General Motors has asked dealers to stop selling the 2021 Chevy Silverado HD and 2021 GMC Sierra HD, GM Authority reports. Right now, all we know is that there’s a purported fire hazard.
Here’s a little more from the publication:
“General Motors has notified Chevrolet and GMC dealerships to stop the delivery of certain 2021 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD pickup trucks,” GM Senior Communications Manager Dan Flores told GM Authority in an emailed statement. “We are investigating a potential quality issue with these vehicles. We have no additional information to share at this time.”
A salesperson familiar with the matter told GM Authority that the heavy duty trucks have been susceptible to a wire chafing problem that can lead to a fire.
A similar issue issue was the subject of a recall back in July. Basically, that recall then specifically impacted 2017-2019 Silverados and Sierras equipped with the Duramax diesel 6.6-liter engine and optional engine-block heater cord. The trucks were susceptible to electrical short-circuiting in the engine-block heater cables or in the terminals that connect the heater cable to the block heater.
Basically, that creates a significant risk of fire, and no one wants their vehicles to be consumed by flames.
In July, the recall was issued for just over an estimated 330,000 models and appeared to be an easily solvable problem. Whether or not the 2021 models are suffering a similar issue is unconfirmed at the moment, but it’s apparently serious enough to demand dealerships stop selling the afflicted vehicles.
So far, it appears that 2022 models — which have already gone into production — aren’t suffering from the same issues, so dealerships are free to sell any brand new trucks it receives. Unfortunately, in an era of high demand and low supply, GM is likely to take a bit of a hit by recalling two of its most popular nameplates.