Factory ZERO’s first year of production set with 10,000+ Hummer orders

Jamie L. LaReau

| Detroit Free Press
About half of General Motors’ 1,900 GMC dealers in the United States have agreed to invest up to $140,000 to sell the 2022 Hummer all-electric pickup truck. The dealers are onboard in part because the Hummer Edition 1 already has 10,000 preorders. Also, GMC promises to have more EVs in the lineup beyond the Hummer pickup, including a Hummer SUV version that GM will officially reveal early next year and an all-electric Sierra pickup “soon.”While GM declined to disclose the number of preorders for the Hummer Edition 1 or comment on future product, a GMC spokeswoman confirmed about half of GMC dealers have signed up to sell the Hummer EV. Did COVID-19 create a new dad?: Fathers take on more childcare amid pandemic. Will that change with vaccine?2021 Mustang Mach-E: Electric SUV is everything most of us could ask forGMC leaders shared that preorder figure and other news with dealers in a national dealer meeting held virtually last Thursday.”The Hummer Edition 1 sold out in 10 minutes and they said they had enough orders for it to fulfill their first year of production currently,” said a dealer who attended the meeting. “But they are evaluating if they can build more.”Several of the dealers at the meeting who spoke to the Free Press, including this one, declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.Hummer SUV reveal GM will build the Hummer EV, which it revealed in October, at its Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck.GM is investing $2.2 billion to retool the plant, which used to be called Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, to make at least five electric vehicles and batteries when it starts production late next year. The first will be the Hummer Edition 1, which has a starting price of $112,595.In addition to the Edition 1, a $99,995 3X model arrives next fall, followed by the 2X $89,995 in spring 2023 and $79,995 EV2 in spring 2024.GM will also offer the 2023 Hummer SUV, which dealers said GMC told them it will officially reveal in February.Last month, GM teased the world with a sneak peak of the Hummer SUV during Barclays Global Automotive Conference.GM’s presentation was done virtually from GM’s Design Dome at the company’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. CEO Mary Barra and Doug Parks, executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, sat right next to the yet-to-be-revealed Hummer SUV during the presentation for Wall Street and the media to see.More: All-electric 2022 GMC Hummer sells out in 10 minutes despite $112K priceMore: When old Detroit-Hamtramck plant reopens as Factory ZERO, it’ll be unlike any other in USMore: GM unintentionally gave Wall Street a peek at this secret Hummer SUVA different road from CadillacDuring the dealer meeting, headed by GMC President Duncan Aldred, he told dealers GMC will offer multiple battery-electric vehicles outside of Hummer, including several with Buick. “There will be an all-electric Sierra pickup, but no timeline yet. But the plan is to make it electric,” said Lynn Thompson, president of Thompson Buick GMC Cadillac in Springfield, Missouri. “This whole electric thing is a moving target.”.A GMC spokeswoman declined to comment on future product. “Duncan said we’re certainly not going to abandon our internal combustion engine vehicles because that’s our core business and that was good to hear,” said the dealer who revealed the Hummer preorders. “It’s to let people know they’re not going down the same road as Cadillac.”Also, unlike Cadillac, GMC will not offer buyouts to those GMC dealers who decline to sell the Hummer EV, the way Cadillac is offering buyouts to dealers who do not want to invest about $200,000 to transition their operations to sell electric vehicles.About 20% of Cadillac’s 870 dealers have taken buyouts of $300,000 to $700,000, as reported earlier by the Free Press. A “handful” of Cadillac dealers in Michigan have taken buyouts. Costs to dealersGMC is asking its dealers to sign a voluntary participation agreement to make certain store upgrades to sell and service electric vehicles.The investment can run as high as $140,000 to $150,000 to become a Hummer dealer. Thompson, who sells both GMC and Cadillac, said he’s agreed to sign up for both. “If you do not have Cadillac, it’ll be about $140,000 to $150,000 for tools and equipment, but one item in there is a $40,000 item that I also need for Cadillac,” Thompson said, referring to a fast-charging station. “So it’ll cost me a lot less than $150,000.”Thompson said he did not know yet how many of the preordered Hummers will be sold through his store.Another dealer who sells Cadillac and Buick GMC in the South said his cost will likely be about $30,000 to install a fast-charging station and be compliant to sell the Hummer vehicles. He said so far about 125 customers who’ve ordered a Hummer have asked that it be delivered through his store. He asked to not be named for this article because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.The dealer said GMC requires a dealer to have two 240-volt Level 2 charging stations and at least one 480-volt fast-charging station. The Level 2 charging station runs $500 to $1,000, he said. But one fast-charging station can cost $25,000 to $30,000, he said.Here are the requirements …GMC also requires dealers who want to sell the Hummer to have two 12,000-lb. lifts in the service bays, a 14-by-24 foot stall to store and an 8,000-lb. capacity forklift, the dealers said and a GMC spokesperson confirmed. Also, they must pay for the training to sell and service the vehicles. “But lots of guys don’t have this stuff. If you don’t have all that stuff, you could spend up to $200,000,” the dealer said.GMC spokeswoman Michelle Malcho said there is no deadline for GMC dealers to decide they want to sign a participation agreement to sell Hummer.“A lot of the cost in there is the electric infrastructure and their charging ability,” Malcho said. “If they have a modern electrical system, their cost will be less. If they need to update that for the charging station, that’s where the $140,000 comes in.”The participation agreement is similar to what Chevrolet dealers have to sell the Bolt EV, Malcho added.For dealer John Pitre, COO of Motor City Buick GMC in Bakersfield, California, he already has the 12,000-lb. lift because of the service work the dealership does on full-size pickups. So he expects it will cost him $50,000 to $60,000 to get the rest of the equipment and training done to start selling the Hummers, which “isn’t a lot and not a deal killer,” he said.”We have over 40 orders for Hummer. We have a few Edition 1, but most are for the 3X,” Pitre said. “It only costs $100 to get on the list, which is refundable in California if you don’t take delivery.”Pitre said he’s excited to sell the vehicle, but cautious. He does not expect demand for EVs to exceed 10-15% of his monthly sales for the next year or two, “so I’m glad we’re keeping internal combustion engines.”Contact Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

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