A few days ago we reported that GM engineers were sent on public tours of Ford's F-150 factory in Dearborn, Michigan to get a better understanding of how that best-selling aluminum-bodied pickup truck is built. Those GM employees/spies learned some invaluable lessons thanks to those tours, which was applied to the latest generation Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500. Those factory tours, however, were not the directive GM management gave its full-size pickup truck team during the design and engineering stages.

According to Pickuptrucks.com, the teams assigned to the Silverado/Sierra were given the green light to do just about anything they wanted.

In short, they were given the budget and latitude to build the truck of their dreams. One of the biggest criticisms of GM's previous full-size trucks was that neither went far enough to advance both design and engineering. Were they good trucks? For sure. Could they have been better? Without question.

Unfortunately for the outgoing GM trucks, they were developed right after GM's big 2008 "reorganization", just after the company was bailed out by the US government due to declaring bankruptcy. Cost-cutting measures were in full effect and the teams assigned to the Silverado/Sierra were forced to make do with what resources they had, which at the time weren't enough.

When the trucks launched in 2014, therefore, GM's conservative approach was apparent. Fast forward a few years and GM has fully recovered financially and those designers and engineers were finally given permission to create the trucks they'd been wanting to do for some time.

One look at both trucks, at least from a design perspective, it's immediately clear designers went a little wild. Gone are the conservative lines of the past, replaced by designs that are far bolder and more stylish than ever. Engineers were given the budgets to develop things such as the industry-first trailer technology. We'll be getting behind the wheel of the all-new 2019 GMC Sierra in the very near future, so stay tuned for our complete first drive review.