With sales rising, it’s clear that Americans love their pickup trucks. And these big haulers are “ground zero” in the tug of war between more power and more miles per gallon. 

Chevrolet has announced a new first-time engine for the redesigned 2019 Silverado 1500. It’s a 2.7-liter turbocharged inline-4-- paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission. Chevrolet rates its 4-cylinder turbo at 310-hp and 348 lb-feet of torque. That’s more than their 4.3-Liter V-6. This is also the first time Chevrolet is using their Active Fuel Management technology on a 4-cylinder, running on only two cylinders when the load is light. Silverado’s goal is to be the most fuel efficient, full-size pickup you can buy-- surpassing even the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500 V6 diesels. The gas-4, and GM’s own 6-cylinder diesel, are among the five engine choices for the redesigned Silverado. Still, Chevrolet says over half of the models will be equipped with an updated gas V-8. 

Meanwhile, Volvo’s vision for a fuel-efficient future involves “ditching diesels” altogether. President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars Håkan Samuelsson says, “our future is electric and we will no longer develop a new generation of diesel engines”. Beginning with the 2019 model year, all Volvos will be mild gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or full battery electric. The first vehicle to be a part of this new strategy is the 2019 Volvo S60 sedan. Production begins in the fall at the company’s plant near Charleston, South Carolina, but will be sold all over the world. So while every automaker has a plan to “go-green”--- in the end there are many different shades of the color spectrum and that’s our wrap-up for this week’s Motor News.