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Chevrolet Silverado 2500 reaches the end of the line in Australia, only 100 remain

The current generation Chevrolet Silverado 2500 pick-up from the US – powered by a 6.6-litre V8 turbo diesel with an epic output of 332kW/1234Nm and a 5890kg towing capacity – has almost sold out in Australia.


Only approximately 100 examples remain in dealer stock nationally after about 1200 were remanufactured in right-hand-drive to factory standards by Holden Special Vehicles in its Melbourne facility from June 2018.

The current generation Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500 were the first vehicles HSV remanufactured locally before it began the engineering and conversion work on the current generation Chevrolet Camaro muscle car.

Two main models of the current generation Chevrolet Silverado 2500 were offered by HSV: an off-road biased 'Midnight Edition' (all of which were black and had off-road tyres) and a blinged-out on-road version 'Custom Sport' (all of which were white and had chrome rims).

 

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The vehicles were sold by HSV’s network of 65 dealers that were attached to the approximately 200 Holden showrooms nationally.

While Holden is winding down, HSV says it is “business as usual” while it negotiates with Detroit to continue operating in Australia. 

One scenario under discussion is for the local conversion operation to continue, but for HSV to be rebranded as General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) to enable it to eventually expand to other models from the GM portfolio.

 

Drive

Drive understands negotiations are well progressed, however the COVID-19 shutdowns in North America have paused proceedings.

It is likely the next generation Chevrolet Silverado 2500 will eventually be sold in Australia with factory approval, however there will likely be a significant time gap between when the current generation sells out here and when the replacement arrives in local showrooms.

In the meantime, HSV has the 100 or so current generation Chevrolet Silverado 2500s in dealer stock and is in the process of rolling out the new generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 petrol V8 (pictured below).

 

Drive

The first 80 right-hand-drive examples of the new generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 petrol V8 have been built and stockpiled in Melbourne ready to be shipped to dealers, so each outlet has access to at least one.

Drive understands more are on the way, but supply of the new generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 may initially be limited depending on how quickly the US and Mexico factories ramp up production once the COVID-19 lockdowns in the North America are over.

In the meantime, the latest figures show Australians have developed quite the appetite for full-size pick-ups from the US.

Last month, the Ram Truck brand outsold its stablemate Jeep for the first time in Australia – largely on the back of demand for the Ram 1500 petrol V8 (pictured below) – although Jeep outsells Ram when the first three months of 2020 are combined.

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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