GMC Terrain Tweaks Keep CUV Chugging; Truck Squeeze Easing

NEW YORK – GMC Vice President Duncan Aldred thinks tweaks to the ’16 Terrain could push the 5-passenger CUV to another annual sales record and that the low gasoline prices fueling sales of the brand’s big trucks are, ironically, solving some its production constraints.

Aldred has said at times the brand has been a little light on inventories of its large pickups and SUVs, especially top-of-the-range Denali models, as the brand has strung together five consecutive years of sales gains and 14 straight months of year-over-year monthly growth.

“The gas price story didn’t really develop until the second half of last year,” he tells WardsAuto after unveiling the new Terrain here ahead of the New York Auto Show. “No doubt that helps, but GMC was already a success story before that.”

The sales lift has come at the same time General Motors has been working with suppliers and inside its U.S. truck assembly plants to boost output of GMC products, especially the Yukon and Yukon XL large SUVs and Sierra large pickups. Top-of-the-range Denali models of those products are in even higher demand. Yukon stocks closed February with a 54 days’ supply, compared with 122 days’ in like-2014, according to WardsAuto data.

Gasoline prices hanging below $2.50 per gallon means other global GMC markets, such as the oil-exporting Middle East, are seeing demand tick back, Aldred says. “That’s a big market for us,” Aldred says.

Canada also likes its GMC trucks and gas prices there are upwards of 30% more than in the U.S. because of a weakening loonie, according to market analysts. The dynamic has freed up some product for truck-hungry Americans.

“So we’ve been working with our global markets” on allocating product, he says.

Aldred and GMC global design chief Helen Emsley pull the cover of the ’16 Terrain and Terrain Denali, a product that has been in swift demand since it launched in 2009. Last year, the small CUVs combined for a record 105,016 sales.

The ’16 model arrives later this year with tweaks such as new front and rear fascia, reworked grille designs, a power-dome hood and LED daytime running lamps for the higher-trim levels.

Aldred thinks it’s enough to likely post another new annual mark, quite a feat given how far along the Terrain is in its product cycle.

“By this point in a lifecycle, you’re expecting a tailing off in demand, or at least a leveling off, and we had a record year and we’re beating it again so far this year,” he says. “That means we can look to grow our market share in this segment.”

Aldred says GM chose to continue with a Denali model, which for ’16 adds a new titanium and black leather interior customers wanted, because the brand must offer a luxury experience in every segment it sells. One criticism of the Terrain Denali has been its level of luxuriousness relative to other Denali products.

“There’s a balance,” he says. “We want GMC to be aspirational but not out of reach. As you go up to a $70,000 Yukon, you can afford to add more equipment and luxury. But for this segment, a really big segment of the auto industry, you’ve got to scale it.”

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