Suburban

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
SUV

Two of America's favorite SUVs are set to receive a welcome tech update in the form of Super Cruise. Yes, Chevrolet's full-size offerings, the Tahoe and Suburban, will gain the handy feature for the 2023 model year. However, the ongoing chip crisis may pose a threat to GM's intentions. This, said the company to Car and Driver, is the only thing standing in the way of the implementation.

"Due to current supply-chain shortages, certain features - including Super Cruise - have limited and late availability," said a company spokesperson. Questioned about the possibility of the technology's implementation being pushed back to the 2024 model year, Chevy's spokesperson replied that the company is "continuing to monitor chip availability and will make this determination when our business deems appropriate in the model year cycle."

General Motors is no stranger to the ongoing chip shortage. Indeed, Super Cruise has only recently made its way back to the Cadillac Escalade after supply issues forced the company to remove the feature for a limited time. Now a standard feature on all trims but the Luxury, the carmaker has had to navigate the shortage by cutting other features from the vehicle, such as the second-row auto-down window function.

Based on the company's communique, it's likely that the Tahoe and Suburban will gain the feature this year; Chevrolet is probably covering itself in the event of further chip-related setbacks. If the advent of Super Cruise in the Tahoe and the Suburban excites you, we hope you've got deep pockets - the Level 2 driver-assist will reportedly only be available on the plushest trims; Premier and High County. For what it's worth, a Suburban High County can set buyers back as much as $78,495 without options.

BMW's CEO certainly doesn't think the chip shortage will let up anytime soon, but we're guessing the Bow-Tie brand has managed to work around the situation. It was only in March this year that GM announced several of its high-end SUVs will lose the rear-seat entertainment system.

"Due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage, rear-seat entertainment is temporarily unavailable on MY2022 Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans, as well as 2022 GMC Yukons and Yukon XLs," said a GM representative at the time. Unsurprisingly, the more upmarket Escalades were unaffected.

The inclusion of Super Cruise will certainly lend the large SUVs an air of modernity and make them even more competitive. At this end of the market, safety features and technology are a big part of the purchasing decision and GM knows this. Hopefully, it can manage its chip allocation cleverly and introduce the system for 2023.