• The wait times for buyers of the Hummer EV is now over two years.
• Last month, the company had to stop taking reservations after their total passed the 90,000 mark.
• For GMC there’s good news in that 95 percent of reservations are turning into firm orders.
Back in March, GMC announced it had already received 65,000 reservations for the Hummer EV (including the SUV version).
At the time, GMC boss Duncan Aldred said that production was ahead of schedule and that they hoped to ramp up production to meet their delivery schedule. He did say that deliveries would likely go into 2024.
By last month, when GMC unveiled its Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 pickup, the reservations had hit 90,000 for the Hummer EV. That finally led GMC to stop taking reservations for the Hummer.
And that's where things get a little complicated. GM Authority reports that when Duncan Aldred spoke at a press briefing prior to the Sierra EV unveiling, he said the Hummer was sold out for the next two years, at a minimum.
This change in tone takes into account what has happened since March at GM's Zero plant, where the Hummer EV is currently assembled. That site, along with the new Orion Township assembly plant, will soon manufacture the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and Cruise Origin self-driving vehicle.
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Recall that earlier this year, GM had said that a $6.6 billion investment in electric vehicle production capacity would lead to annual production of 600,000 pickup trucks. However, that won't happen for at least two years.
In early October, GM said it wanted to boost production of its current electric vehicle offerings, including the Chevrolet Bolt, to 70,000 units by 2023. Production of the GMC Hummer, meanwhile, increased to 700 units per month in September, this after 2,750 units had been produced prior to that in 2022.
GM also has to contend with the upcoming closure of the Zero plant for a few weeks so upgrades can be made to produce even more electric vehicles. That comes on top of the ongoing microchip shortage and supply chain issues.
Consequently, with all these production promises and a reorganization of facilities to meet demand, it’s not surprising to see substantial wait times, at least for the time being. However, when those wait times exceeds two years, that’s going to turn off customers.
There’s good news for GMC in all this, of course. Interest is high, in fact the company says 95 percent of reservation holders have actually moved ahead and made the purchase, which is an excellent ratio. Clearly, those who want a Hummer are willing to wait.
With the GMC Sierra EV on the way, some buyers might be enticed elsewhere it wait times are shorter. GM and its divisions will have to put in overtime to manage it all and keep all their customers happy.