The good ol’ American pickup truck is more popular than it’s ever been, and buyers are shelling out more for them than they ever have. The pickup has become an “only vehicle” for many families and busy professionals, and their feature sets have grown to accommodate the peoples’ desires.
Truck MSRPs have drastically increased as they have become more of a luxury vehicle proposition for buyers who were traditionally limited to the confines of a large luxury car or SUV if they wanted to shell out around $100,000 for a new model. Their features match their price tag, with the newest models being equipped with hands-free driving tech and appointed with soft leathers and real wood.
No other group of vehicles better illustrates that point than the five we’ve listed here, our picks for the best truck interiors of 2021. These pickups put some premium brands to shame, and do so while retaining the high level of capability we’ve all come to expect.
No. 5 – 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD High Country
Photo courtesy of Chevrolet
The High Country is the range-topping trim in the Chevy Silverado line, so the interior finishes better be good. If there’s any doubt that the statement isn’t true about this year’s truck, here’s the proof. The 2021 Silverado 2500 HD High Country leaves the factory with standard perforated leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, a memory system for seats and mirrors, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, and more.
The 2021 Silverado also picks up several improvements from its predecessor, including standard Hitch Guidance and Hitch View systems for easier towing, and an HD surround-view camera with two trailering views. That’s on top of the already excellent existing hardware, which includes an 8.0-inch touchscreen with navigation, Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.
Editor’s Note: Photos of the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD High Country are not yet available. The truck is mostly a carryover from the previous model year so the above image of the 2020 version is a good representation of what the 2021 looks like.
No. 4 – 2021 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali
Photo courtesy of GMC
Where the Chevrolet’s work truck roots show through at times, even in the plush High Country trim, the GMC hides its underpinnings well. It’s got all the goodies that the Chevy brings to the table, such as an 8.0-inch screen, and then some. The 2021 Sierra Denali trim’s cabin is filled with premium materials, from Forge perforated leather upholstery to premium tufted carpeting throughout.
In addition to its lavish interior finishes, the GMC brings peace of mind with several safety and driver assistance features that include the automaker’s innovative trailering functions, an off-road package, and two different driver alert packages. Between them, the two options groups bring lane departure warnings, forward collision alerts, perimeter lighting, blind spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alerts, and automatic emergency braking.
Editor’s Note: Photos of the 2021 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali are not yet available. The truck is mostly a carryover from the previous model year so the above image of the 2020 version is a good representation of what the 2021 looks like.
No. 3 – 2021 Nissan Titan Platinum Reserve
Photo courtesy of Nissan North America
If you can deal with not having the best towing capacity or the most powerful engine in your pickup truck, it’s hard to get much better than the 2021 Nissan Titan‘s interior accommodations. Even without acknowledging anything else about the truck, the amazingly comfortable Zero Gravity seats alone would almost be enough to put the Nissan on our list.
The Titan Platinum Reserve also checks in with the second largest infotainment screen on this list, at 9.0-inches, and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, navigation, a Fender 12-speaker audio system, a subwoofer, and a top-notch voice recognition system.
No. 2 – 2021 Ford F-150 King Ranch
Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company
The redesigned 2021 Ford F-150‘s interior isn’t quite as upscale as Ram’s, but it’s got enough clever and thoughtful features to land it a number-two spot on our list. The 2021 model will still get useful gear like Ford’s excellent Pro Trailer Backup Assist, but there are a few new tricks up the truck’s sleeve.
Ford is offering a power-retractable gear shift lever, which can fold down into the center console. This allows the armrest to fold open, which forms a flat work surface, ideal for writing and using a laptop. Also, the front seats in some trims can be upgraded with a Max Recline feature, which lets them fold almost flat to form a cot for sleeping.
Elsewhere, the 2021 F-150 can be optioned with a horizontally oriented 12-inch screen, which rivals Ram’s vertical unit. The display will run the latest version of Ford’s awesome infotainment system, known as SYNC 4. In some trims, that screen will be joined by another foot-long screen to house a digital gauge cluster. It can display navigation information and can be customized to display off-road and performance data.
No. 1 – 2021 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn Edition
If you’re sitting in a German luxury sedan right now, conflicted about needing a pickup truck but not sure if you can live with a utilitarian vibe, fear no more. Ram thoroughly updated its 1500 line of light-duty trucks in 2019 with interiors and tech that could almost make a Mercedes-AMG engineer quake in their boots.
Plush leather upholstery, heated and cooled seats, an optional panoramic sunroof, and what is arguably the best infotainment system on the market are just a few of the headlining features here. Oh, and let’s not forget that the Ram can be equipped with a 12-inch infotainment touchscreen, a unit which is capable of running two apps in split-screen views. That’s a huge plus and allows the driver to do things like change climate settings while watching navigation directions.
If you need more capability, Ram’s got you covered there as well. The automaker took that award-winning premium formula and applied it to its heavy-duty trucks as well. That means that you can get all of those lust-worthy features while also towing up to 35,100 pounds with the Ram 3500 (19,780 pounds in Ram 2500 models).
Pictured above is the 2021 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn 10th Anniversary Edition, a special edition model that tops the Ram 1500 lineup.
