The V8 may be an endangered species for most brands, but not General Motors.
Both Australian and US executives have committed to keeping V8 power for as long as there is customer demand and regulations allow it.
General Motors Australia Managing Director, Jess Bala, and Tim Simmons, GMC’s senior product marketing manager from the USA, made it clear the V8 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“We’ve always said and maintained the customer is our priority,” Bala told Torquecafe. “We put them at the centre and as long as customers keep telling us they want that powertrain in that particular vehicle, we will keep bringing it to market.”
Simmons, who was in Australia for the launch of the V8-powered GMC Yukon Denali, said it was clear in both the local and US markets that there is still a strong demand for the V8 engine in pickups and SUVs, despite Ford, Toyota and RAM all now switching to turbocharged six-cylinder engines.
“ We are very committed to our V8s,” Simmons said. “It’s been something that we’ve worked on since I’ve been involved in trucks now going on 11, 12 years. We know it’s what the customer wants.
“We know for the applications and the use cases of how they’re using their trucks, whether it’s our pickups or, or full-size utilities, that they recognise it’s the best propulsion system for what they’re using it for. And you know, certainly we have expertise in that space. So we’ve been very, very committed.”
Simmons made it clear General Motors has the capability to switch to a V6 turbo petrol engine if emissions regulations require it, but the company has no plans to change because of its regular customer feedback on the V8.
“And I can tell you in the near-term that’s certainly a major focus,” he said.
“And then obviously we have to look at the environment from a regulatory standpoint and, and look, GM’s very well positioned to pivot if necessary, but by and large, if the customer’s determining what we do, the customer’s continuously saying, ‘we want V8s’, especially in these types of vehicles.
“So we’re very well positioned and we’ll continue to focus on improving and expanding our offerings in the V8 space to the extent we can.”
General Motors Australia offers V8 engines in the Chevrolet Corvette and Silverado, and the new GMC Yukon Denali.
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