GM Touts New V-8 Engines for 2027 Silverado and Sierra as Detroit Truck Wars Resume

The lineup also includes a carryover inline-six-cylinder diesel and an enhanced four-cylinder turbocharged option, CNBC reported. The trucks carry GM's sixth generation of its Small Block V-8, an engine family the company first produced in 1955. GM said development of the Gen 6 engine began in 2018.

"If we don't stomp the competition with these trucks, then I'd be very sad and questioning myself. That's the goal," GM President Mark Reuss said Wednesday during a media event at the automaker's Flint Engine plant near Detroit. "That's what success looks like: continued truck leadership." Of the new engine generation, Reuss added, "This is history today and we don't take that lightly."

GM executives said they expect the upgraded engines and redesigned trucks to extend the automaker's six consecutive years of sales leadership in the segment over Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis. Ford's F-Series remains the top-selling full-size truck and brand, but Chevrolet and GMC combined have outsold Ford since 2020.

The segment is central to the finances of the Detroit companies. Ford has previously said its F-Series business generated more revenue than many Fortune 100 companies. Full-size trucks in the U.S., including light-duty and larger variants, fund investment in other markets and technologies and help offset losses on EVs.

The Trump administration has moved to remove federal support of up to $7,500 in EV purchase incentives and to reduce or eliminate federal fuel economy rules and penalties. GM said the decision to develop a new generation of V-8 engines was made well before those regulatory changes, because such products take years to develop.

GM followed Ford this week in promoting new and improved gasoline engines and a diesel option. Ford also updated its engine offerings for the 2027 model year. Ram is touting the ongoing return of its Hemi V-8 engines, including new performance "muscle trucks," after dropping the Hemi in favor of a more efficient inline-six, a move that hurt sales.

"Full-size pickup trucks are crucial for the three companies, without any doubt," said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of Mobility Global's AutoIntelligence. "Part of the reason that we have the truck wars cadence that we do is simply because products get refreshed so often."

All-electric pickups have sold poorly in part because many customers tow or haul heavy loads, which sharply reduces an EV's range. Hybrid sales have risen quickly this year, but pickups remain an outlier; Toyota Motor reports that only 18.7% of its Tundra full-size pickup sales this year were hybrids.

"No one has the efficiency on a diesel that we have," Reuss said. "So if you look at the performance efficiency, but also in raw performance and range, hybrids don't do it. … At the end of the day, we have focused on something that the customer wants, and that's what we have here."

GM said most of its full-size pickup sales this year were V-8 models: 55% for the Chevrolet Silverado and roughly 61% for the GMC Sierra 1500. The 3.0-liter TurboMax diesel accounts for 20% of Sierra 1500 sales and 35% of Silverado 1500 sales.