GMC Canyon AT4X Set to Gain Hard-Core Bison-Like Off-Road Trim

• GMC teased a version of the Canyon AT4X that appears to be equivalent to the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison that was also teased recently.
• This will be a collaboration with American Expedition Vehicles (AEV).
• We expect the Canyon AT4X AEV, which is still unnamed, to arrive later this year.

UPDATE 5/17/23: GMC shared a photo of the upcoming AEV version of the Canyon mid-size pickup. The view from underneath the front of the truck shows its front winch, skid plates, Multimatic dampers, and beefy tires. The official debut will take place July 6.

It appears that the GMC Canyon will be getting an equivalent model to its Chevy Colorado sibling’s ZR2 Bison off-road package. GMC teased the new outfitted pickup truck under a cover and showed its AEV badge that confirms a further collaboration with American Expedition Vehicles.

The Canyon’s AT4X trim, new for 2023, is already roughly equivalent to the Colorado’s ZR2 package, and both represent the mid-size pickup’s most off-road-ready configuration. The AEV models take things even further, and based on what we’ve seen from Chevy’s tease of the ZR2 Bison prototype, this new version will be even more hard-core. We spotted huge 35-inch tires, a lifted suspension, beadlock-capable wheels, and more on the Bison—and this GMC version looked similar. We don’t yet know what this trim will be called, but it’s possible GMC will just refer to it as the “AEV Edition” like it does for the Sierra 1500.

This modified version of the Canyon AT4X may also offer a more powerful version of the high-output turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four engine that’s standard on all versions of the GMC truck. That engine produces 310 horsepower and 430-pound feet of torque, and those numbers could be juiced a bit for the AEV spinoff.

Look for more information to come on these highest expressions of the off-road ideal that GM’s mid-size pickups offer.

Senior Editor

Despite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.