The 5 Ways GMC's Sierra Interior Outclasses Its Ford, Toyota Rivals
The GMC Sierra is the more luxurious and expensive counterpart of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup. The GMC brand has always made a little more effort with its badge shared vehicles and the Sierra is no exception.
The Sierra was refreshed for 2022, after a new generation debuted in 2019. Last year GMC added the Denali Ultimate trim (now starting at $82,000), as well as Super Cruise with trailering, one of the three hands-off driver assist systems available today. Between the luxury Sierra Denali and new Sierra AT4X off-road-focused trim it has both ends of the spectrum covered.
But what those two share is a luxury interior with amenities like massaging seats, premium audio, voice commands and hands-off driving.
GMC has found that many buyers want those features, in addition to mechanical capability, and they'll pay for it. Last year GMC grew its market share, while delivering its highest average transaction price to date. For all of 2022, that average was just under $60,000, but it topped out in the fourth quarter at $64,000.
"The insight there is that not everybody wanted that level of capability and wanted to go off-roading. Not everybody wanted to get the hose out and start washing the inside of the vehicle afterwards. They they loved the luxury. They wanted everything on it and that's really what we delivered first with the AT4 but now especially with AT4X," Duncan Aldred, global vice president of GMC and Buick said at press conference.
Here are five reasons why the GMC Sierra's interior bests the rest of the full-size truck lineup.
Google Built-in
The GMC Sierra uses Google Built-in meaning once a driver signs in, all of their Google preferences will be available including the ones from Maps, Play and Assistant. It's displayed on a new 13.4-inch touchscreen on SLE trims and above.
Google Assistant also means owners can speak to their entertainment system in natural language saying, "Hey Google," to get traffic updates, make a phone call, play music or podcasts, control the temperature in your vehicle and more.
It comes with a selection of applications buy buyers can download dozens more including NPR, iHeart Radio, Spotify and more. Google Maps also stores your preferences and will make recommendation based on them.
You don't need a Google account to use the system, but it will make things easier, and more customizable. The apps, including the native ones that came with the Sierra, can all be rearranged on the screen.
The top selling pickup in the country, the Ford F-150, has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but runs on Ford's proprietary SYNC system, which is just not as snappy as GMC's latest setup.
Thrones Fit For a King
On the upper trims like AT4 and Denali, the Sierra comes with heated, cooled and massaging seats with multitudes of adjustments for different sized buyers. It's controlled by a panel on the outside of the seat.
Once the panel is touched, the seat menu comes up on the low-set touchscreen so the driver can see what adjustments they're making. In addition to lumbar support, the side and bottom bolsters can be tightened for narrow passengers.
There are several massaging functions with and without heat, including roll, knead, wave and more. It does, however, only work on the driver and passenger back. Some of these systems work the seat bottom too.
The Nissan Titan Platinum Reserve has diamond-stitched leather seats, but there's no massaging function for the long road trips. Ford does come close with its new Max Recline seats that open to nearly 180 degrees for when an occupant wants to rest. Unfortunately it shelved that option earlier this year without giving a reason.
Materials
The new AT4X trims comes with a dark Obsidian Rush interior with full-grain leather upholstery, white piping and red stitching, and wood.
The Denali Ultimate's Alpine Umber interior builds on the Denali cabin, with full-grain leather appointments and open-pore Paldao wood trim. That full-grain leather includes the doors and the console too.
The Sierra Denali Ultimate also comes with a soft microsuede headliner, a material that also covers the visors, A- and B-pillar trim and pillar handles.
The woodgrain on the glovebox has a special feature. Engraved is a topographical map of Denali in Alaska, formerly Mount McKinley.
The top Toyota Tundra Capstone pickup, the most luxurious of its bunch, has leather-wrapped surfaces, but they're not as rich looking. It also has some wood trim, but nothing engraved.
The Ram 1500 comes close here with Natura Plus with Axis II perforated leather seats along with graystone accent stitching. Buyers can also spec black onyx chrome and extra black argent open pore wood accents.
Technology
The new touchscreen is easy to reach and surprisingly low on the dashboard. That makes it harder to look without taking your eyes off the road, but the driver won't need to lean forward to change radio stations. There are a ton of buttons under the screen for climate and other adjustments, and it's easy to get in and out of Apple CarPlay to the native system.
In addition to the touchscreen, and the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, the Sierra comes with a 15-inch multicolor head-up display showing navigation instructions, speed and other relevant information.
A new 12-speaker Bose sound system with Center Point surround technology with AudioPilot and a separate woofer is optional. The rear camera mirror, good for when cargo is blocking the view, is standard on Sierra.
The most luxurious Ram 1500 available is called the Limited, and like the rest it comes with more premium materials, and more technology than the less expensive models, but it doesn't have the 14 camera angles for towing, hauling and parking like the Sierra.
Space
The rear passenger area is huge with easy space for two child seats. A third child seat could have fit between the two. But without one, there's still a few good cubic feet of space between the outboard seats, and plenty of floor space too.
The front seat area feels cavernous too with storage for as many cups and phones as one could bring. The center console armrest is also wide and deep, holding a raft of files or even a laptop computer.
And if that's not enough storage, depending on trim the 2023 GMC Sierra is offered in short, regular or long bed configurations, adding to that already competent cabin.
The space itself doesn't separate the Sierra from the rest of the pickups. They're all big and spacious now, but the cleverness of the space in the GMC notable. Besides the space for a laptop and drinks, it has space to relax, work or party with its MultiPro Tailgate that now includes speakers and a Bluetooth option.
The Ford F-150 has a few tricks too, including its folding shifter, which allows occupants to open the center console for a large workspace between the front seats.
