DETROIT — The buzzing of all-electric vehicles has once again been overtaken by the revving of V-8 engines in the Motor City amid deregulation by the Trump administration and lackluster demand for EVs.

General Motors followed Ford Motor this week in touting new and improved gas-powered engines as well as a class-exclusive diesel option to build upon GM's highly profitable full-size pickup truck business.

The Detroit automaker on Thursday released details of the engine lineup for its upcoming 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickup trucks that include two new V-8 engines, a carryover inline-six-cylinder diesel engine and an enhanced four-cylinder turbocharged option.

GM executives said they expect the upgraded engine lineup and the redesigned pickup trucks to continue the automaker's six consecutive years of sales leadership over its competitors in the segment, including Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis.

"If we don't stomp the competition with these trucks, then I'd be very sad and questioning myself. That's the goal," GM President Mark Reuss said during a media event Wednesday at the automaker's massive Flint Engine plant near Detroit. "That's what success looks like: continued truck leadership."

While Ford, which also updated its engine offerings for the 2027 model year, is the top-selling full-size truck and brand with its F-Series lineup, Chevrolet and GMC combined have outsold Ford since 2020.

The full-size pickup truck market is more than marketing claims and bragging rights — it's massively profitable for the Detroit automakers, with Ford previously saying its F-Series business generated more revenue than many Fortune 100 companies.

Full-size trucks in the U.S., including light-duty models and larger variants, are what pay the bills for U.S. automakers and allow them to invest in emerging markets and technologies.

"This is history today and we don't take that lightly," Reuss said about the launch of its new trucks with GM's sixth generation of small-block V-8 engines, which the company first produced in 1955.

The segment continues to help offset losses of EVs, which have been a major focal point for the automotive industry this decade. But that focus has changed with the Trump administration's moves to remove federal support of up to $7,500 in incentives to purchase an EV and reduce or eliminate federal fuel economy rules and penalties.

GM said the decision to build a new generation of V-8 engines occurred far before the Trump administration's regulatory changes, as it takes years to develop such products. It said development of its Gen 6 small-block engine started in 2018.

2027 'truck wars'

The 2027 model year marks the newest "truck wars" for the Detroit automakers.

While GM, Ford and Stellantis regularly compete with one another, the pressure and attention is renewed whenever one automaker introduces new or redesigned versions of full-size pickup trucks, like GM is for the 2027 model year.

"Full-size pickup trucks are crucial for the three companies, without any doubt," Stephanie Brinley, associate director of Mobility Global's AutoIntelligence, said. "Part of the reason that we have the truck wars cadence that we do is simply because products get refreshed so often."

The new battle renews a focus on V-8 engines. Ford is expanding the availability of trucks with the engines, while Ram is touting the ongoing return of its Hemi V-8 engines, including new performance "muscle trucks," and GM is rolling out two new V-8 engines.

While many vehicle segments and automakers have dropped V-8 engine options amid tougher fuel economy standards and improved performances in smaller engines, the large, gas-guzzling models continue to sell well in pickup trucks thanks to their ability to tow and haul heavy things.

Analysts have said all-electric pickup trucks have failed to sell well, among other reasons, because many customers use the vehicles to tow or haul objects, which significantly reduces an EV's range.

Even as hybrid vehicles have rapidly increased in sales this year, pickup trucks have remained an outlier. Part of that is a lack of choices, but hybrid leader Toyota Motor reports only 18.7% of its Tundra full-size pickup truck sales this year have been hybrids.

"No one has the efficiency on a diesel that we have," GM's Reuss said. "So if you look at the performance efficiency, but also in raw performance and range, hybrids don't do it. … At the end of the day, we have focused on something that the customer wants, and that's what we have here."

GM reports a majority of sales of its full-size pickup trucks this year are models with V-8 engines, including 55% for the Chevy Silverado and roughly 61% for the GMC Sierra 1500. The 3.0-liter TurboMax diesel engine represents 20% of sales for Sierra 1500 and 35% of sales for Silverado 1500.

When Ram dropped its well-known V-8 Hemi engines from its pickups for a more efficient inline six-cylinder, sales suffered so much the brand last year announced plans to resurrect it, but supplies remain tight.

"Ram showed that you can lose buyers by not having [V-8 engines] available," Brinley said. "Part of it is because of that expectation that there is something that the V-8 is better at."

Sales

Full-size pickup trucks have led new U.S. vehicle sales for decades, with Ford's F-Series claiming to be the top-selling vehicle since 1981.

GM's Chevrolet Silverado has typically followed at No. 2, with Ram not too far behind and the GMC Sierra with varying top 10 sales rankings.

GM's plans to "stomp" the competition may be easier said than done, but the company has made gains against Ford, which has battled production issues over the past year due to supplier fires.

Pickup truck buyers are among the most loyal customers in the U.S. automotive industry. Mobility Global, formerly S&P Global Mobility, last year reported the Silverado 1500, F-150 and Ram 1500 have regularly ranked among U.S. vehicles with the highest brand loyalty.

However, there can be dips in loyalty when changes are made, such as when Ram canceled its Hemi, or automakers deal with recall issues.

GM's new V-8 engines, which also are used for its full-size SUVs, come as the automaker continues to deal with issues with some of the engines in its current generation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into GM's 6.2-liter V-8 over continued failures, even after the automaker recalled and said it had fixed engine issues.

Norman Peralta, GM executive chief engineer of global engines and battery systems, said the company is cooperating with the NHTSA and is "very confident" the new engines will not have similar problems.

Sales of GM's pickups through the first half of this year were level for Sierra compared with a year earlier, while Silverado is off 4.6%. That compares with a 19% increase for Ram and a 13% decline for the F-Series amid its supplier issues.