you missed while you were away.
A First Look at the 2024 GMC Sierra HD lineup
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Never to be outdone by Ford or even its GM bro Chevy, both of which recently debuted their heavy duty lineups of big trucks, GMC this week pulled the covers off the 2024 GMC Sierra HD lineup. It’s not all-new, but it has been significantly refreshed to include a new look, plenty of new interior options, upgraded trailer-towing power, and even a new top-level trim called the Denali Ultimate.
GMC stuck with the 6.6L Duramax Turbo-Diesel engine for the 2024 model year, but mucked around with it a bit so that it now makes 470 horses at 2,800 rpm (instead of the current year’s 445 hp) and 910 lb-ft of torque at 1,600 rpm. Rather than off-the-line sprint stats, truck brands boast more about towing, and both of these figures have resulted in more trailering capacity, including more low-end torque. In its tuggiest format, the 3500 dual-rear-wheel Sierra HD will manage a load of 36,000 lbs.
Then there’s the interior, which is as sumptuous as they come with up to 40-inches of digital display available. Things get even swankier (in an appropriately rugged way, of course) in the new Denali Ultimate trim that brings an exclusive Alpine Umber interior, full-grain leather 16-way adjustable massaging seats, wood trimmings, special badging, and a 12-speak Bose Premium sound system.
GMC hasn’t announced pricing for any of the trims, including the yet-detailed off-road specialized AT4X, which is slated to arrive later in the model year.
GM forks over US$100M after losing class-action lawsuits
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Bean counters at General Motors were making good use of the minus buttons on their calculators this week after the jury in a large class-action lawsuit in California decided against the maker, resulting in payouts of US$102.6 million to owners of GM trucks and SUVs. The issue behind the massive claim was that the automaker did not fess up to a major engine defect in vehicles using the company’s Vortec 5.3L V8 engines that led to increased oil consumption. It is alleged that the piston rings were faulty, which in turn allowed oil to leak into parts of the engine where it wasn’t supposed to be, and caused the engines to go through more oil than should have been necessary.
BusinessWire reports the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found the maker responsible for the losses experienced by owners of tens of vehicles sold between 2011 and 2014, including trucks Chevy Avalanche, Silverado and GMC Sierra; and SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. Don’t feel too bad for GM, however; that ‘plus’ button gets used an awful lot, too. The brand’s market cap reaches nearly US$50 billion.
Rivian is now approved to market its cars in Canada
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It’s official. Rivian can now sell its electric vehicles in Canada as Transport Canada has certified and registered the California-based company for business in the country. It was probably a bit of a scramble on behalf of the automaker after Drive Tesla recently uncovered that Rivian had yet to fulfill the necessary requirements to deliver its vehicles to Canadian buyers. Whoopsies! But it didn’t take them long to rectify the situation, Automotive News Canada reports that just days later the Canadian transport authorities announced they’d received the additional documents and gave the needed certification, adding the R1T (Truck OEM) and R1S (MPV) to the Preclearance List of Recognized Vehicle Importers.
Buyers are still waiting, though, and have been for some time, as Rivian was initially aiming to deliver its goods last July and has still yet to set a date for first deliveries.
Vincentric crowns Toyota and Hyundai for this year’s best value in certified pre-owned vehicles
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Vincentric’s Best CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) Value awards is one of the best indicators of value when it comes to used vehicles. This year, the industry data house named Toyota and Hyundai as the best picks for those owners looking for lower-than-expected ownership costs on a used vehicle, with both brands earning four model awards each. Four of Toyota’s passenger cars earned recognition in that segment, while four of Hyundai’s vehicles were recognized in the SUV and van segment.
How does Vincentric know? Well, it considers vehicle costs over eight factors including depreciation, fees and taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs, and opportunity costs, also taking into account any warranties, and gathering details from 10 provinces and the Northwest Territories with an average annual driving distance of 20,000 for five years.
Audi won for the luxury car segment, Lincoln for the luxury SUV, and Jeep for the truck segment. Click here to see the full lists by segment.
Ford faces class-action concerning alleged poor roof strength on Heavy Duty trucks
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More lawsuits in truck land, this time with accusations of poor craftsmanship being leveled at Ford and its Super Duty pickups. Law firm Hagens Berman has filed a suit in a Michigan court accusing Ford of making incremental changes to the roofs of its Super Duty vehicles from 1999 through 2016 in the interest of cutting cost and at the expense of passenger safety. Ford denies it, claiming in a statement that its Super Duty trucks “consistently meet or exceed industry safety standards with roof strength that meets or exceeds industry custom and practice for design and performance,” and that the company “constantly innovates and has done so for decades to reduce rollovers and enhance passenger protection when they occur.”
This case follows a recent verdict awarding US$1.7 billion in punitive damages to the family of a Georgia couple who were killed in a rollover accident when their 2002 F-250’s roof collapsed. Ford is in the process of appealing that ruling.
The 2024 Maserati GranTurismo performance numbers are impressive (and confusing)
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Maserati released a few images of the the 2024 GranTurismo this week, as well as some fast facts, including power figures for the ICE and electric powertrains. Both ride on the same platform and both push ridiculous amounts of power. The Nettuno 3.0L V6 engine makes 490 horsepower as standard, and 550 when ordered in Trofeo trim, while the near visually identical but very much different all-electric Folgore uses its three electric motors to twist out 751 horsepower…or is it 818 horsepower? Or 1,207? No, seriously, which is it? Because the Italian communications shared so far make all three seem possible. David Booth did the math! (Check his work here.)
More solid figures include the Folgore’s top speed of 320 km/h and a zero to 100 km/h sprint time of 2.7 seconds. Price predictions? Let’s say $200,000 for the gas-powered Modena and $300,000-plus for the full-spec Folgore.
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