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GREENSBORO, Ga. Georgia is truck country. But what has happened down here is that truck buyers have changed.

The good men and women of Greensboro still use their trucks as motorized mules to haul and pull anything that can be hauled and pulled. They still demand trucks that can deal with mud and dust.

But nearly all of them nowadays have televisions and mobile phones. A few are addicted to using handheld BlackBerry e-mail devices. And although a number of people here claim never to have traveled outside of the mostly rural confines of Greene County, many confess to having intimate relationships with the Internet.

That exposure to worlds beyond the farm and Bible belts has opened their minds to luxury. Where their minds have gone, their pockets have followed. Many now want their trucks to also serve as their palaces.

Puritans might see that quest for luxury as proof of innocence lost. But all major vehicle manufacturers doing business in the United States see it as an economic blessing. They are moving aggressively to exploit it for all it is worth.

Chief among the luxury truck evangelists is General Motors Corp. through its GMC Truck Division, long one of the dominant presences in the U.S. truck market. GMC used this town and its environs to introduce its completely reworked, full-size, 2007 GMC Yukon luxury sport-utility vehicles. Judging from subsequent introductions of Yukon rivals, such as the all-new Mercedes-Benz GL sport-utility vehicle, GM acted none too soon.

For that matter, for the first time in a long time, GM seems to have correctly guessed the direction of a changing market segment. It has come out with a product that is competitive with the very best its rivals are offering and that is in other ways, when the price-value equation is considered, better than most of them.

Consider the 2007 Yukon Denali, the best equipped of the three new Yukon models on sale, which comes with a 380-horsepower V-8 engine, heated leather seats in the first and second rows, power-operated fold-and-tumble second-row seats, third-row bench seating, a power-operated rear door, a six-speed automatic transmission, and numerous other standard goodies for about $48,000 — the base-vehicle price for rivals such as the new Mercedes-Benz GL.

That’s impressive enough from the viewpoint of value. But GM this time listened to consumer and media complaints that its previous truck interiors were dismal — a hodgepodge of industrial-strength vinyl and carpeting, and poorly mated multi-piece instrument panels.

All of that ugliness has been banished to the Land of Never Should Have Been. It has been replaced by a simply beautiful, warm, comfortable interior of supple leather and smartly done wood veneers (in the case of the Yukon Denali), and accented by an attractive floor-mounted console. Dials and gauges are exactly where they are supposed to be. The vinyl atop and around the dashboard feels good to touch.

Even the harshest media critics of GM’s truck interiors were wowed by what the company has done with the 2007 Yukon. But, luckily for the people who will buy the thing, the improvements did not stop there.

Gone are the inadequate brakes that seemed to cause older GM trucks to float to a stop, instead of stopping abruptly with authority. The new brakes — front and rear ventilated discs — are larger, stronger, better. The suspension — active, self-leveling, front independent with stabilizer bar and multi-link setup in the rear — is substantially better than that of its predecessor. The upshot is that the Yukon Denali, a big all-wheel-drive SUV with a factory weight of 5,635 pounds, rides and handles in the manner of a much smaller, lighter vehicle. Yet, properly equipped, it can tow a trailer weighing 7,900 pounds.

GMC officials said they redesigned the Yukon knowing that rivals had learned that people in America’s truck-loving regions were lusting after something more than scrub-mobiles. Judging from the initial favorable reaction of truck owners here, they were right.

Nuts & Bolts 2007 GMC Yukon Denali

Reality check: SUVs and other truck-related vehicles accounted for 55 percent of all new U.S. vehicle sales last year, the National Automobile Dealers Association says. But that number masks softer demand for large SUVs. With all major manufacturers now going after the still-lucrative but shrinking market, GM is going to have a dogfight.

Ride, acceleration and handling: The new Yukon matches or beats anything in its size class, including the substantially more expensive Range Rover HSE. Anyone doubting that should simply drive one.

Head-turning quotient: The new Yukon has one of the best interiors, car or truck. Side exterior panels are uncluttered. The front end, with smartly sculpted headlamps, looks powerful. The rear end remains classic big SUV.

Body style/layout: The 2007 GMC Yukon Denali is a full-size, front-engine, all-wheel-drive sport-utility vehicle built body on frame. It has three rows of seats, four side doors and a power-operated rear door, or “liftgate.” Other Yukon models include the base SLE and more upscale SLT.

Engine/transmission: The Yukon Denali comes with a 6.2-liter V-8 engine that develops 380-horsepower at 5,200 revolutions per minute and 415 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm. The engine uses GM’s active engine management technology to save fuel by automatically shutting down four cylinders at low speeds and when the truck carries light loads. A six-speed automatic transmission is standard.

Cargo and fuel capacities: It has seating for eight people. Maximum cargo capacity with second and third-row seats folded is 109 cubic feet. It’s 16.9 cubic feet with all seats up. Maximum payload is 1,413 pounds. Maximum towing capacity is 7,900 pounds. The fuel tank holds 26 gallons of recommended regular unleaded gasoline.

Mileage: I averaged 19 miles per gallon in highway driving.

Safety: Standard side head curtain air bags, stability control, four-wheel antilock brakes.

Price: The 2007 GMC Yukon Denali starts at $47,115. Dealer’s invoice price on that model is $43,110. Price as tested is $53,120, including $5,130 in options and an $875 destination charge. Dealer’s price as tested is $48,244.

Purse-strings note: A big luxury SUV winner. Compare with Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, Mercedes-Benz GL and Range Rover HSE.