Will There Be an Electric Hummer & How Would It Affect GM?

The rumor is that General Motors is going to bring back the Hummer. But rather than an imposing vehicle with a 6.2-liter V8 under its hood, it will have an electric motor. And this Hummer will be available through the GMC channel, the truck-SUV-only division of General Motors.

The additional word is that it is going to be announced in a commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl on February 3 with LeBron James.

The previous Hummer was associated with the Terminator. This one—assuming that there is one—King James.

But. . .

This week GMC actually unveiled the 2021 Yukon, a full-size SUV. The Yukon has always been big. This one is bigger.

That is, consider these figures:

Yes, big gone BIGGER.

2021 GMC Yukon Denali (Image: GM)

Also this week GMC announced that it will be offering its AT4 trim level—which makes the vehicle more off-road oriented with such things as suspension mods, new mechanicals, different tires—to its full line, Sierra, Sierra HD, Acadia, Canyon, Yukon, and Terrain.

Why GMC Is Important to GM

GMC does well for GM. In fact, for 2019 it was the division with the biggest growth compared with 2018. It was up 1.5%. (Cadillac was up 1%, Buick 0% and Chevy down 3.8%. Guess which division dragged the corporation’s overall number down by 2.3%).

So here’s the thing: GMC sold 74,673 Yukon’s last year. Yukon is available with two engines, either a 5.3-liter V8 that returns (2WD) 15 mpg city/22 mpg highway, or a 6.2-liter V8 that gets 14 mpg city, 21 mpg highway.

Certainly an electric Hummer would make those numbers look absurdly small. But arguably, sales of things like the GMC Yukon provides margins for General Motors that are rather large. And it is hard to conceive of how an electric Hummer would provide a return anywhere near that of a Yukon.

If the electric Hummer happens GMC is going to get a lot of buzz. And it may sell every one it can build (reportedly at the Detroit-Hamtramck Plant).

It would certainly benefit GM’s CAFE (which, however, seems to be becoming less of a concern as the Administration is changing up the rules in some way that is yet to be definitive, but probably less demanding for the OEMs) .

But will be benefit General Motors’ bottom line. . . ?