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First Flint-Built 2011 Heavy-Duty Pickups Head for Dealerships

2010-05-25

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What do Strawberry Point, Iowa, and Sumner, Washington, have in common?

They are the destinations for the first new, beefed-up 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD pickups out of the Flint Assembly Plant where production began Monday.

Members of UAW Local 598 put the finishing touches on the first truck, a red, regular cab Silverado HD. It is headed to Rodas Chevrolet in Strawberry Point, Iowa, a town that has a population of 1,400 and boasts the world’s largest (artificial) strawberry.

“We’re in a rural community out here. Ninety percent of buyers are pulling a trailer of some kind,” said Dan Paris, co-owner and general manager of Rodas Chevrolet. “We have guys that are definitely watching this one coming. I don’t think it’s going to take very long” to sell the first truck.

“We kind of had some buyers in mind when we ordered them,” Paris said.

That first truck could have a lot of lookers if it is still available in mid-June when the four-day Hay Expo opens about four miles from the Rodas dealership. Between 5,000 and 10,000 are expected for the farming equipment show.

“We plan to be out there,” Paris said. “And if we don’t take the truck there, we’re just three or four miles up the road and they can come see it here.”

The second truck, a red crew cab, is headed to Sunset Chevrolet in Sumner, Washington, which has a population of 8,500 and is a blue-collar and farming town.

The HD is a vastly improved vehicle, boasting segment-leading 21,700 pounds of towing and 6,635 pounds of payload.