The GMT900 was a

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

full-size pickup and SUV platform used for the 2007 to 2014 model years. The platform was introduced at the 2006

North American International Auto Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...

, as the replacement for the GMT800 platform. The first GMT900 vehicle introduced was the next-generation

Chevrolet Tahoe The Chevrolet Tahoe, and its badge engineered GMC Yukon counterpart, are full-size SUVs from General Motors, offered since 1994 and 1991, respectively. Since 1982, Chevrolet and GMC sold two different-sized SUVs under their 'Blazer' and 'Jimmy ...

. GMT900 had been called a "

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

" for the

General Motors Corporation The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

— the company needed the revenue from these large trucks to ensure their financial solvency. The company's resources were focused exclusively on GMT900 development through 2005, delaying other programs like the

GM Zeta platform Zeta was the original name for General Motors' full-size rear-wheel drive automobile platform developed by GM's Australian subsidiary company Holden and was at one stage referred to as the "GM Global RWD Architecture". The GM Zeta platform r ...

. With the 2005 spike in gasoline prices, some analysts have questioned the wisdom of "betting the company" on a line of large trucks. Sales were initially brisk, but later dropped off as the market moved to more fuel-efficient

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...

vehicles. The GMT900 series features standard

vehicle stability control Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of traction ( skiddi ...

. Original plans called for

American Axle American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. (AAM), headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is an American manufacturer of automobile driveline and drivetrain components and systems. History AAM was founded in 1994 when a private investor group, led by Ri ...

's "I-Ride"

independent suspension Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in w ...

module in the rear, but was never used. Tahoe production began at GM's

Arlington Assembly Arlington Assembly is a General Motors automobile factory located in Arlington, Texas. The plant has operated for more than 60 years and today manufactures large SUVs from GM's divisions Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac. History The Arlington pl ...

plant in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

on December 1, 2005, six weeks ahead of schedule. Production of the SWB versions began at

Janesville Assembly Janesville Assembly Plant is a former automobile factory owned by General Motors located in Janesville, Wisconsin. Opened in 1919, it was the oldest operating GM plant when it was largely idled in December 2008, and ceased all remaining productio ...

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jane ...

in early January 2006. Production of long wheelbase trucks (

Suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

/ Yukon XL) begins in Janesville and at Silao Assembly in

Silao, Guanajuato Silao is a municipality in the west-central part of the state of Guanajuato in Mexico. Its seat is the city of the same name. This municipality lies adjacent to the west side of the municipality of Guanajuato, the state capital. This municipali ...

, in March. The

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

will be produced only in Silao. Escalade production began in March 2006, with the ESV being produced in Arlington and the EXT being produced in Silao. The SUVs began to show up at dealers in January 2006. Sales initially exceeded expectations, but by 2008, General Motors announced they were significantly cutting back production. GM has closed the SUV plant in

, consolidating SUV production in

. The related Silverado and Sierra pickups started production in late 2006. The HUMMER H2 was meant to move to the new platform in the next few years, but has since been cancelled. Due to a long-lasting downturn in sales of full-size trucks and SUVs in the United States (up to a 30% down through the first nine months of 2008), General Motors cancelled the next-generation CXX truck program in May 2008. Along with it, the replacements for the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and their siblings at GMC and Cadillac. The automotive press has speculated that some GMT900 SUV models may move to the

GM Lambda platform Lambda is General Motors full-size or mid-size 3-row crossover SUV automobile platform. It is largely derived from the GM Epsilon platform, which underlies the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and similar models. The Buick Enclave concept car was previ ...

. On January 14, 2010, General Motors announced that they will resume development of full-size trucks and SUVs.http://www.detnews.com/article/20100114/BIZ/1140419/1001/biz

Applications

File:2007_Cadillac_Escalade_front.jpg, 2007

Cadillac Escalade The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV engineered and manufactured by General Motors. It was Cadillac's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to competition from the Merced ...

File:2007_Chevrolet_Suburban.jpg, 2007

Chevrolet Suburban The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of automobiles built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The name started in 1934 for the 1935 U.S. model year, making it the longest continuously used automobile nameplate in production. It has tra ...

File:2nd-Chevrolet-Avalanche.jpg, 2007

Chevrolet Avalanche The Chevrolet Avalanche is a four-door, five or six-passenger pickup truck sharing General Motors, GM's long-wheelbase chassis used on the Chevrolet Suburban and Cadillac Escalade EXT. Breaking with a long-standing tradition, the Avalanche was un ...

File:'09 GMC Sierra Hybrid (MIAS).JPG, 2009

GMC Sierra GMC Sierra (Classic) may refer to GMC counterparts, either as model names or as trim lines, to the following Chevrolet vehicles: *Chevrolet C/K *Chevrolet Silverado *Chevrolet Suburban The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of automobiles bui ...

Hybrid

References

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Applications

References

See also