Undoubtedly speaking, 2020 sucked, but for some folks, 2020 wasn’t all that bad. This was also the case for the Chevy Silverado, which actually had a pretty good year all things considered. Here’s a look at how the 2020 Chevy Silverado actually sold really well in 2020, especially its heavy-duty models.

Chevy sold more Silverados in 2020 than in 2019

Obviously, the world economy collapsing due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that not a lot of cars were being sold during 2020. However, cars are essential to modern life, and people still bought cars in 2020, usually because they needed to.

For many makes and models, this meant that, compared to 2019, cars were selling worse. This was definitely the case for the Ford F-series of trucks, which sold 12% worse, according to Car and Driver.

The F-series of trucks, which were the best-selling cars in 2020, weren’t alone either, as many other models saw a dramatic drop in sales compared to 2019. For example, the third best-selling car in 2020 was the Ram series of pickup trucks, and these sold 11% worse than 2019. Many other cars saw a similar drop, and a few had even worse numbers. 

However, one of the few cars that actually sold better than it did in 2019 was the Silverado. Like Car and Driver wrote, the Silverado was the second best-selling car in 2020, and overall, it sold better than it did in 2019.

The regular Silverado sold about 0.5% worse, but the heavy-duty Silverados sold a staggering 14% better than they did in 2019.

Chevy reclaimed second place from Ram

Like Car and Driver said, this dramatic change of fortune for the Chevy Silverado allowed it to retake second place from the Ram series of trucks, which had briefly overtaken the Silverado in terms of sales in 2019. Furthermore, the Silverado’s cousin, the GMC Sierra, which is practically the same truck, also experienced a similar bump in sales from 2019 to 2020.

Car and Driver said that the Sierra was the ninth best-selling car in 2020, and its sales grew by 9% from 2019. This shows that GM in general had a pretty good year when it came to its truck sales, as both the Sierra and the Silverado sold better than they did in 2019. 

There are probably many reasons for why those two GM trucks sold so well in 2019, but for the Silverado, it probably had to do with its heavy-duty versions.

Since the regular Silverado technically sold a bit worse than it did in 2019, customers definitely flocked to the heavy-duty Silverado for other reasons.

A look at the 2021 Chevy Silverado HD

According to Car and Driver, the Silverado HD is a very capable truck, even if its interior is not necessarily that competitive with its heavy-duty counterparts.

Chevy offers two engines on the Silverado HD, a 6.6-liter V8 gas-powered engine that gets 401-hp and 464 lb-ft of torque, and a 6.6-liter V8 diesel engine that gets 445-hp and 910 lb-ft of torque.

The diesel engine is more fuel-efficient, as it gets an estimated 19 MPG to the gas engine’s estimated 14 MPG, and it also allows the Silverado HD to tow more too. The diesel engine can tow up to 36,000-pounds of stuff, while the gas engine can tow about 17,400-pounds of stuff.

On top of that, as Car and Driver wrote, Chevy upgraded the Silverado HD’s payload capacity significantly, and it can now carry 500-pounds more in its truck bed.

When it’s properly equipped, the Silverado HD can carry over 7,400-pounds of cargo in its truck bed. Due to these impressive capabilities, it’s no wonder that the Silverado HD sold so well in 2020.