Manoli Katakis 
The resurrection of Hummer becomes less and less of a rumor each day, and more of a reality. According to the latest report from The Wall Street Journal, General Motors will be teasing the Hummer brand comeback during a surprise ad during Super Bowl LIV next month, which will feature none other than NBA great LeBron James. The new Hummer model is said to hit the market by 2022, and will be a low-volume fully electric pickup truck that will ride on GM’s new BT1 architecture. It will feature independent rear suspension, iconic off-road capabilities, and will position itself against the likes of the Rivian R1T, electric Ford F-150, and the Tesla Cybertruck.
But wait, there’s more. According to the report, the upcoming Hummer electric truck will be sold exclusively at GMC dealers. Restarting a dealer network for a rebooted brand was a major hurdle for General Motors, and offering the upcoming electric pickup truck as a standalone model at established franchises appears to be the automaker’s clever way of circumventing this matter. And yet, this raises a flag.
We at MC&T have heard rumblings that the Hummer name may find itself as a trim level for GMC, but we find this extremely hard to believe. However, considering GM’s tendency to improperly name its vehicles these days, such as the confusing Bolt/Volt blunder, followed by the confusing Blazer/Trailblazer models, as well as the odd repositioning of V-Series, we really can’t count this decision out.
The new Hummer pickup truck will be among the first of several large, battery-powered SUVs and pickup trucks that GM is expected to roll out over the next several years. All of them will utilize the BT1 architecture, according to previous reports, which cite electric full-size Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC models in the pipeline.
Hummer ceased in 2010, after a $150 million sale to a potential buyer fell through. China-based Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd. had done everything except sign the final papers, and at the 11th hour, in February 2010, the deal fell through. This left GM with one choice: the discontinuation of Hummer.
With the surging popularity of utility vehicles that has emerged in the past decade, coupled by a flourishing off-road SUV and truck scene, we wonder what the automaker would do today to reverse that decision.
