Chevrolet creates value-priced Silverado Custom pickup

CHICAGO -- After watching as the industry has piled on luxury versions of their pickup trucks General Motors is taking a different tack by introducing a new mid-market version of the full-size Chevrolet Silverado today at the Chicago Auto Show.

The Silverado Custom, as it will be called, ads lots of dress-up features to a truck aimed at staying clear of the stratospheric prices that have dominated the pickup world lately. At pickup world's loftiest heights, Silverado High Country competes against the likes of Ram Laramie Limited and a raft of Fords, from the King Ranch to the Platinum grade.

"The economic recovery has led to booming sales of high-end pickups like the Silverado High Country," said Sandor Piszar, marketing director for Chevy Trucks, in a statement. "But there are also millions of customers in the heart of the market who want a great looking, well-equipped truck at an affordable price. The Silverado Custom is a truck they can be proud to own and proud to drive."

So Chevy takes a double-cab Silverado LS and adds a package that piles on the bling. It includes 20-inch aluminum wheels, chrome bumpers, a body-colored top cap above the front bumper, chrome mirror caps and door handles. Some of the features don't sound quite as exotic, including full-size doors and cloth front seats. Silverado Custom is priced to start at $33,820 with the V-8 engine.

Chevy's marketers think the truck will play in the underserved, blue-collar heart of a market dominated lately by hoopla over Ford's new aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup with a turbocharged engine option and chatter about Ram's clean-diesel and the big pricetags that come with them. Chevy said midmarket buyers are a more basic lot who want a solid, dependable pickup that's easy on the eyes outside, functional inside and cheap to maintain or repair.

In keeping with that idea, Chevy keeps its simple. The truck can be ordered with a 4.3-liter V-6 engine or a 355-horsepower 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V-8, which, despite its larger size, manages up to 23 miles a gallon on the highway. Chevy notes that the engine is still based on its old small-block V-8s, reliable engines around for generations.

"These men and women rely on their trucks every day, and they value things that are tried and true," said Piszar. As a result, Silverado Custom "is a great choice for hard-working truck customers."