General Motors has unveiled what might be its most important new product in years: the 2014 Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 full-size pickups.

GM says the trucks are “new from hood to hitch” and are engineered to be fully competitive with pickups from Ford, Ram and Toyota.

The styling revisions are evolutionary with a more aggressive grille giving the truck a more massive appearance. But the big bucks, estimated to be between $3 billion and $4 billion, were spent on improvements underneath the sheet metal.

“Our customers rely on their trucks to meet the day-to-day challenges of earning a living, running a business and taking care of their families,” said Mark Reuss, president, GM North America, during the presentation. “Chevrolet is committed to giving truck customers the most-refined, best-engineered pickups in the market.”

Among the improvements are three new, naturally aspirated EcoTec3 engines, a 4.3-liter V-6, 5.3-liter V-8 and a 6.2-liter V-8, all of which have standard cylinder deactivation. Horsepower and torque figures weren’t released but the new engines are expected to be very capable: GM believes pickup customers prefer better performance to better fuel economy and isn’t going to try to match Ford’s EcoBoost engines.

All three engines will be matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. An eight-speed gearbox is scheduled to go into production in 2014.

GM’s slow-selling hybrid trucks will disappear with the introduction of the new series.

A nifty addition is the CornerStep bumper, a foothold stamped into the rear bumper. Combined with handholds built into the box rail protectors, the Cornerstep bumper makes it easier to access the box, which is a good thing as the top of the box is even higher than it is on the current models. The bed is also available with new upper tie-down hooks, under-rail light-emitting diode lighting, and an EZ Lift and Lower tailgate.

Buyers of the 2014 Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 crew cab will be able to opt for a longer six-foot, six-inch box instead of the five-foot, eight-inch box. Extended cab trucks will offer only the six-foot, six-inch box while regular cab pickups will be available with the six-foot, six-inch box or the eight-foot bed.

New interiors feature a revised instrument panel and a six-gauge instrument cluster. GM says the controls are functional, logically placed and easily operated while wearing work gloves. The rear doors on extended-cab trucks are now hinged at the front and those on crew cabs are larger, making entry and exit easier.

Chevy and GMC will retain their steering-column-mounted shifters but add a tap-up/tap-down mode for those wanted to do their own shifting.

The bodies and frames have been improved with more high-strength steel in the bodies and hydroformed frame members. The chassis and body have been tweaked for a better ride and reduced wind noise. GM says millions of hours of computational time were used in the development of the new pickups.

The new Silverado and Sierra will go into production at GM plants in Flint, Michigan, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Silao, Mexico in the second quarter of 2013, starting with the crew cab. Extended and regular cab trucks will follow later in the year.

Pricing will be announced closer to start of sales.

The folks at General Motors say they have the truck that can outsell the F-Series. At the beginning of the unveil, Reuss said, “Our competitors may think they have smooth sailing ahead. But let me tell you, the weather is about to change.”

THe folks at General Motors clearly think they finally have the truck that can outsell the F-Series. The last time the Chevy outsold the Ford, Jimmy Carter was President and everyone was complaining about gas at 64 cents per gallon.

These trucks are vital to GM’s bottom line, bringing in as much as $10,000 to $12,000 profit each, depending on trim and options. However, GM has neglected the lines since the last overhaul for the 2007 model year. As a result, the GM pickups are now the oldest in the segment and have lost market share to Ford and Ram. From 2008 to the end of November 2012, the gap between Silverado sales and those of the Ford F-Series has more than quadrupled. The gap between the GMC Sierra and Ram pickup has also grown, nearly doubling since 2009.

Since brand loyalty in the pickup segment is higher than any other light vehicle segment, the new GM pickups should do well with current owners of GM light trucks. However, the lack of significant exterior change combined with the possibly risky call on fuel economy could hamper conquest sales to owners of other brands.

Ford has already announced plans to rain on GM’s parade and the official introductions of the new pickups at the North American International Auto Show next month. Ford will display a sneak peek at the 2015 Ford F-Series pickup, hoping to give the Ford faithful reason to hold on to their truck another year.

Furthermore, Ford has won high praise for its EcoBoost engine and the Ram’s Pentastar V-6 was a repeat winner in the Ward’s Auto best engine list. Even though gasoline prices have fallen significantly in recent weeks, nobody, especially fleet buyers, believe they will remain low. Chevy’s power vs. economy may play well among consumers, but it may hamper sales to the fleets that help truck makers roll up the big numbers.

In addition, GM will have just one model year to be the freshest face on the block. With the 2014 debut of the next generation F-Series, FOrd can play to its far larger base: since the pickup segment began to recover in 2010, Ford has sold nearly 120,000 more pickups than Chevrolet and GMC combined. The three-year gap between the Silverado and the F-series is over 537,000 units, which is more pickups than Chevy has sold in any year since 2007.

Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future results and GM has done well with its Cruze and otehr new cars, but it remains to be seen if GM is going to see a billion bucks worth of bang for its hefty investments.