The automaker has explored only “the tip of the iceberg” with its new carbon-fiber pickup box for the GMC Sierra, reports industry watchdog Automotive News. Future uses for the lighter and structurally superior material by GM are expected to become more widespread, apparent and accessible. The Sierra’s sibling Chevrolet Silverado is the next obvious platform for carbon-fiber use, the publication reports, followed by GM’s next-generation midsize and heavy-duty pickups. As structural material, “logically, you could deduce that if we make it [from] steel, we could make it out of carbon,” said Mark Voss, engineering group manager for GM’s pickup boxes. To create scale and bring down the cost of carbon fiber, GM determined the pickup box “made the most sense.”
GM says that volume producing the optional carbon-fiber bed for its full-size pickups helped keep costs in check. PHOTO: GENERAL MOTORS