Lucas Bell 
With the debut of the GMC Hummer EV lineup, General Motors has made their first steps towards their electrification goals. And while we’re still a ways out before customers will take delivery of these electrified 4x4s, the revived nameplate has already amassed a ton of interested buyers. In fact, pre-order allocations for the Hummer EV and Hummer EV SUV Edition 1 trims were snatched up almost immediately after both models debuted. That said, initial hype isn’t always a great indicator of sustained sales success. In order to help GMC dealers who plan to sell the new Hummers profitable, the automaker will be covering the showroom costs related to the EVs, according to Automotive News.
According to the report, over half of GMC dealers have opted to sell the Hummer EV and Hummer EV SUV. This decision will require dealers to shell out about $200,000 to upgrade their facilities per GM’s request. These upgrades will allow the dealers to both sell and service these new electric offerings effectively. Of course dealers don’t tend to take delivery of new products and sell them on the same day. In order to allow dealers to stay profitable while developing sales plans, GMC has told their dealers that they will cover the floorplan costs associated with the Hummer models for the long term. More specifically, the automakers will cover the costs associated with either Hummer EV models for as many as 30 days. Once the early reservation products are completely sold, GM will reevaluate this model and bring it more in line with their other products.
“The dealer will be whole. It’s more precise than now where basically we give dealers a lump sum [of floorplan assistance] and if it’s not enough, that’s unlucky and if it’s too much, it’s lucky,” – Duncan Aldred, vice president of global Buick-GMC told Automotive News.
GMC is also pushing their dealers to be transparent about the pricing model associated with the Hummer EV lineup. The automaker has no plans to offer incentives on the new electric vehicles, but they will allow dealers to negotiate with customers at the point of sale. Furthermore, all advertising related to the electric vehicles will be handled by the automaker, and will be at MSRP. This is aimed at helping dealers save cash they might spend on local marketing practices.
General Motors is going all in on electrification. This is something that they have made clear time and again at this point. The GMC Hummer EV models are the start of this process, and represent a huge opportunity for the automaker. They likely don’t want to squander that, nor do they want their dealers to take an unnecessary hit. Overall it seems like a logical plan to cover the initial floorplan costs, and it may even entice other dealers to hop on board. Considering how many new EVs GM has planned in the near future, that certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.
