Chevy Tahoe Back in Black

Last August, Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet Trucks marketing director, noted of the full-size SUV segment, “In the past five years, the average transaction price for the segment has climbed fueled by customer appetite for features like heated and cooled seats, adaptive cruise control and a head-up display. This created an unmet need in the marketplace for customers who want the cargo and towing capability of a full-size SUV to go camping, boating or off-roading but don’t necessarily want all of the option content offered on a Tahoe Premier.”

So to address that, they developed a new trim package, the Tahoe “Custom.” It, for $44,995, including $1,295 destination fee, come with 6,600 pounds of towing capacity (up to 8,600 pounds of towing with max trailering package), a maximum of 112 cubic feet of cargo space, and a 355-hp, 5.3L V-8 engine. Cargo space is maximized compared to a non-Custom variant by removing the third-row seat (a (re)move that adds 54 cubic feet).

The year before, back in September 2016, Chevrolet rolled out with a “Midnight Edition” of the Tahoe, the sort of thing that Bruce Wayne might drive.

Now Chevy is taking the two ideas and combining them into one with the 2018 Tahoe “Custom Midnight.”

As Piszar explains, “The Tahoe Custom Midnight takes the capability and value of the Custom trim and adds rugged, all-back features found on our popular Midnight Editions.”

(In addition to the body, the color is used for the wheels, grille, bowtie logos. . . .).

This version is a bit more expensive than the straight-up Custom, with a starting MSRP of $45,995.