2025 GMC Yukon: New breed of American beast headed Down Under

General Motors has unveiled its challenger to the Toyota LandCruiser in Australia, taking covers off the facelifted GMC Yukon.

Due in Australia in 2025, the GMC Yukon will come to local showrooms in Denali guise only, one of the large SUV’s most luxurious grades.

Based on the same platform as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the GMC Yukon sits between GM’s bread-and-butter Chevrolet brand and flagship Cadillac on the scale of luxury, and it’s expected pricing will reflect that when it arrives Down under.

Given the less luxurious Silverado pickup starts from about $130,000, it’s likely the Yukon will command a premium when it touches down here, potentially on par with the flagship Toyota LandCruiser Sahara LX which is priced from almost $146,000 before on-road costs.

It’s not known how many features from American’s range-topping Yukon Denali Ultimate will also be available in the Yukon Denali locally, with Australian specifications due to be locked in closer to launch.

Equipment in the top-spec SUV includes a 16.8-inch infotainment touchscreen, 16-way power-adjustable front seats with heating and ventilation, wood interior trim, a 22-speaker Bose sound system, and air suspension.

The Yukon AT4 Ultimate – which sits below the Denali – includes Magnetic Ride Control, full-grain leather upholstery and 20-inch wheels with all-terrain tyres.

There’s an impressive suite of safety systems, including adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – incorporating pedestrian and cyclist detection, junction assist and rear braking – blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, and a surround-view camera.

American buyers get the choice of three engines across the Yukon range, consisting of petrol-powered V8s displacing 5.3- and 6.2-litres – and one 3.0-litre turbo-diesel six cylinder.

As with the Silverado, it’s understood the most powerful V8 will come to Australia, with GMC likely to also only bring the Yukon here with four-wheel-drive to best take on the LandCruiser, its Lexus LX twin, and the Nissan Patrol.

There are two main versions of the Yukon in the US, the base body style and an even larger XL.

Both dwarf the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, with even the ‘smaller’ of the two being more than 30cm longer and almost 10cm wider than the top-spec 300 Series, despite tipping the scales at almost the same weight.

While its circa-3800kg braked towing capacity may not carry across to Australia, it’s expected towing aids such as transparent trailer view, reversing guidelines, jackknife alert and blind zone steering assist will feature here.

All GMC Yukons sold in Australia will be converted to right-hand drive by Walkinshaw Automotive, the firm which also does so for the Silverado, the Ram 1500/2500/3500 and Toyota Tundra.

MORE: Everything GMC Yukon