{"id":72171,"date":"2014-02-26T12:53:37","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T17:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=72171"},"modified":"2014-02-26T12:53:38","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T17:53:38","slug":"gmc-denali-becomes-a-major-brand-in-its-own-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2014\/02\/gmc-denali-becomes-a-major-brand-in-its-own-right\/","title":{"rendered":"GMC Denali Becomes a Major Brand in its Own Right"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The newest member of the family: the 2015 GMC Yukon Denali is just rolling into showrooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With its distinctive grille, hand-stitched interior details and such high-tech features as a magnetically controlled suspension system, the newly redesigned 2015 Yukon Denali offers buyers a way to step up from the more conventional version of GMC\u2019s full-size Yukon sport-utility vehicle.<\/p>\n

For parent General Motors, meanwhile, the Denali offers a way to make even more substantial profits in a market segment it overwhelmingly dominates.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Your Automotive Source!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The GMC brand has been one of the surprise success stories for GM. It\u2019s now the tenth-largest U.S. automotive brand, and saw sales surge by 9% last year. But the real success story is GMC\u2019s brand-within-a-brand, Denali, which last year gained grew by roughly 20%, and which has more than doubled in volume since just 2010.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
GMC plans no Denali version of the Canyon "right out of the chute," but expect one to follow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s all the more impressive considering the various Denali models have not benefited from any major marketing push. While GMC is a frequent presence on TV, there\u2019ve been no commercials specifically focusing on the high-line nameplate. \u201cIt\u2019s largely all been organic,\u201d suggests GMC marketing director Roger McCormack.<\/p>\n

However it\u2019s happening, it\u2019s good news for parent General Motors, suggests Joe Phillippi, head of AutoTrends Consulting. Full-size SUVs deliver some of the largest margins of any vehicles GM offers, he says, pushing well into four-digit territory on some well-equipped models. The average customer will likely push up and above $70,000 for a 2015 Yukon Denali XL which, says Phillippi, \u201cepitomizes the concept of obscene profitability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yukon Denali is the near-twin of the Chevrolet Tahoe. And the two full-size SUVs in turn share their underpinnings \u2013 albeit none of their sheet metal \u2013 with the new \u2013for-2014 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickups.<\/p>\n

GMC has been targeting what it calls \u201cprofessional grade\u201d buyers who want something a little more bold and lavish than the workman models of Chevrolet. In turn, Denali takes things a step further with an even more upscale appearance, inside and out, along with enough unique features to help justify the higher price tag.<\/p>\n

On the 2015 GMC Yukon Denali, for example, that includes a 6.2-liter V-8, the magnetic ride control suspension, unique seats and interior materials, HID headlamps, a Head-Up Display, illuminuated power-retractable steps, active interior noise control and 22-inch tires, among other things.<\/p>\n

Those features are expected to draw an average buyer that\u2019s several years younger, at around 44 years of age, and more affluent, with a household income pushing to $134,000, for the big ute. There\u2019s also a higher level of professionals and business owners than the comparable GMC offering.<\/p>\n

(Tesla megafactory deal could slash battery costs for EVs. For more, <\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If anything, Denali has been able to attract the sort of buyer who might otherwise opt for an import product, GMC officials note.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Denali customer is naturally attracted to the best of the best in whatever they\u2019re buying,\u201d contends marketing chief McCormack.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to see what vehicles topped Consumer Reports’ top vehicles list.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While the GMC brand has been around for more than a century, Denali is a relative newcomer, the name being bolted onto the back of a well-equipped Yukon for the first time in 1999. Today, there are Denali versions of every GMC product line, from the compact Terrain crossover-utility vehicle up to the big Sierra HD heavy-duty pickup.<\/p>\n

The growth in the model range is part of the reason why sales have surged from just 32,886 in 2010 to 75,558 last year.<\/p>\n

(To get more details about GM’s expanded ignition switch recall, <\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What about the new midsize GMC Canyon pickup coming to market later this year \u2013 will there be a Denali version, too? \u201cNot out of the chute,\u201d McCormack cautions. But while he won\u2019t comment on future product, buyers can all but bank on seeing a Denali edition follow.<\/p>\n

Considering the way Denali has been drawing buyers, it would be hard to imagine GMC would miss another big opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2015 Yukon Denali offers buyers a way to step up from the more conventional version of GMC\u2019s full-size Yukon sport-utility vehicle. For parent General Motors, meanwhile, the Denali offers a way to make even more substantial profits in a market segment it dominates. For more, go to TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72171"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=72171"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=72171"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=72171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}