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GMC, formerly known as GMC Truck, is a brand name used on trucks, vans, and SUVs marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors. In January, 2007, GMC was GM's 2nd largest selling light vehicle division after Chevrolet, ahead of Pontiac. Today, for the most part, GMC offers the same trucks available under the Chevrolet brand. A Sprint, for example, was a rebadged Chevrolet El Camino, the Sierra is a rebadged Chevrolet Silverado, etc. In the United States GMC is usually sold by dealers in combination with Buick or Pontiac, typically at lower volumes than the equivalent Chevrolet trucks. GMC trucks are positioned as the Professional Grade versions of the equivalent Chevrolet vehicles. GMC's trucks, vans, and SUVs offer more options and standard features than Chevrolet, while Chevrolet is often offered as an entry-level car. In Canada, GMC is sold by Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealerships, usually at volumes equivalent or greater than the comparable Chevrolet trucks.
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In 2007, GMC introduced the Acadia, a crossover SUV, which is the company's first unibody vehicle. The 2007 model year equivalent model from Saturn is the Outlook. In 2009, GMC will introduce the all-new Terrain, a mid-size crossover SUV based on GM's Theta platform which will slot below the Acadia as GMC's smallest crossover. Its predecessor, the GMT-360 based Envoy, will be discontinued in 2008.
The Graphyte Hybrid is a GMC Truck-branded concept car and sport utility vehicle from General Motors. It uses a two-mode hybrid system. The Graphyte's styling is intended to indicate the appearance of future GMC Truck vehicles, especially a crossover SUV General Motors plans to release in 2007 or 2008. The vehicle débuted at the 2005 North American International Auto Show.
GM and Chrysler unveiled the two-mode hybrid system that would see its first application in trucks. The GMC Graphyte is an all-wheel drive SUV fitted with that powertrain. The Graphyte is a styling exercise to express the future look of GMC and their first crossover vehicle due in 2007/2008. The seats have a 1-2-3 folding capability, allowing the seatbacks of all three seating positions to be folded flat and indespendent of one another.
The Graphyte uses a hybrid setup dubbed "Advanced Hybrid System II," or AHS II for short. The system uses A Vortec 5300 V-8 gasoline engine with displacement on demand technology similar to that on Chrysler Hemi-equipped products. That engine is mated to a hybrid engine for a claimed 25 percent increase in fuel economy. The system is already being used on GM hybrid transit buses, and is expected to find its way into GMC Yukons and Chevy Tahoes in 2008. |
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