Denali, AT4, and updates to Sierra HD and Canyon are propelling GMC growth.
Tired of only seeing white GMC Hummer EV fullsize electric pickups on the road? The color palette broadens today with the start of production of the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV. Like the pickup, SUV production starts with a single model, the loaded Edition 1, which only comes in a one standard color. While that color was white for the pickup, it is matte green for the SUV which will start deliveries to customers near the end of the quarter.
The first matte green GMC Hummer EV SUV rolled off the line at GM’s Factory Zero today and was auctioned off for charity, raising $500,000. The 2022 GMC Hummer Edition 1 VIN 001 sold at auction for $1.5 million.
The Hamtramck plant, dedicated to making only electric vehicles, will build both body styles of Hummer and yes, they will both expand to full color palettes. Production will continue to be slow but will start to hit its stride in the second half of the year, global vice president of Buick and GMC Duncan Aldred said during a business overview of the brand .
Initial production of the pickup was slow last year, as well, in part to ensure quality but also the victim of supply shortages, Aldred said. There were limited supplies of semiconductor chips and decisions to be made on where to allocate battery cells. The Hummers use more batteries than anything else offered by GM today; in some cases the same number of batteries could power two other vehicles.
Filling Hummer Reservations
GMC has 90,000 reservations for Hummer EVs and SUVs and filling them will take the brand well into 2024. Demand for the SUV and pickup was pretty much even when GM paused reservations, Aldred said.
The GMC Sierra EV electric fullsize pickup will start production in early 2024 for launch a year from now. As the brand slowly converts to EV-only, the Sierra HD will be the last nameplate to go fully electric, Aldred says, because about 95 percent of buyers use it to tow.
Power Of Denali And AT4 Sub-Brands
GMC has created a powerhouse with its small but focused brand that centers around trucks and SUVs. Its genius is in the creation of the Denali high-end trim as a sub-brand and then adding the more rugged AT4 trim as a second sub-brand. Combined, they account for almost half of all GMC sales, raising the average transaction price for GMC to $59,111. GMC may not technically be a luxury brand, but GMC Denali ranks third after Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz in average pricing among luxury brands, according to JD Power, beating out fourth-place Jaguar and BMW in fifth place. GMC recently added a Denali Ultimate trim that is attracting customers that are $100,000 more affluent than GMC’s traditional buyers, Aldred says.
Retail sales for GMC hit record levels in 2022, share increased to 3.8 percent in the U.S., and the success story is expected to continue with the addition of the GMC Sierra HD that will start production in a few weeks and which adds a Denali Ultimate trim.
GM also just started building the new GMC Canyon midsize pickup. It will hit showrooms soon, with Denali, AT4 and Elevation trims initially, and AT4X to follow.
On the SUV side, the average Yukon is selling for $80,000 and GMC can’t build enough of them. Yukon and the GMC Terrain both racked up their best sales numbers in years.
Global Expansion Of GMC
Aldred says he loves the current portfolio and sees no need to expand it. He does not see GMC going after the Ram 1500 TRX high-performance pickup. “We don’t need anything else in that space.”
GMC is also expanding globally, with plans to start selling the Sierra in Korea and explorations into whether to expand into China. Aldred said they have showed the Hummer in China and are gauging reaction which so far has been “outstanding.” GMC is not looking for large volumes in global markets, but the foray is potentially lucrative.
