Manoli Katakis 
It’s an off-road truck and SUV golden age. From several brands that do both types of vehicles better than anybody else — Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Jeep, Ram, and Toyota —there’s an entire portfolio of go-anywhere, do anything vehicles of various shapes, sizes, specialties, styles, and budgets. Over at Chevrolet, we see that with their trio of trucks that all offer a ZR2 variant.
What Is A ZR2?
For those unfamiliar, “ZR2” represents the most off-road capable family of vehicles from Chevrolet. As far as the modern era goes, it all started with the Colorado ZR2 concept that debuted at the 2014 LA Auto Show. Demand for such a truck was rabid enough that GM put it into production two years later.
Today, the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 is on its second generation, and media just finished putting through the paces over the hundreds of miles of off-road trails used for the legendary Vegas to Reno desert race. Going a size up is the first-ever Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2, which features a more tactical approach than the TRX or Raptor thanks to a class-exclusive locking front differential, as well as keeping its standard footprint so as to better navigate the trails. Most recently, Chevrolet unveiled the hulking Silverado HD ZR2. This biggest of boys comes from the factory with 35-inch Goodyear Territory MT tires, class-exclusive Multimatic spool valve dampers, and a choice between either L8T gas V8 or L5P Duramax diesel power.
So… what’s next for the ZR2 sub-brand?
Will There Be A Chevrolet Tahoe ZR2 Or Suburban ZR2?
“There’s a ton of excitement internally on ZR2, I can tell you that right now,” Chevrolet marketers told us during the 2024 Silverado HD ZR2 media backgrounder event, which also debuted a Bison version. “We’ve got nothing to announce right now at this time. But what I can say is that there’s a lot of passion around that sub-brand and customers are feeding that back to us, and we’re always looking at opportunities to fit in the market place.”
We understand that while there may not be a Chevrolet Suburban ZR2 or Chevrolet Tahoe ZR2 in the plans just yet, perhaps with enough demand and enough voices, that could sway the GM product planners to green-light such a program.
At the same time, Ford Motor Company appears to be readying a greater expansion of Raptor and/or Tremor models, and it’s likely that either an Expedition Raptor or Expedition Tremor will be next. There’s a report citing a Mustang Raptor, too, but we at MC&T believe that to be fake news for now.
Indeed, the off-road vehicle scene shows little sign of slowing down, even as these machines unapologetically ask for as much as six figures. However, when it comes to offering the most capable large three-row SUV money can buy, the market appears ripe for the taking.
