With the great success of the Colorado ZR2, GM has now moved to building off-road oriented full sized trucks. The all-new Sierra has announced not too long ago, and now the Sierra AT4 is being introduced as the choice for off-road enthusiasts. Although it’s not quite a Ford F150 Raptor competitor, this new Sierra AT4 boasts features that result in authentic off-road capability.

“The 2019 Sierra AT4 is designed for the customer who wants an elevated presence on the road and the capability to venture off life’s beaten path,” said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global GMC. “It’s also the beginning for the AT4 brand, which will be seen on every vehicle in our lineup in the next two years.”

Standard features on the AT4 include a two-inch suspension lift, off-road tuned Rancho monotube shocks, 4wd with a locking rear differential, 18-inch wheels with all-terrain or optional mud-terrain tires, hill descent control, red recovery hooks, MultiPro Tailgate, and a 5.3-liter V8. Optional features include a Multi-Color Head-Up Display, Rear Camera Mirror, GMC exclusive industry-first Carbon Fiber Pickup Box, and a 6.2-liter V8 or 3.0-liter inline-six Duramax.

Of all the new features the suspension lift and locking rear differential are the most important to off-road enthusiasts. Of course, the underside of the truck is also protected by skidplates, so you won’t have to worry about destroying when the terrain gets a little too rough. Hill Descent Control is a neat feature, but it’s not a must-have, instead a cool feature to have when you want it. The segment-first multi-color head-up display is a pretty cool feature and is something we hope trickles down to more GM vehicles.

The engine choices are as good as ever with both the 5.3-liter and 6.2-liter gas engines making great horsepower and torque numbers. For the off-roaders who want lots of torque and great fuel economy, there is the 3.0-liter Duramax engine. The 5.3-liter will be backed up by an 8-speed automatic transmission while the 6.2-liter and 3.0-liter will receive the new 10-speed transmission for improved fuel economy.

GM is well known for throwing shade at Ford for using anything less than “high strength steel,” but the Sierra AT4 will have an optional carbon fiber bed, an industry first. According to GMC, the CarbonPro bed will shave 62 pounds off the Sierra compared to the standard bed. The CarbonPro bed uses carbon fiber for just the interior and floor of the box, while the bedsides will remain steel. The tailgate will be built of aluminum and glass fiber composite.

Other than the features we mentioned, the AT4 is just a Sierra underneath which is by no means a bad thing considering how well built and feature-rich the new generation Sierra is. It’s important to remember that the Sierra is oriented as GM’s more expensive truck and was never designed for hardcore off-roading. It will be interesting to see the AT4 nameplate adding to more GM vehicles in the future. Check out some of the rest of the photos below!