GM News: General Motors Plans A Revival of Hummer

[William Maley]

General Motors will be bringing back the Hummer name to sell a new electric truck as part of the GMC lineup.

The Wall Street Journal first broke the news yesterday with GM moving forward on plans to bring Hummer back that was first reported back in June. The report also said that the company would tout the return with a Super Bowl ad featuring NBA star LeBron James. GM declined to comment.

The decision is likely due to the planned $3 billion investment for the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that we reported back in October. The investment is to gear up the plant to build an electric pickup for GMC and an electric Cadillac SUV by 2023. But in 2021, the plant will produce a "low volume BT1 pickup" under a different brand. At the time we speculated that it may be Hummer. This seems to lineup with the reporting done by the Wall Street Journal which says the truck will be similar in design to the Jeep Renegade.

Bloomberg adds that there are plans for a large SUV for Hummer if the truck proves successful according to sources. The sources also say that the company is considering selling the new Hummer truck in existing dealers under the name of “Hummer by GMC.”

Source: Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required), Automotive News (Subscription Required)

H/T to @balthazar for alerting us to this story

View full article

[smk4565]

Off roaders are popular so makes sense to do a GMC Hummer targeted against Wrangler, Bronco, and 4Runner.  Also makes sense to make it a GMC rather than spending the money to launch a brand, which when you look at something like Genesis, it costs loads of money for very little gain.

[Robert Hall]

It's going to be interesting to see what the off-road capable EV SUV scene looks like in a few years..we have new players like Rivian and Bollinger coming, and with hybrid and EV Jeeps coming...I wonder if Land Rover plans to do hybrid and EV versions of the Defender..

[riviera74]

45 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Off roaders are popular so makes sense to do a GMC Hummer targeted against Wrangler, Bronco, and 4Runner.  Also makes sense to make it a GMC rather than spending the money to launch a brand, which when you look at something like Genesis, it costs loads of money for very little gain.

Hyundai kinda had to with Genesis.  Hummer by GMC does make a lot more sense.

[William Maley]

46 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

It's going to be interesting to see what the off-road capable EV SUV scene looks like in a few years..we have new players like Rivian and Bollinger coming, and with hybrid and EV Jeeps coming...I wonder if Land Rover plans to do hybrid and EV versions of the Defender..

I believe hybrids of the Defender are incoming. Don't know about EVs.

[balthazar]

At $125K, Bollinger is the new Hummer H1. Minus the sales.

[ocnblu]

All of the above mentioned will be "minus the sales".

[Robert Hall]

49 minutes ago, balthazar said:

At $125K, Bollinger is the new Hummer H1. Minus the sales.

Yes, it will be a low volume novelty.  Rivian seems like they have a better plan..

[balthazar]

Maybe it'll also have a 'douchey poser rubbermaid' image.

Edited January 12, 2020 by balthazar

[surreal1272]

On 1/11/2020 at 8:29 PM, ocnblu said:

All of the above mentioned will be "minus the sales".

We are talking about EVs, not diesels. 

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

We are talking about EVs, not diesels. 

Yeah I know, hence my comment.

[surreal1272]

13 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Yeah I know, hence my comment.

Yeah, you need to learn to take a joke. 

[ocnblu]

9 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Yeah, you need to learn to take a joke. 

LOL that is what that was.

[FAPTurbo]

gm obliterated hummer’s name with the idiotic underwhelming H2 and cultivated a market of balding, compensating sadmen in the process... and they think it’s going to attract electric buyers?

lol okay 

[balthazar]

'They' said the same thing about BMW when it got (just about) obliterated. It took a pus sac of a car to save them but you know what; BMW doesn't market that same vehicle anymore. Amazing how manufacturers retain the authority to change their products according to changing markets, ain't it?

[oldshurst442]

8 hours ago, FAPTurbo said:

gm obliterated hummer’s name with the idiotic underwhelming H2

GM did no such thing with the H2.  If fact, it was the opposite of what you say.  

Riding on the coattails  on Ahnold's H1 civilian version and with the start of the SUV craze in the early 19990s and on Lincoln's Navigator, GM purchased the rights to HUMMER and listened to what folk said  that went batshyte for the H1 so GM created the H2.  (The 1st gen Escalade was already done and the 1st gen Escalade is where you could take your idiotic rhetoric and be correct) The H2 was not underwhelming.   It was EVERYTHING a HUMMER buyer EVER wanted in his HUMMER purchase.  If you do not know what those criteria were...then YOU might be the problem...

The H2 was NEVER about luxury. The H2 was BRILLIANTLY recreated to EMULATE the H1...just to give you a hint.

So much so, that IMMEDIATELY there after, the most sought after SUV WAS the H2. Then the 2nd gen Escalade came along as the 1st gen was a patch job in missing the market and GM just like that, had a 1-2 punch with a blink of an eye that dominated  EVERY OTHER automaker that built and sold top dog SUVs...

So much so that HUMMER's product line IMMEDIATELY broke open with many many many products down the pipe line.

HUMMER died...but not because of how your twisted mind works against GM and HUMMER...

If you do not comprehend that, or you simply refuse to acknowledge, then YOU might just be the problem...

8 hours ago, FAPTurbo said:

compensating sadmen in the process... and they think it’s going to attract electric buyers?

They way YOU go on about EVs and Teslas...that statement right there...is kinda ironic from where Im sitting...

Edited January 15, 2020 by oldshurst442

[ccap41]

I always thought the H2 looked terrible because it looked like a bloated H1 but it really did have the off-road goodies suited for a civilian, mass-marketed, Hummer-branded vehicle. 

[oldshurst442]

12 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I always thought the H2 looked terrible because it looked like a bloated H1 but it really did have the off-road goodies suited for a civilian, mass-marketed, Hummer-branded vehicle. 

Looks mean different things to different people.

The H2 could have never been made to look anything else BUT like a H1. THAT was the whole purpose of the H2. To be a smaller, more user friendly H1.

It was never about being being user friendly. It was more about it being more user friendly as a baby H1...

The H1 was a military vehicle through and through. Just as how the Willys  Jeep was.  When the CJ came out after the war, Civilian Jeep, it retained all the military specs of being a military vehicle. In other words, it wasnt a comfortable ride for civilians. Hell, it wasnt comfortable for soldiers either, but the army doesnt give a shyte about the comfort of the soldiers, at least back then...THAT is how the H1 civilian was.   

The H2 was just a vehicle to simulate a military one, with the comfort of a real civilian vehicle.

It even had those hooks on the hood to be airdropped like the H1, but of course they were fake on the H2...and THAT was THE point of the H2.  

Im not saying you had to like that, Im just sayin' the target market for the H2 DEFINATELY WANTED that. And THIS is where Fap's rhetoric holds no water.   GM gave the HUMMER buyers what they wanted. 

The H3 and other future products were then created to take on JEEP. Which never panned out.  But that was never the H2's mission. To be a Jeep competitor, The H2 was supposed to fill some of the market's need to be G.I. Joe.  Something that the Wrangler forgot it was a loooooong time ago...

But...when the brand HUMMER was phased out, the Wrangler got more brutish in looks, huh?

Makes you think why that is...

 

[ccap41]

54 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

Looks mean different things to different people.

The H2 could have never been made to look anything else BUT like a H1. THAT was the whole purpose of the H2. To be a smaller, more user friendly H1.

It was never about being being user friendly. It was more about it being more user friendly as a baby H1...

The H1 was a military vehicle through and through. Just as how the Willys  Jeep was.  When the CJ came out after the war, Civilian Jeep, it retained all the military specs of being a military vehicle. In other words, it wasnt a comfortable ride for civilians. Hell, it wasnt comfortable for soldiers either, but the army doesnt give a shyte about the comfort of the soldiers, at least back then...THAT is how the H1 civilian was.   

The H2 was just a vehicle to simulate a military one, with the comfort of a real civilian vehicle.

It even had those hooks on the hood to be airdropped like the H1, but of course they were fake on the H2...and THAT was THE point of the H2.  

Im not saying you had to like that, Im just sayin' the target market for the H2 DEFINATELY WANTED that. And THIS is where Fap's rhetoric holds no water.   GM gave the HUMMER buyers what they wanted. 

The H3 and other future products were then created to take on JEEP. Which never panned out.  But that was never the H2's mission. To be a Jeep competitor, The H2 was supposed to fill some of the market's need to be G.I. Joe.  Something that the Wrangler forgot it was a loooooong time ago...

But...when the brand HUMMER was phased out, the Wrangler got more brutish in looks, huh?

Makes you think why that is...

 

Yeah, i get what you're saying. People definitely loved them. they sold like hotcakes at their absurd prices. 

Also, those hood hooks were used to open the hood as it opened Corvette-style. 

 

[oldshurst442]

3 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Also, those hood hooks were used to open the hood as it opened Corvette-style. 

I didnt know that.  I thought they were totally useless. LOL

[ccap41]

2 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

I didnt know that.  I thought they were totally useless. LOL

I mean.. They're somewhat useless for the look they bring to the table but at least they aren't actually 100% useless. It's still a pain in the hind to open the hoods because the hood is like neck-height to me at 5'8" and the leverage with those hooks isn't the greatest. 

[oldshurst442]

7 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I mean.. They're somewhat useless for the look they bring to the table but at least they aren't actually 100% useless. It's still a pain in the hind to open the hoods because the hood is like neck-height to me at 5'8" and the leverage with those hooks isn't the greatest. 

Yes exactly.  At least that much much. I thought they were completely useless. But like you said, it was a high truck. I mean, Im 5'6 and half inches tall.  Those hooks would do nothing for me anyway. LOL.  So...100% completely useless for me.

But if I ever wanted to be saving Barbie from Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik from tyranny, Ken with his ascots would just just choke himself to death, but I...with my Hummer...could save the world. And THAT was the idea behind the H2, and like you said, they sold like hotcakes with crazy high pricetags. And immediately after that, the HUMMER brand was expanding...

Edited January 15, 2020 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

50 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

But if I ever wanted to be saving Barbie from Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik from tyranny, Ken with his ascots would just just choke himself to death, but I...with my Hummer...could save the world. And THAT was the idea behind the H2, and like you said, they sold like hotcakes with crazy high pricetags. And immediately after that, the HUMMER brand was expanding...

 

[FAPTurbo]

14 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

GM did no such thing with the H2.  If fact, it was the opposite of what you say.  

Riding on the coattails  on Ahnold's H1 civilian version and with the start of the SUV craze in the early 19990s and on Lincoln's Navigator, GM purchased the rights to HUMMER and listened to what folk said  that went batshyte for the H1 so GM created the H2.  (The 1st gen Escalade was already done and the 1st gen Escalade is where you could take your idiotic rhetoric and be correct) The H2 was not underwhelming.   It was EVERYTHING a HUMMER buyer EVER wanted in his HUMMER purchase.  If you do not know what those criteria were...then YOU might be the problem...

The H2 was NEVER about luxury. The H2 was BRILLIANTLY recreated to EMULATE the H1...just to give you a hint.

So much so, that IMMEDIATELY there after, the most sought after SUV WAS the H2. Then the 2nd gen Escalade came along as the 1st gen was a patch job in missing the market and GM just like that, had a 1-2 punch with a blink of an eye that dominated  EVERY OTHER automaker that built and sold top dog SUVs...

So much so that HUMMER's product line IMMEDIATELY broke open with many many many products down the pipe line.

HUMMER died...but not because of how your twisted mind works against GM and HUMMER...

If you do not comprehend that, or you simply refuse to acknowledge, then YOU might just be the problem...

okay

[balthazar]

14 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

The H2 was NEVER about luxury.

Hey! Just like Tesla!

[Blake Noble]

18 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I am a Hummer H2 apologist. This means that, when I post about the H2, I am either: a.) Incapable of seeing the "forest for the trees" when it comes to my favoritest dumb SUV of all time; b.) Observing revisionist history because I don't want to accept the reality that my favoritest dumb SUV of all time is dumb; or c.) Possibly both, whichever method poorly defends best my favoritest dumb SUV of all time.

Fixed your post for you. You're welcome.

The H2 is absolutely the reason why Hummer failed. Just because it was initially met with favorable sales — and may have even given some buyers what they thought they wanted initially — does not mean it wasn't responsible for severely damaging the image of the brand in the bigger picture. (See also: Chevy Citation.)

Not unlike Jeep, Hummer was a brand that built its image around its military heritage and a reputation for building off-road vehicles that were quality, tough, and maybe even a little innovative. They were also recognized for being flashy and expensive; not because they were exactly luxurious, but because of their no-expense-spared, military-grade engineering and design. The model responsible for that creating image was obviously the original civilian-spec AM General Hummer, that would be known as the H1 when GM came into the picture (along with its mil-spec M998 relatives). (To say the civilian-spec Hummer/H1 was the exotic or "Ferrari" of the off-road world in the 90s really wouldn't be wrong.) 

When GM launched the H2, the public likely wasn't expecting any addition to the Hummer lineup to be lavishly luxurious, or even comfortable, but they certainly were expecting it to be exceptional off-road and look tough doing it. That's the image the H1 helped build for the brand, remember. The H2, then, would prove to be a textbook example of "appearances only running skin deep."

While the H2 may have worn styling inspired by the H1, under the skin it was hardly anything like its forebearer, thanks in part to GM basing the design heavily on its full-sized truck and SUV platform. It might have been more capable off-road than the Tahoe it was derived from, sure. But what isn't, really? A Tahoe is not and has not been a number one choice for anyone in the off-roading community, as far as I can tell.

It didn't take long for the world to eventually wise up and realize what the H2 actually was — a big, dumb SUV with a chintzy interior, stupid price tag and offensive fuel economy that proved to be borderline, if not completely cumbersome off-road (depending on where you were taking it). It didn't live up to what the brand promised and it not only cast an ugly shadow down on the models it built that were actually OK, like the H3, but also cast one back on the H1.

And, yes, H2 was pretty cumbersome off-road because of its size and design.

Off-road, the H1 (obviously) and even the smaller H3 would humiliate it. The H1 was designed to maintain a low center of gravity while offering superior approach and departure angles and 16 inches of ground clearance. The fact the H2's design borrowed so heavily from the GM truck parts bin meant that this quality would never be replicated. The H3 trounced the H2 off-road by just being plain-old smaller, and it also offered the same amount of ground clearance or better. (It should be said, the final design for H3's chassis also had far less in common with the GM mid-size trucks it had sprung from, especially when compared to the H2 and it's relationship to GM's full-sized truck designs.)

Looking at the bigger picture, GM was better off making the Hummer line-up the H1 (and limiting production to 1,000 units annually until it was totally unprofitable to certify it), the H3 and a production version of the HX concept. They also would have been better off selling Hummer models through GMC dealerships from the very beginning, instead of investing and wasting money setting up standalone lots.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Blake Noble