Single-cab, short-bed pickup trucks are rare sights nowadays. With trucks evolving more and more into lifestyle vehicles and statement pieces, these totally utilitarian trucks have just about disappeared from the streets, sans a few single-cab models with long beds mostly sold for fleet purposes. Recently, this lack of choice has people clamoring for an equivalent Chevrolet Silverado, the likes of which is built in North America but then shipped to the Middle East where they're still sold. With demand growing Stateside, however, Chevy's director of truck marketing is now claiming that the Bowtie hasn't ruled out such a Silverado for the Americas.
"I would just tell you that because of the limitations that we've been dealing with in terms of the virus and all the things that the virus is causing, including limitations within the supply chain, it's something that we're going to work on," commented GM's Bob Kapes, when asked by GM Authority whether a shortie Silverado was in the cards. "Nothing to announce today, but we certainly do care about it."
Perhaps the lack of inventory caused by the pandemic could force GM to supplement availability with products destined for other markets? It's certainly a stretch, but judging by the comment above, not exactly impossible. We've also reached out to GM to find out more, and we will update this story when we hear back.
Part of why the stubby Silverado available to Middle Easterners appeals to Americans too is its healthy range of options; it isn't just some spartan, bargain-bin base model with steel wheels. Their single-cab, short-bed Silverados can be bought with the off-road Trail Boss and tech-forward RST packages, which are advertised as exclusives for the region. The release of these along with lesser trims in the States might be a good way to corner an evidently under-acknowledged segment of the truck market, whose existence GM has known of since at least 2019.
Clearly, the only way to force GM's hand will be to make more noise, and direct it where it might echo on up to a boardroom. Your local Chevrolet dealer wouldn't be a bad place to start.
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