Vehicle model that last 25 years is pretty rare. 50 years is even rarer and suburban lasting 85 years is absolutely astounding
In 2003, my partner and I were driving along what we called R Irish considered the most dangerous highway in the world at that time
it was very dark and we were coming into the US base in Baghdad International Airport when the whole left side of the vehicle exploded
with gunfire and I punched the accelerator on that Tahoe two miles later
I was coming through the checkpoint at a high rate of speed. I was very happy
It got me to where I go. And if I saw that vehicle again today, I would get
you're watching a film and all of a sudden you see a convoy of black suburbans driving down the freeway all in perfect form
You know, someone's about to go down. I think the Tahoe is a member of our family just because when we need to do something
or we're all headed up for the same family vacation, we can all jump in the same car and be together with
the Tahoe. We brought our daughter home in it. And so I remember sitting in the parking lot and taking our last selfie knowing that
we were about to add 1/4 family member with the Tahoe and the extra car seat
In fact, and that was a really special moment. Please welcome
GM, executive Vice president and president of GM North America Barry Engel
Good evening. Welcome. And thank you for joining us a special. Thank you and welcome to GM Chair and Ceo Mary Barra
and city of Detroit. Mayor Mike Duggan. Thank you to to both of you for being with us tonight
I have the honor of introducing all new models of two iconic Chevrolets
both of which will celebrate big birthdays in 2020. The Tahoe marks its 25th anniversary next year as Brian
Stevens from the Peterson Museum said in our opening video, that's an incredible accomplishment in this business
And if 25 years is incredible, how about 85 years? That's how long the Chevy Suburban has been around
In fact, it's the longest running name place in automotive history. The story of their creation helps explain why these two vehicles have been
so popular for so long in the 19 thirties, vehicles weren't that versatile
The ones designed to carry people offer limited cargo capacity, those designed to carry cargo
had limited seating and at best a canvas cover to protect cargo from the elements
Chevrolet designers decided to offer customers something better. They combined a more durable
more secure steel body with a truck chassis. The result was a radical new concept
a vehicle that could move both people and cargo comfortably and securely
I have no doubt that folks who worked on that first suburban, they knew they had come up with something truly special
I also suspect they never could have imagined the full impact of what they created
They created the template for what we now call a sport utility vehicle
We also created something so versatile and capable that suburban and later Tahoe became legendary in wartime in Hollywood and
in driveways around the world in each case time and again, the common thread of every story is people trusting
our vehicles with their most important passengers and cargo. Suburbans have been used to support the US military
Since world war two and 60 years later, James Reese found himself counting on the Tahoe
The one that you see here on the screen, it's coming to get him home safely from a scary situation in Iraq
How scary was it? Well, that Tahoe took 52 bullets including nine to the engine block and one that ricocheted
off the roof and went through James's arm and lodged in the steering wheel
but he kept going and so did his Tahoe 100 and 20 MPH to safety through the years
Countless first responders have depended on Tahoe and suburban to keep them safe while they protect the rest of us and of course
they transported us presidents and dignitaries around the world. These real life roles have often led to roles on the big screen
Suburban made its its first film debut in 1952 combined suburban and Tahoe have now appeared in more than 2500
movies and TV, shows driven by heroes, villains and families alike. They've been so successful in Hollywood that just last
week the suburban became the first vehicle ever recognized with its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
They're like the, the classic character actor, their known capability as an element of importance to every scene they shoot as Dennis
mccarthy said, don't get up to get popcorn when the black suburbans are rolling up because something's about to go down
Perhaps the greatest role that Toland Suburban have ever played is member of the family
I've not been shot at in Iraq nor have I ever been in a presidential caravan
And I haven't yet started in any Hollywood blockbuster, but I can personally relate to Brittany mclaughlin's enthusiasm for her tale because it allows
her whole family to be together for special moments, whether camping in Yellowstone or stamping a photo in the hospital parking lot
As a family of three is about to become a family of four
My wife and I have been blessed with, with six Children and getting
getting our family together in one vehicle can, can be quite the logistical challenge however
we can always count on a suburban to make it easier and more enjoyable
So the question is, how do we improve on these two legends
The team knew only one option existed, take what people love about these vehicles and make them even better to do so required
completely redesigning the next Gen Tahoe and suburban to do more than ever while staying true to what makes them so
special in the first place. The result, the all new generation offers more capability
more technology, more confidence and more choice. I'm proud to introduce the all new 2021
Chevrolet Tahoe and suburban, the
vice president of global product programs, Tim Hart and the executive design director
Global Chevrolet. Good
evening. And thank you for joining us. As Barry mentioned, the team who worked on the original suburban
created a new type of vehicle perfectly suited for customers' needs. In 1935
They also inspired for the men and women of Chevrolet. Many of them who are here with us tonight
I want to do a shout out to the team that's here tonight guys. You did a great job on this bill and our super
exciting gio for you. Congrats are you always great to play in front of the home
crowd, isn't it? Our team reimagined the suburban Tahoe for a world that is quite different from 1935
And I think you would agree. The team completely redesigned the Tahoe and suburban improving every component from the front bow ties to
the back, from the tires up to the roof trap. I am confident the result will be the ultimate suvs offering the most room for
people and cargo, the best driving experience and features not available from any of our other competitors
Now in the studio, the design process is very different if you're designing an all new model versus redesigning an iconic product
When designing an all new model, the team starts from scratch, no expectations
perceived notions or history, a clean sheet of paper. Essentially when you're redesign an icon
you have decades of history and generations of customer experience and expectations that must be considered for top one suburban
The team broke down these iconic vehicles to their core strengths and improved them
We kept the essence of what made them popular and updated them for new eras
For example, the town one suburban that built a reputation for offering the most room for both people and cargo
With today's market. We're crowded with large three row utility vehicles. We knew we had to increase interior space in virtually every dimension
As a result. We have the most cargo space and the most comfortable passenger combinations in the segment
The story of both the long tale and suburban starts with the longer wheelbase and the new independent rear suspension
That combination greatly approved right and handling enabled boulder exterior proportions and transformed the interior of both
vehicles. The Tahoe grew 4% in total length in return for a class leading cargo room
It now offers 30% more maximum cargo, 66% more cargo behind the
third row and 10 yes, 10 inches of more leg room in the rear seats reiterated
for only 4% increase in the length of the vehicle. The team
this team here created massive improvements in cargo capacity and rear seat leg room
The story is similar with the suburban which grew 1% in total length in return for the most cargo room of any SUV
on the market. It now offers, this is a big number, 100 and 4.5 cubic feet of cargo
19% more than the floor. As Tim said, the longer wheelbase enabled a bigger boulder design with more interior room and a confident
garage shoulder stamp. The details are strikingly modern with full led lighting including led headlamps
tail lamps with the unique direct fire led lid signature and yet Tahoe and suburban still retain their distinctive personalities
with the Tahoe, more athletic and aggressive and the suburban more upright
more stately in appearance inside both. You'll find more premium materials, more technologies and a more spacious cabinet
You'll see the personality differences inside as well. Thanks to the new trim portfolio which offers more choices and much greater differentiation between the two
vehicles and among their respective trim levels. The RST for example, is the most athletic of the family with black ice trim and 22
inch painted black wheels. Its interior is unique seats with red X and stitching and a sport inspired center stripe with
a technical brain that carries through the interior on the instrument panel and center council
The premiere is the most elegant of the family with chrome exterior trim contrast piping on the seats and lighting a set uh stitching on
the arm on the armrest and instrument panel, the council armrest and mid instrument panel are finished with a dimple detect brain with
the new, with the all new Tahoe and suburban. We have more trim offerings than ever
Here are two more examples of these changing personalities. So
high country is the most refined modern trim inspired by outdoors. The interior is rich in color with jet black and cloth and rich in
detail. The seats really stand out with a custom preparation, warm Iry stitching and a bold graphic fabric
I think the Decor also compliments them with the linear wood film and runs accents that match their exterior finish
specifically the two to finish on the room. The Z 71 is now a stand-alone model and even more off road capable
It comes with all terrain tires, jugular off-road step and an exclusive facia for better ground clearance and a pro need on
road and off the all new suburban and Tahoe play much bigger but actually drive much smaller than before
The all are the best of both worlds. They have a plush comfortable ride
it absorbs imperfections in the road. And in Michigan roads might encounter
you might encounter imperfection or two as you know, and they have nimble competent handling
they can hustle through corners better than you would expect from such a large vehicle
That coffin is true of the standard suspension and even more so than the a in the available magnetic ride control in air ride adaptive
suspension. Both features are not offered by any of our competitors. This is the fourth generation of the class exclusive
magnetic ride control and the active dampers can react more quickly with more range than ever before
The air suspension is a segment first, it offers automatic load leveling which is ideal for when you're pulling a trailer or carrying an entire
family on a road trip. It offers up to four inches of ride height adjustment
racing two inches like on the Z 71 for added off-road clearance and lowering two inches like in this high country
in part easier entry and exit. Contributing to the driver's sense of confidence and security is a new seating position and
new technologies, the driver seat is about an inch higher while the beltline is about an inch lower
It gives the driver a commanding view of the road, town and suburban are also available with up to 30
Yes, 30 safety and driver convenience features including new rear camera mirror
new front and rear pedestrian detection class leading nine camera views lane
keep assist and adaptive advance adaptive cruise control. Now, all that new technology applies to the interior
as well for all new interiors are designed to maximize the comfort and versatility that our customers have come to expect from Ta Owens
The first thing everyone will notice on the screens, Taha and Suburban are available with up to five full color
fully configurable screens which include an eight inch instrument panel display, a 15 inch heads up display
10 inch center council display and dual 12.6 inch screens on the rear seat backs
easily viewable from the 2nd and 3rd rows. The new infotainment system makes a family road trip more enjoyable for everyone
For starters, you can plug in HDM I devices to stream um video or audio or play video games or
you can select and pay a play a movie from a USB device
Once you've made your selection, you can send the content from one screen to the other
So the person next to you can watch the same show or different content
And finally the backseat passenger can access the N dash navigation system where they have the ability to look up a destination and send it
to the center display for turn by turn directions. Other changes are less
they will make our customers lives easier every day. For example, the interior features a push button transmission
providing more room in the center console for cups, wireless charging pad
cell phone trade and storage. The cargo floor is now virtually flat
No more groceries rolling out of the cargo area. The second row seats were completely redesigned and now slide four up to five inches to
tailor the amount of leg room for each row. And additionally, both the 2nd and 3rd row fold with a push of the bottom and
the second row lowers towards the floor for greater carer space. All those features that Phil just described really show why to and suburban lead
the path because they deliver uncompromised performance is unexpected and to maintain that advantage
the all new models have a host of technologies to improve performance when needed and to conserve fuel
When possible, we offer three different engines each paired with an ultra smooth and efficient 10 speed automatic transmission
The V eight engines are updated with dynamic fuel management which offer 12 different firing modes constantly optimizing fuel
efficiency and performance. In addition, both tots of Bourbon will be available with the all new 3 L Duramax diesel
Other competitor offers a di in this segment. So they're very proud
very proud of that. And the doormat will bring an unprecedented combination of performance refinement and
efficiency to the Tahoe suburban small but thoughtful details also contribute to the efficiency
The face of the ta and suburban features, air curtains like those introduced by Camaro and Silverado
they reduce aerodynamic drag by directing air around the front wheels down through the body side
The air suspension tim mentioned also lowers three quarters of an inch at highway speed to reduce aerodynamic drag
And finally an active aero shutter monitors engine performance and can open and close accordingly
For instance, at cold starts, the shutter closes to warm the engine quickly
For greater efficiencies, cruising at highway speeds. The shutters close to reduce aerodynamic drag and when pulling a trailer up a mountain
at 100 degrees, the shutters open to provide more air to the engine for cooling
We know many customers buy a towel or suburban to pull their most priced possessions
either their boat to the lake, they're side by side to the sand dunes or their horses to the show
So we adapted many of the industry leading trailer technologies from our trucks to the Tahoe and suburban including easier
hitching via rear camera guidelines, integrated trailering app with remote trailer life test monitors
for both trailer, tire pressure and temperature and hand side line zone alert for trailering and the industry's
first label providing exact capabilities of your vehicle. All of these changes and more make the
tas and suburban the most advanced utilities we've ever offered with new engine technologies
new adaptive suspension, new trailer technologies and expanded safety and driver convenience features
These features are enabled by an all new digital vehicle platform that can process 4.5 terabytes of data per hour
That's an astonishing five times more than before. Now, you might ask me
what does that mean to our customer? Here's what it means. It means that we can use higher resolution cameras and entertainment streams
That means our adaptive cruise control and adaptive suspension respond faster than ever before
That means tolerance and urban now offer expanded vehicle health monitoring over the air updates and enhance cybersecurity
protections in the future. This new electrical architecture provides the bandwidth to support additional technologies
not yet available. Tim and I have the privilege of representing the work of thousands of men and women who will bring the Tahoe and
suburban to life. As Barry said at the onset, the new Tahoe and suburban offer more capability
more technology, more confidence and more extreme offerings than ever before. Now
I'd like to invite Mark Royce up on stage. Well
thank you, Tim and Phil and thank you to the entire team who played a role in bringing us the all new to Hawk and
suburban. Great job. I really want to acknowledge the incredible work
that product development team has delivered across the company. Think about the new Chevrolets
The team has delivered in 2019. In February, we introduced an all new Silverado heavy duty pickup
the most capable truck on the road today in July, we introduced the 2020 motor trend car of the year
The all new mid engine Corvette delivering supercar performance and proportions at a starting price under $60,000
Yeah, in August, we shipped the first Silverado 15 hundreds equipped with that all new 3 L DX
season we just mentioned rated at 33 MPG. The diesel powered Silverado is the most efficient pick up on
the market. Bar. None. And in November, we revealed the all new Trailblazer which fits between the tracks and the equinox
expanding Chevrolet's portfolio of the broadest, freshest line of utility vehicles on the market
As I said, our Google product group has been working hard for Chevrolet and across all of our brands
literally creating the future. Speaking of the future, we believe in an all electric future
as evidenced by our announcement last week that we're investing with LG Chem
a combined $2.3 billion in a joint venture to mass produce battery cells for future es at a facility
in Ohio. And we're committed to building a battery electric pickup truck right here in Detroit at our Detroit hand traffic
plant that will be on the road in 2021. Yeah, transitions
to that electric future on its way to zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion
There will still be demand for internal combustion engines and large utilities and nobody does those better than we do
I think you've seen the proof of that here tonight and the next generations of Tahoe and suburban
If any vehicles represent the soul of America, they are taco and suburban
Tim and Phil explained quite clearly what makes these vehicles so special and why we believe they will continue to dominate their segment
And but before that, Barry pointed out another reason we believe in and that is the strong emotional bond forged between our customers and these
vehicles. You might think emotional attachments are reserved for vehicles like the Corvette
the ones that really get your heart racing. But the people in our opening video prove the same bonds extend to these two suvs
So do other customers. We all have similar stories. I mean, I grew up getting hauled around in those things and in fact
no one knows here tonight that my grandfather in a small rural town in Illinois actually drove a suburban school bus for those kids
My wife and I drove our kids and their friends to many, many games
practices, events all over the United States in Tahoes and suburbans and you can't help but forge a bond of the vehicle when you watch
your kids grow up in it. It's the most emotionally significant purchase a consumer makes and the bond is
in fact lasting. People name their car, they don't name their toaster
they don't name their phone no matter how much quality time they spend with it
They love their vehicles but their vehicles serve them well. And ours do as you know
we have nearly half of the market of Tahoe and suburban and now we've made them even better
So, yes, we're excited. I'm thrilled to be here tonight and can't wait to get these new tahoes and suburbans out of the road
And that will happen as soon as we get it cranked up at a place I want to recognize very special tonight
And that's our assembly plant in Arlington, Texas, which builds every Tahoe and suburban soul around the world
You really appreciate to be, you really begin to appreciate that scale of our full size suvs business
When you visit that plant in Arlington in there, we have 4800 employees and they produce a vehicle every minute of every day
six days a week to keep up with our customer demand to prepare for this launch
We have invested more than $1.4 billion in Arlington since 2015, including an all new paint shop
body shop and many other state of the art manufacturing technologies, which leads to my final point
The reason we invested in all of that and worked so hard to develop these new suvs we are here to win
Chevrolet created the template for the modern SUV in 1935. In doing so
it created the template for winning that we're still following today. These all new versions will be just as dominant as
they were the day they were introduced. The new Tahoe and suburban have better driving dynamics and offer more technology
amenities, comfort and room than ever before. And the outstanding work of our design team as really these
two character actors looking like they're ready for another starring woman for our customers who trust Chevrolet with their most important
people in gear. These changes will only further strengthen their bond with the Tahoe in the suburb for GM these
changes will ensure that Tahoe and suburban continue to set the pace for a full size
the market for many years to come. So I wanna thank you for coming tonight
Thank you for your time. And now I'd like to invite our other presenters back up on stage for a quick photo
After that, please come take a closer look at the All new Tahoe in suburban
Thank you so much, everybody. I appreciate it