When it comes to passenger cars, diesel may be struggling here in America, but in pickup trucks, it continues to thrive.

This is especially true in the half-ton pickup category where Ford is now offering a V6 PowerStroke diesel and Ram is working on a new diesel which will see service in the Ram 1500 and Jeep Gladiator. What -- you're probably asking yourself -- about GM?

Well, according to a report published on Tuesday by Automotive News, GM is coming out of the gate hard with what it's calling the most powerful diesel engine in the category. The folks from GM claim that the 3.0-liter Duramax I6 makes 277 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. This puts it handily ahead of the Ford unit which produces 250 hp and 450 ft-lbs.

Unfortunately, General Motors decided not to give us the new Silverado 1500 diesel's fuel economy numbers, towing capacities or payload but it will undoubtedly be competitive with the rest of the offerings from the Big Three.

The diesel powertrain option will be available to purchase sometime during the summer of 2019 for the same price as the 6.2-liter gasoline-powered V8 model, despite offering the same torque and more power.

Chevrolet didn't immediately return requests for comment.