Only Half Of GMC Dealerships Have Agreed To Sell The Hummer EV Lineup
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Customers interested in the new GMC Hummer EV lineup won’t be able to buy the vehicles from just any GMC dealership, as not all of the brand’s storefronts have agreed to sell the high-priced battery-electric trucks.
Speaking to Reuters this week, GMC brand boss Duncan Aldred said about half of GMC dealers have signed up to sell the new GMC Hummer EV lineup, which will include the new pickup and the yet-to-be-unveiled SUV variant.
Aldred did not say why some GMC dealers aren’t interested in the Hummer EV. A report published earlier this year indicated General Motors had received pushback from dealers over the large investments it required for them to sell its new EVs, however, which typically totaled $120,00 to $200,000.
Some dealers in rural areas believed they would not see a return on these investments, which would go to various sales and service department upgrades. GM also required dealers to sign a separate contract to sell its EVs and only a limited number of dealers signed the contract, the report indicated. The contract is alleged to have been particularly unpopular in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, among other more rural states.
At the time, GM North America president Steve Carlisle said the investments were “a necessary step that we need to take to achieve (GM’s) vision of an electrified future.”
The 2022 GMC Hummer EV will launch next fall and will only be available in the limited-production Edition 1 trim, which is priced at $112,595. The $99,995 Hummer EV3X will follow in the Fall of 2022, while the dual-motor EV2X will arrive shortly after in the Spring of 2023 starting at $89,995. The base-level EV2 model will not arrive until 2024 and will start at $79,995. Reuters reports GM wants to keep the price of the vehicle fixed and will discourage dealers from marking the vehicle up or down, similar to Tesla. GM is also taking reservations for the vehicle through its website in another Tesla-style twist on the buying process.
GM sold out of GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 models shortly after the vehicle’s unveiling earlier this month. While the fully-loaded version of the pickup has sold out, the lesser trim levels are still open for reservation.
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This is only common sense. Not all GMC dealers are in locations or are suited to sell these.
Good example is locally here. I have a near by GMC dealer that is a high volume stand alone dealer that averaged over $65,000 per unit sold. They are in a area where there is enough money to support loaded up vehicles.
Another some distance from here is in a small working community that mostly sells work trucks. Odds of them selling more than one Hummer are slim if even that.
By being selective this will give the dealers able to handle the Hummer the ability to serve most of the customers at a higher level and get the most of their investment in the tools and training needed to deal with them.
It also prevents the dealers out in the country that really can’t afford to invest a ton of money into the equipment and training they will never get back the investment on.
This is a low volume vehicle not for everyone and it is not a vehicle for all dealers to sell either.
This will be a smart move.
If volumes pick up and demand is great enough in some areas the number of dealers can be adjusted or expanded.
It won’t last… GM is the SEGA of the auto industry. They’ll hype it up and then on the first sign of a failure, they will stop production or slap a 6.2 in it and push on for a couple more years.
Naysayers are going to nay…
Trying to change the world to a sustainable future is hard. This truck is cool. I want one.
I would argue it has more to do with the bigger issue that will only continue to get worse over time. That is Dealerships want absolutely nothing to do with EV’s. They will never see the Customer again. This is why I have been stating the so called Startups as crazy as it sounds will get a decent chunk of the Market prior to the so called Legacy Automakers making the shift.
EV’s still need tire rotations, damage repair, service, recall work to be done. Tesla’s service centers are very busy for cars that apparently don’t need routine service. My Bolt EV sees the service center once a year for tire rotations. My wife’s Equinox sees the service center twice a year for oil changes. Not a big difference in service. Sure at 100k miles the Equinox will need more service than the Bolt, but it’s more about resetting what a dealer is their for.
Recall and warranty work pays at a significantly lower rate, it’s the customer-paid service where the profits are. On top of that, with the trend towards the “software-defined vehicle”, a good portion of recalls are moving towards simple OTA updates with no dealer involvement. (Even today, look at how many recalls are solved by a simple reflash, paying no parts and 0.4 hours)
Wouldn’t know anything about Tesla’s as their is only one idiot to buy one here in south central TN. EVs are not designed for this area. Although I’ll admit there are two charging stations here in town, one behind the dollar store and the other behind Dunk’n’Donuts, I have never seen a car plugged into either and I guess we are paying for them through tax deductions for Tesla.
I wonder if dealerships don’t or wont want to sell ev because of the lower service and repair rate of electric vehicles. I know a
big chunk of the money made at dealers is on service and repair. I have asked a couple sales people from local dealers in my area about ev interest and the answer is still “people don’t want em” or “still to expensive” .
Head of Cadillac Steve Carlisle seems like a more ‘grounded’ guy (unintended pun), but I’m sure the dealers wish he’d at least reduce some of the more onerous requirements.
For instance, having a Bosch 25 kw unreliable semi-fast charger at the Chevy dealerships seems to provide little benefit, other than possibly a bit of ‘goodwill’ for those who can access its free charging. There are certainly much cheaper ways to test charging facilities, which they have to buy anyway.
I’m a big supporter of plug-in cars (I’m on my 6th), but GM’s on again, off again support of EVs I’m sure is in the back of all dealers’ minds, and I agree that many dealers rightly or wrongly will eschew the Hummer EV for that reason.
Oldsmobile charged dealers $30,000 for the right to sell the Aurora. The dealers who didn’t sign up for the Aurora program were able to sell them in about a year with out the sign up fee! So dealers choosing to wait may save $ later on. Time will tell.
Ok here is the program.
Yes Dealers make more money on service than the vehicles.
No Dealers did not make money on the sale or service of the Bolt, Volt etc.
But here is the difference. The Hummer at this price point will make money. As volumes and return on investments are made the EV vehicles will become cheaper to build and sold at the same price will make them more profitable.
As the parts used and shared in these vehicles are trickled down to other models they too will become more profitable.,
In building these cars they should over time be cheaper to build as there is going to be less development cost as they will have no emission testing. ICE tuning and a number of parts like fuel systems and other things that cost much to develop.
The assembly lines also will need less workers as much of the parts under the car no longer will need to be assembled.
We need to look at these vehicles more like a Cell phone, lap tops or Big Screen Tv’s. Yes they will be expensive now but they will get cheaper with volume and shared technology. Lets face it look at the LISA Apple computer from the early 80’s with 512 GB was sold for what was equal today to $25,000 dollars. Today my Mac Book Pro with 8 Cores and 1 TB was $2400 and only 1/10 the size of the LISA computer.
The way cars are built and sold is going to fundamentally change. Tech will be sold or licensed from one MFG to another. Some models will be built by other MFG’s much like how Apple uses Samsung screens.
As for dealers in time as these cars age they will still have work as these cars are still going to have issues. Not every cell phone is perfect or lap top not flawed. Apple has the Genius Bar for a reason.
We have not see all that this is going to change yet. There is still a lot of work and time to go on this.
The market is forecasted to be 50% electric by 2030 and with places mandating electric models like many Euro cities and California there will be areas with higher numbers.
This is more than just a change in what powers a vehicle but a change on the scale like we have never seen. Much will change here.
Just look at what the Cell Phone has done to our society. EV will have a similar effect on how we deal with transportation in many ways not just charging and driving.
I have been following the engineers on SAE and they are really doing a moon shot on this stuff. Many just do not realize how much change this will bring. We are jaded by the electronics today. We take for granted our Apple 11 and just see how far we cam in 12 years. Before that the web was limited in our lives and today is is a major part of our lives.
I told my wife on our first Smart Phones we better get started or we will get left behind. With Ten years a lot will happen.
The EV will never be accepted until the infrastructure is in place and the battery technology improves to the point where an EV can be recharged in 10 minutes just like refueling an ICE. On any street corner and convenience store just like gas is sold. The only ones who are embracing EVs are the people who have to have the very first thing to come out. All CA has done is making the used car market soar out of sight by outlawing the sale of NEW ICE vehicles. The only difference between CA and the rest of the world is their politicians are more stupid.
I deal with EV’s quite often whether it is at a Chevy, Tesla, Audi or whatever other Delaership.
Go to a dealership without actually setting up an appointment and tell me how the Test Drive of the EV vehicle went for you.
Very few and I do mean very few want to sell EV’s
If people still have not understood how much money an EV will save you not just in Gasoline but in maintenance and most importantly in time saved NOT visiting the Dealership just do not understand how everything will change.
I do not believe for a minute that the majority of the dealerships want anything to do with EV’s.
VW had to promise Dealers certain Rebates to sell the id.4
As a HUGE GM fan I hope and Pray they have a plan with their Dealer Network. Good Luck
Not every dealer is interested in selling an EV. Those dealers will struggle as more and more EVs hit the market. The Hummer EV is not a once and done vehicle. We’ll see the same technology to a lesser extent I’m sure in a Silverado/Sierra type of truck. Also, GM isn’t asking GMC dealers to do all these upgrades to sell one vehicle. Many GMC dealers are also Buick dealers and I assume they are going to get some new EVs as well.
The question is 5+ years from now when half of GM’s new vehicles are electric what are these dealerships going to do when their sales drop by 50%?
As I say – I’m on my 6th plug in, and likely will never go back to a non-plug-in car for the rest of my life. But I’ve been hearing the ‘FIFTY PERCENT of cars being EV’s in 10 years back in 2010 when I ordered my Chev VOLT and Tesla ROADSTER…
Now, exactly 10 years later, we are at, what? 2% market share? More in California probably – but they’ll have increasing trouble there having nothing to do with EVs, other than more fast chargers in Los Angeles won’t work too well with the present powers-that-be there who refuse to keep the lights on.
From what I have seen, most people are very practical about ev’s and have limited budgets. They will buy evs when it makes economic sense for them. Gasoline is very reasonably priced – that is the reason for the present lack of interest.
While some are focused on gas savings the high purchase price is still an issue. So that is a net gain or loss.
As for maintenance. Other than oil changes most new cars in the first 10 to 12 years are usually minimum repair Tires and brakes at most in most cases. I seldom have to do much in the first 120,000 miles.
The problem is higher miles and age. EV models may see the same as electronics break down over time. How many have seen a LCD still working on a Buick heater control after 15 years or even gas gauges.
The one thing we still have to learn is how will resale be on EV models once they become more common. There will always be a market for those who can’t afford new. But if you can afford new few will want the old model as improvments should be coming faster Just watch the scramble for the new I phone 12 Pro and the Samsung offering. Most people want the newest and best.
With longer range and faster charging most people will by pass the older models like a used Fiat in many cases.
An I phone 6 was all the rage 6 years ago and today it is a door stop. Technology will age these cars fast.
Just look at the first Tesla to what we have today. It holds interest as it was a sports car but if it were just a 4 door sedan no one would care.
10 years ago I was interested in the Tesla Roadster, and purchased it, owning it for 4 years. Nothing that Tesla currently makes is interesting to me. With random exceptions, the reliability of Tesla products does not seem to have improved over the last 10 years and the service and commitment from the company is far, far worse.
This is the ONE benefit GM products have – even though many GM products have troublesome annoyances which are sometimes beyond silly, at least usually the basic car is reliable. That is why I currently have all GM products – not because they are so great but because the competition is downright atrocious.
There are glimmers of GM’s greatness though, – as a for instance, the gearbox on the BOLT ev is perfect.
Ewwww. Yuk! I’ll stick with my old Chevy truck with a thirsty V8. Petrol is for cleaning, alcohol is for drinking and nitro is for racing, lol.