General Motors is considering various technical solutions for its recently announced, but not yet available, trio of big SUVs, including the 2015 versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, with hybrid powertrains, diesel engines and high-geared transmissions being all taken into account.
The company’s executive chief engineer for GM trucks, Jeff Luke, confirmed all these three technical proposals, according to an Autonews report. “We’ve got some interesting powertrain technologies coming on the SUVs over the next few years,” Luke said during the introduction of the 2015 Cadillac Escalade.
The Escalade and the extended ESV model share the same platform with the Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban and the GMC Yukon / Yukon XL. All models will be launched in North America during the first quarter of 2014.
“In this segment, the competition is tough. You’ve got to raise the bar,” Luke said of the luxury SUV market where the Escalade competes in. Since the three models were last redesigned 8 years ago, GM didn’t provide technical upgrades for the SUVs, but that may change from now on.
Luke said that the Escalade’s six-speed transmission would eventually be replaced by a higher-geared transmission. General Motors is currently working on 8-speed and 10-speed transmissions, both for rear-wheel drive applications.
The official said GM continues to consider a hybrid, even though the Escalade Hybrid was discontinued for the 2014 model year because of weak sales. GM is also looking at the possibility of a diesel engine, but Luke didn’t say which of the three large SUVs would get one.
“Grand Cherokee is doing it. We’re watching,” the exec said of Jeep’s recently introduced diesel engine for its largest SUV.
By Dan Mihalascu
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