Yukon Denali to sell ‘a good number’ in Aus

GENERAL Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) has launched the GMC brand into Australia’s crowded market with the V8-powered full-sized eight-seat Yukon Denali luxury SUV priced from $174,990 plus on-road costs.

With few direct rivals given its combination of size, engine type, towing capacity and number of seats, the Yukon Denali could serve as two vehicles in one for some customers, at a cost associated with ruggedly premium upper large SUVs including the Lexus LX and Land Rover Defender 130 as well as more city-slicker models such as the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class.

Initial customer deliveries commence this month from a nationwide GMSV dealer network that has recently expanded with new showrooms in Ballarat, Victoria and Springwood, Queensland – bringing the number of GMSV touchpoints in Australia close to 60.

With GMSV dealers operating on multi-franchise sites with Chevrolet Silverado and Corvette models already established in the market, company executives suggested to GoAuto that the niche nature of the Yukon Denali and its stablemates mean customers in the market for such vehicles know where to find them, easing the introduction of the GMC brand compared with the multitude of mainstream offerings arriving at pace, primarily from China.

GM Australia and New Zealand managing director Jess Bala said more than 2500 expressions of interest and test-drive requests had been received for the GMC Yukon Denali since the model was confirmed for the Australasian market, with enough converted into firm orders with deposits – including since a recent $5000 price rise – bringing sufficient sales “to have deliveries out through the end of Q3”.

Besides those who had seen or driven a GMC Yukon overseas, Ms Bala said the majority of Australasian customers had not yet seen the vehicle in the metal.

Asked why the Chevrolet Tahoe was not selected over the GMC Yukon given the bow-tie brand’s existing presence in this market with the Silverado and Corvette, as well as the similarities of Tahoe and Silverado dashboards, Ms Bala said introduction of GMC was “a bigger, strategic play” than trading on a known name or leveraging a potentially easier and less expensive of right-hand drive conversion by partner Walkinshaw Group.

“There’s no better vehicle to launch the GMC brand in our market, with the Yukon Denali’s combination of potent performance, towing confidence and luxury in every seat delivering a truly unique proposition in the upper-large SUV space,” she said.

“This is a flagship product in the truest sense of the term – an eight-seat family vehicle unrivalled in terms of performance and practicality.”

In brand positioning terms, the Tahoe is a Toyota LandCruiser 300 to the Yukon’s Lexus LX in that they share an architecture, are mechanically related and have several body panels in common.

On the North American market, both Chevrolet and GMC versions can be specified with almost identical key equipment, save for the Yukon-exclusive enormous portrait touchscreen, accompanying interior styling and ‘we are professional grade’ brand slogan separating it from the working-class hero that is Chevrolet.

Using online configurators to reach a similar specification of Tahoe High Country and Yukon Denali results in a price equivalent to $A127,400 for the Chevrolet and $A145,300 for the GMC – a 14 per cent difference – while the least-expensive Cadillac Escalade that also shares much with the Tahoe and Yukon starts at similar money in the United States as a Yukon Denali with equivalent levels of equipment to the model sold in Australia.

Confirming that the broader line-up of Silverado pickup trucks would continue as GMSV’s volume leader in Australia compared with the pricier, one-size-fits-all Yukon Denali, Ms Bala remained confident on the big SUV’s prospects, saying the company “wouldn’t be introducing it if we didn’t think that we could sell a good number of them”.

She described GMSV’s business model as “going after the unique white space vehicles for our market”.

No GM representatives at the recent GMC Yukon Denali launch on the New South Wales south coast would be drawn on expected sales volumes but they did confirm that the Yukon Denali would be absent from VFACTS reports this year, with 2026 to be decided and that additional variants or options will be considered if the model sells well.

GMSV marketing and communications general manager Jodie Lennon told GoAuto the company had “always said that we're niche, and we're not going to be everything to everyone”.

Asked if the geopolitical situation had been making people wary of associating themselves with such overtly American vehicles (as has been the case with Tesla), Ms Lennon said, “everyone’s got an opinion about auto-makers and who they like and dislike”.

“The niche nature of our business means that we can really talk directly to the customers we who know like us and want to be around us and appreciate the product.”

GMC’s Yukon Denali is powered by a 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine developing 313kW of power and 624Nm of torque. This potent powerplant is paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission and selectable four-wheel drive system featuring a two-speed transfer case that can operate in rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive and low-range four-wheel drive modes.

This compares favourably with a key rival, the LandCruiser 300-based Lexus LX 600 Sports Luxury ($183,600 + ORC or $8700 more than the GMC), which employs a 305kW/650Nm 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, 10-speed auto and full-time four-wheel drive system with low-range capability and electronically controlled limited-slip differential.

Combined fuel consumption is claimed at 12.8 litres per 100km, less than a similarly weighty Nissan Patrol Y62’s 5.6L V8 (14.4L/100km), likely due to the American car’s three additional gear ratios and ability to shut down half its cylinders when four will do the job.

While the Lexus offers slightly more torque, the Yukon’s naturally aspirated V8 delivers greater power and the classic V8 soundtrack that many Australian buyers still crave. Lexus also offers a 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel LX 500d developing 227kW and 700Nm, priced closer to the Yukon Denali at $178,900 + ORC.

Land Rover’s Defender 130 – the only model really rivalling the GMC for overall length – dispatches 368kW/610Nm in P500 V8 trim for a steep $216,197 + ORC (the next most-expensive Defender 130 being a relative snip at $135,562 + ORC).

GMSV says the Yukon Denali has best-in-class SUV towing capacity of up to 3628kg (braked, with weight distribution hitch and 70mm tow ball), exceeding the 3500kg braked towing capacity of its heaviest-hauling rivals by 128kg.

The Yukon Denali’s gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 3447kg is higher than the Lexus LX’s 3280kg GVM, offering slightly more capacity for passengers and cargo. However, when combining vehicle and towing capabilities, the Lexus edges ahead with a calculated gross combination mass (GCM) of 6780kg compared to the GMC's 6577kg GCM – a difference of 203kg in the Lexus’ favour.

With a kerb weight of 2813kg, the GMC offers a payload of 634kg, which is comparable to the Lexus LX 600 Sports Luxury's 640kg (based on the Japanese SUV’s 2640kg kerb weight and 3280kg GVM).

The GMC Yukon Denali is also larger than the Lexus LX, spanning 5338mm in length (238mm longer than the LX’s 5100mm), while standing 1943mm tall (48mm taller than the LX’s 1895mm) and 2058mm wide without mirrors (68mm wider than the LX’s 1990mm). GMC also quotes a longer 3071mm wheelbase than the LX (2850mm).

Standard adaptive air suspension has selectable and automatic ride height options, enabling a lift of up to 50mm when operating in low range for extra ground clearance in tougher terrain (25mm in other modes at speeds of up to 80km/h before it automatically lowers), comparable with the Lexus LX’s adaptive variable suspension setup.

The Yukon Denali also has an ‘Easy Entry/Exit’ function that lowers the vehicle for ease of loading and unloading passengers and cargo plus an adaptive damper system that reads road conditions for bumps and corners every five milliseconds and automatically adjusts the shock absorbers to suit.

For towing, the GMC packs a more comprehensive suite of technologies than most, including Tow/Haul drive mode, an integrated trailer brake controller, hitch guidance and hitch view cameras, and trailer sway control.

Although the Yukon Denali's standard 24-inch machined and painted wheels – the largest fitted to any factory production car in Australia – with bitumen-biased 285/40 Bridgestone Alenza tyres make it less than ideal for rugged off-road driving, on paper its approach, breakover and departure angles of 24.8, 22.5, and 20.5 degrees give it a slight approach angle advantage and similar breakover to the Lexus LX but slightly less departure angle.

The GMC’s ground clearance of 205mm matches the LX but Lexus offers specific terrain modes (Dirt, Sand, Mud, Deep Snow, and Rock), whereas GMC has a generic Off Road setting.

Inside, the Yukon Denali has eight standard seats – one more than the Lexus LX, which can be optioned with five- or seven-seat configurations – all trimmed in perforated leather with quilting patterns stitched in.

Cabin cooling is handled by tri-zone climate control with adjustable overhead vents to the second and third rows, a second-row climate control panel and driver-adjustable third-zone climate control adjustment through the main touchscreen.

Front-row passengers receive both heated and ventilated seating, while second-row passengers receive heated seats. The Lexus offers heated and ventilated front and rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel, fingerprint start technology, and a centre console cool box not found in the GMC.

The Yukon Denali even eclipses the van-shaped Kia Carnival’s maximum 2827-litre cargo space with up to 3480 litres of boot capacity with all seats, making the Lexus LX look puny with 1871 litres when both second and third rows are folded.

GMC does not quote seats-up cargo volumes but for reference, the Lexus provides 174 litres with all seats up or 982 litres litres with the third row folded.

Overhead, the Yukon Denali features a panoramic dual-pane power sunroof and a full-length power sunshade.

The Yukon’s cabin technology revolves around a 16.8-inch vertical touchscreen tablet front and centre that has split-screen capability, customisable layouts and shortcut icons. It can simultaneously run Apple CarPlay or Android Auto with other functions, some of which (such as fuel consumption) can be sent to the main driver’s display. However, there is no native navigation software.

A 14-speaker Bose surround sound system with CenterPoint audio technology delivers premium audio quality throughout the cabin. By comparison, the Lexus LX Sports Luxury offers a 12.3-inch central touchscreen paired with a 19-speaker Mark Levinson audio system and exclusive Takanoha wood trim for the centre console and doors.

For rear-seat entertainment, the Yukon Denali features dual 12.6-inch colour high-definition touch screens with HDMI inputs, allowing second-row passengers to view separate or shared content (like the climate control, the driver can also adjust from the main touchscreen up front).

The LX Sports Luxury grades also include a second-row rear seat entertainment system, though with slightly smaller 11.6-inch screens. 

Driver information is provided through an 11.0-inch digital cluster and a 15.0-inch colour head-up display, compared with the 7.0-inch multi-information display and smaller head-up display of the Lexus.

An extensive array of advanced driver assistance and safety systems are standard in the GMC Yukon Denali, including enhanced automatic emergency park assist, front pedestrian and cyclist braking, safety alert seat (which vibrates to warn of potential hazards), rear cross traffic braking, rear pedestrian alert, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, and reverse automatic braking.

The Yukon Denali is also equipped with an advanced on-board camera system that offers 11 viewing angles for enhanced visibility and confidence.

The Lexus matches most of these safety features but adds Lexus Connected Services with automatic collision notification and stolen vehicle tracking, like the GM OnStar system that is not yet available in Australia (hence the lack of native sat-nav).

The GMC Yukon Denali is built at Arlington in Texas and is remanufactured right-hand drive by GMSV's remanufacturing partner, Walkinshaw Group, which handled much of the local development engineering and homologation at its standalone facility in Dandenong, Victoria.

Seven body colours are available, including Onyx Black, Downpour Metallic Blue, Volcanic Red Tintcoat, Titanium Rush metallic, Sterling Metallic and White Frost Tricoat.

2025 GMC Yukon pricing*:

*Pricing excludes on-road costs.