GM has trademarked the tiered tailgate.

General Motors has the Multipro tailgate, but it appears that GM is developing another new tailgate to compete with its Detroit rival.

GM recently filed a trademark application for the name "Multistow." The application was filed on February 16, 2023, and seeks to apply the Multistow name to "tailgates on automotive land vehicles."

GM sparked the trick tailgate craze with the Multipro tailgate, which was installed on the GMC Sierra and later on the GMC Hummer EV. The Chevrolet Silverado also has its own version called the Multiflex. Both brands offer six configurations around the tailgate's movable center section, which can be used as a load stop, folding step, or work surface.

It is unclear how GM's multi-storied tailgate differs from the company's current tailgate, but the name "storage" suggests some sort of storage function. Chevrolet is offering a StowFlex tailgate with a small central storage area on the new mid-size 2023 Colorado (see above). Presumably the Multistow tailgate is a larger version for full-size trucks.

GM may be targeting the Ram and its RamBox bedside storage bin. Ram also offers a split tailgate that creates two vertical openings for easier access to the bed. This is one thing GM's current Multipro/Multiflex tailgate cannot do.

However, don't expect the tailgate wars to stop there. Numerous recently filed patents indicate that automakers are trying to outdo each other by adding tailgate features. Ford has been granted a patent for a trisected tailgate in 2022, while Rivian has filed patents for a telescoping and folding tailgate and tailgate steps.

GM is also trying to revive the midgate for the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV pickup. Ram showed its own version with the Revolution BEV concept and teased the brand's first production electric truck, the Ram 1500 REV, due in 2024.