Michael Accardi 
People are getting even more excited for the new GMC Hummer EV following President Joe Biden’s visit to GM’s Factory Zero in Hamtramck, Michigan. GMC global vice president Duncan Aldred revealed the brand’s web properties had seen a 230% increase in traffic along with a corresponding spike in hand-raising and sales following the presidential drive earlier this month.
“A lot of those hand-raisers, about half, have turned into reservations,” said Aldred during a media round table discussion this week. “The interesting thing is over this period of time the rate of reservations has been pretty steady. Not only a high volume of hand-raisers and reservations, but pretty much everyone wants the top of the line.”
It’s an exciting time for GMC and the resurrected Hummer brand. The Hummer EV is about to exit the preproduction phase and customer deliveries will begin as scheduled in December. Of note, Hummer EV Edition 1 models will remain in production only through next year, following which the brand will begin selling the EV3X trim beginning 2023.
It was also revealed the Hummer EV program has been rejuvenating for the GMC brand at the retail level. Roughly two-thirds of the dealership network has promptly jumped on board to support the incoming EV invasion from GM.
“It kinda happened out of the blue. To come into a project like the Hummer EV, there’s been a lot to learn as far as our dealers go,” Aldred told us. “There’s been an investment, that is variable depending on what kind of power source the dealer has. So, we made it an elective distribution, so dealers can join or not. About 2/3 have signed up, most of which did so initially.”
“I don’t think there’s ever reluctance, because, with a product like the GMC Hummer EV, the world’s first super truck, this is a once in a career, once in a generation time. So to be part of this is an exceptional opportunity the dealers have grabbed with both hands.”
Besides the future versions of the Hummer EV, GMC dealers are surely anticipating an electric version of the GMC Sierra 1500. Especially considering the Sierra’s mechanical twin, the Chevrolet Silverado, will debut an all-electric variant at the upcoming CES show in January of 2022.
