WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) plans to build a new family of premium electric pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant beginning in late 2021, possibly reviving the imposing Hummer brand on some of them, several people familiar with the plans said.
The so-called BT1 electric truck/SUV program is the centerpiece of a planned $3 billion investment in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant to make electric trucks and vans, and part of a broader $7.7 billion investment in GM’s U.S. plants over the next four years, according to a proposed labor deal between the automaker and the United Auto Workers union.
The investments were made public by the UAW on Friday but no details were provided.
The investment would move the automaker into a part of the EV market that is largely untested and where GM has a higher likelihood of turning a profit, analysts said.
“It makes perfect sense to hit the high end of the market in order to generate some revenue that might actually turn a profit,” Auto Forecast Solutions vice president of global vehicle forecasting Sam Fiorani said.
GM is mirroring the approach electric carmaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) took by starting in the high end and then moving down the price ladder, he said.
That is important for a company who previously tried to sell the plug-in electric hybrid Chevrolet Volt and all-electric Bolt cars at lower prices and higher volumes, but failed to sell enough to make those efforts profitable, Fiorani said.
The UAW’s 48,000 GM hourly workers are scheduled to vote next week on the proposed contract that would end a month-long strike that analysts say has cost the No. 1 U.S. automaker about $2 billion.
GM’s BT1 program includes an electric pickup for the GMC brand and an electric SUV for Cadillac, both due in 2023, the sources said.
Before then, GM plans to begin low-volume production in late 2021 of the first BT1 model, a pickup, under a different brand, the source said. A performance variant of the pickup will be added to that brand in 2022, followed by an electric SUV in 2023.
One of the sources said the Hummer name is “under consideration” but a decision has not been finalized. The pickup is codenamed “Project O.”
Bringing back the Hummer name would take advantage of a still strongly recognized brand name, Fiorani said. Hummers were rugged civilian utility vehicles with low gas mileage that were inspired by military vehicles and were popular with such celebrities as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former basketball star Dennis Rodman.
