Preview: 2025 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL Get Revised Exterior and Interior Styling

Like their Chevrolet siblings, the Yukon and Yukon XL get evolutionary, not revolutionary, updates. 

In our road test of the redesigned Tahoe, we found a lot to like about its ride comfort, quietness, and interior room, and noted that it matched up well against the Ford Expedition and Jeep Wagoneer—and the GMC versions would likely perform similarly against the Lincoln Navigator and Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

But like nearly every full-sized SUV, we found the Tahoe with the standard suspension had ungainly handling, was thirsty for fuel, and forced passengers to make a high step to get into the cabin. Plus, the revised styling made for some challenging visibility. 

While we haven’t yet driven the new Yukons, we know that the Chevrolet versions have received suspension revisions, which might make their way to the GMC trucks. This should help in the handling department. In terms of visibility, the GMCs get a variety of safety technology, including pedestrian and cyclist detection. The new Yukon and Yukon XL won’t offer GM’s new Interior Motion Detection system, designed to sense micro-movements that can identify whether a child has been left unattended, but it will have a rear-seat reminder system.

There’s also no mention of a version with a hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric powertrain, which would go a long way to helping improve the fuel economy we got in the 2021 Tahoe and Suburban we tested.

It’s okay if you’re rubbing your eyes and staring closely at the images, because not much has changed between 2024 and 2025. The most noticeable update is that the headlamps have slightly evolved from the current versions. There’s more differentiation between trims with the grille and lower fascia treatments, with each trim having its own unique touches. Both the headlights and taillights can display preprogrammed animations, and the liftgate gets new badging.

Gigantic 24-inch wheels are offered on the Denali version, while the AT4 Ultimate gets 20-inch wheels with all-terrain tires, along with a front skid plate.

The trucks also get GM’s new “AutoSense” liftgate, which can automatically open the liftgate when it senses the key fob behind the vehicle. 

As we noted above, there isn’t any available information on suspension updates for the Yukon and Yukon XL, but we would be surprised if they don’t follow the Chevrolets. 

With those SUVs, the suspension has been updated to improve ride and handling, and again, an adaptive suspension is available using GM’s clever magnetic shocks to respond to road conditions and driver demands. Taking it a step further, the AT4 Ultimate gets an air suspension that can raise the SUV up to 2 inches to improve off-road ground clearance. 

Like the recently announced 2025 GMC Terrain, the Yukon and Yukon XL get a new infotainment screen … and it’s big. In the full-sized trucks, the 16.8-inch (diagonally) portrait-oriented Premium GMC Infotainment Center sits prominently on the center dash, above the climate controls, which are a mix of touch-sensitive buttons and toggle switches. 

The instrument cluster also uses a digital display for the driver information center, which sits in front of the steering wheel. We’re pleased to see that the 2025 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL get a column-mounted gear selector, which operates like the ones in recently redesigned and introduced GM vehicles. We tried it on the Chevrolet Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq and found it pretty easy to use once we got used to pulling it toward us before selecting a gear.

The Elevation and AT4 trims both come with the same 355-horsepower, 5.3-liter V8 that’s in the current Yukon and Yukon XL. This engine returned 17 mpg and 16 mpg overall, respectively, in our tests of the 2021 Tahoe and Suburban.

A 420-hp, 6.2-liter V8 is standard on the AT4 Ultimate, Denali, and Denali Ultimate, and available on the AT4.

A more powerful 305-hp, 3.0-liter inline-six diesel engine will join the lineup in the calendar year 2025. First launched on the Silverado 1500 pickup, this second-generation Duramax diesel boasts 10 percent more horsepower and 7.6 percent more torque, at 495 lb.-ft., than the previous diesel. This will be available on all trims but will be introduced after the 2025 models initially go on sale. 

All three engines are paired with the familiar 10-speed automatic transmission. As before, these SUVs are available with rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. The Yukon will have a 24-gallon fuel tank, while the larger Yukon XL can carry 28 gallons. 

Towing is a chief attraction for these SUVs, with a maximum tow capacity of 8,400 pounds for the Yukon and 8,200 pounds for the Yukon XL. These claims are not higher than the current vehicle, but the added low-end grunt from the diesel may make pulling heavy loads easier. To further aid towing, there are several technologies available, such as a trailer brake control, a hitch-view camera, trailer-configurable blind spot warning, trailer tire pressure monitoring, a forward camera view with guidance lines that account for the trailer’s path, the ability to use rear cameras to “look through” the trailer to see vehicles or objects behind it, trailer-friendly navigation routing, and a “jackknife alert” that tracks the position of the trailer to notify the driver to prevent the trailer and cab from folding in on itself like a letter “V.”

The Yukon and Yukon XL both come standard with active safety and driver assistance features that include highway-speed automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assistance, lane departure warning, and automatic high beams.

Other notable features are an optional night vision system that will use thermal object detection to identify pedestrians and animals and alert the driver in the head-up display and driver information center (the gauge cluster). Additional available safety technology includes reverse automatic emergency braking, side bicyclist alert, and AEB that looks at crossing traffic at intersections. 

We expect these SUVs will have GM’s new Interior Motion Detection system that can pick up slight movements in the cabin, intended to watch for a potential passenger who may have been left behind. 

Toward the end of 2025, the Super Cruise hands-free active driving assistance system will become available on the AT4 Ultimate and Denali Ultimate. This system is mapped to more than 400,000 miles of roads in the U.S. and Canada, and it’s expected to be expanded to about 750,000 miles by late 2025. The system will also feature hands-free trailering technology. Current versions of Super Cruise performed very well in Consumer Reports’ tests.