When is a tailgate a Swiss Army knife?

Touted as "The Tailgate to End All Tailgates," GMC's MultiPro Tailgate is a Swiss Army knife installed into the rear of the Sierra full-size pickup.

"It's not just about technology — it's about usability and real innovation," said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global GMC. "For anybody who uses a pickup truck bed, it's going to make their lives much easier."

The MultiPro Tailgate has an inner tailgate that's part of the main gate, and can fold out and down. The inner gate also has a load-stop feature to help keep cargo in the bed when the tailgate is down. It also can be used as an exterior table, while keeping the main tailgate up. Both of the gates are released by buttons in the tailgate handle.

The MultiPro Tailgate is standard on the SLT, AT4 and Denali trims for the Sierra 1500. GMC will feature it on the 2020 GMC Sierra HD models, which will go on sale late this summer.

GMC probably will eventually share the flexible system with its Chevrolet Silverado siblings, but General Motors has not confirmed those plans.

The concept is already spurring on competitors. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in February announced it will introduce a 60-40 split multifunctional tailgate for its 2019 Ram 1500. It is expected to be available in the second quarter at an added cost of $995. An optional center step will cost $295.