HSV confirms Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for Australia

HSV has confirmed that the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 will be coming to Australia to do battle with the Ram 1500 after last week revealing it had achieved full volume certification for both Australia and New Zealand.

Set to be available as of next month, the Silverado 1500 will initially be offered in just one guise – LTZ Premium Edition – powered by a 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine producing 313kW of power and 624Nm of torque driving all four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission.

Measuring in at 5885mm long and 2063mm wide, the Silverado 1500 is both longer and wider than its arch rival the Ram 1500 (5816mm long, 1968mm wide) but loses out on payload capacity by 133kg (712kg vs 845kg).

Braking is taken care of by discs at all four corners and advanced ABS system.

With so much power and torque on hand, it’s no surprise the Silverado 1500 boasts a maximum braked towing capacity of 4500kg.

To make towing as easy as possible, the LTZ Premium Edition brings a wealth of towing specific goodies including Tow/Haul mode, trailer swap control, hill start assist and auto grade braking.

Chevrolet’s advanced trailering package will also be available which adds hitch guidance with hitch view, integrated trailer brake controller, trailer theft alert and in-vehicle advanced trailering system, among others.

Drivers will be able to choose from four different driving modes depending on the journey or activity being undertaken, those being Touring for everyday driving, Sport for increased throttle response, Off-road for slippery conditions and the aforementioned Tow/Haul.

Safety measures are taken care of by a suite of active and passive features including front and rear park assist, lane change alert with side blind zone alert and rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision alert, low speed forward automatic braking, front pedestrian braking, Intellibeam automatic headlamp control, following distance indicator, safety alert seat, six airbags, electronic stability control, trailer sway control and hill-start assist.

Keyless entry and start kick off the standard equipment list which also contains a heated leather steering wheel, auto-dimming rearview mirror, dual-zone climate control, leather upholstery, heated front and rear outboard seats, 10-way electric seat adjustment with memory function (front), powered sunroof, express front and rear windows, tyre pressure monitoring, 60:40 split-folding rear seats and integrated trailer brake controller.

Chevrolet’s Infotainment 3 Plus System is also included in the package which can be accessed and operated via an 8.0-inch colour touchscreen as well as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, advanced voice recognition, Bluetooth, colour head-up display and a seven-speaker Bose premium sound system.

The Silverado 1500 rides on 20-inch polished alloy wheels shod with 275/60R20SL all-terrain tyres (17-inch full-sized spare with 255/80R17SL all-season tyre) while lighting front and rear comes courtesy of LED headlights, foglights and tail-lights.

The tray is fitted with spray-on bed liner, 12 cargo tie-down points, lockable powered tailgate as well as LED lamps controlled via a button on the steering wheel.

HSV says it will be offering a couple of optional extras on the Silverado 1500 LTZ Premium Edition when it arrives next month including a locally developed suspension tune and performance exhaust system.

Despite being due to arrive next month, local pricing for the new Silverado 1500 is yet to be confirmed though GoAuto expects the recommended retail price to be north of $90,000.