The Denali also didn't have a continuous door buzzer, instead it had an actual chime that would later be used in the 2001-2002 Tahoe and Yukon.
These standard features included an upgraded Nuance leather interior, driver and passenger 6-way power seats with power lumbar support, front and rear heated seats, a Bose 7 speaker (including subwoofer) audio system, an in-dash cassette, single CD player and an in-console 6-disc CD changer. The interior of the Denali also featured several upgrades not available on the mainstream Yukon. When introduced in 1999, the Yukon Denali's exterior, which it later shared with the 1999 Cadillac Escalade, differed from the standard Yukon in the front fascia and lower side body panels as well as having unique 16" polished aluminum wheels and a special exhaust cutout for a right side-exiting cast exhaust tip. The popularity of the GMC brand is likely to have had some influence on this decision. McKinley and officially renamed Denali in 2015 by the Obama Administration. It is also the name of the Denali National Park and Preserve that surrounds the mountain, as well as Denali State Park.
The "Denali" brand was derived from the native Alaskan Athabaskans / Koyukon people's name for the tallest mountain in North America. Even though the Yukon was redesigned alongside the Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe in 2000, the Denali, Escalade, and Tahoe Limited/ Z71 retained their 1990s base design.
At the time of its introduction General Motors decided to give Cadillac its own luxury SUV so the Denali's exterior was shared with the 1999 Cadillac Escalade, with only the front fascia and lower side body panels differing from the standard Yukon. It was also GM's first attempt to go after sales from the new-for-1998 Lincoln Navigator. The Denali nameplate started as the top-of-the-line version of the GMC Yukon for the 1999 model year.