Sam Krahn 
The pickup truck scene is about to see a massive expansion, but in a rather small package. Compact pickups are making a comeback in the wake of growing mid and full-size pickups in terms of price and size. The Hyundai Santa Cruz was the first to make its debut, and the Ford Maverick should be following shortly behind. But it appears GM could be looking to give the Chevrolet Silverado another little brother, if a recent USPTO trademark for the Cheyenne name is anything to go by. On April 16, 2021 General Motors trademarked the name for, “motor land vehicles, namely, trucks.”
This is far from the first time that General Motors moved to trademark the Cheyenne name for intended use. In recent history, GM filed for the Cheyenne trademark on November 22, 2016, January 25, 2013, and July 14, 2009. Another Chevrolet pickup truck name that GM motioned to trademark in recent years was ‘Scottsdale’ on September 4, 2018, after being abandoned in 2015.
The Cheyenne name has appeared on variants of the Chevrolet C/K pickup truck family as far back as 1971 – which were full sized pickup trucks before the Chevrolet Silverado nameplate. An interesting (and applicable) use of the name was on a 2003 Chevrolet Cheyenne Concept pickup truck. The truck showed the possibilities the bed of a Chevrolet truck could have, with underfloor storage and side-access doors for the bed – that latter of which was something that ended up being used as a toolbox for last-gen Chevrolet Colorado fleet trucks. A multifunction tailgate was still beyond thought at the time.
Most recently, the Cheyenne name appeared on a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 concept during the 2013 SEMA Show. This sport truck featured wheels borrowed from the fifth-generation Camaro Z/28, as well as the carbon ceramic brake rotors. The truck also had a lowered suspension, Brembo pads, a rear sway bar, and a 420 hp, 460 lb-ft L86 V8 engine and Borla exhaust kit that exited at the center of the rear bumper. The performance truck concept weighed just over 4,200 pounds, roughly the same as today’s Dodge Challenger R/T 392 muscle car.
We’ll keep our speculating caps on for a minute, and point out that there is indeed room for a new pickup truck in the Chevrolet range, and it makes the most sense for it to be a compact one to fight the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.
The underfloor storage of the Chevrolet Cheyenne concept is also perfect for these tiny trucks, as seen in the Santa Cruz. Smaller form factors look like they’ll mean shorter beds, so maximizing their practicality with underfloor storage is a no brainer.
If it won’t be a new truck to compete with the Ford Maverick, or perhaps a name Chevrolet is considering for its Silverado EV pickup truck, then it could be a trim level. Automakers often trademark names of trim levels with the USPTO similar to how they would with vehicle names. The Z71 Trail Boss, for instance, is also trademarked for use on “passenger vehicles, namely, light duty pickup trucks.” Sound familiar?
Stay tuned to MC&T as we work to uncover exactly what this curious new trademark filing means.
