Image: GMC Hummer Edition 1 pickup truck. Source: General Motors

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) expects to start deliveries of its new flagship vehicle, the GMC Hummer electric pickup truck, by the middle of December.

Duncan Aldred, global vice president of GMC and Buick, said the Hummer’s launch will begin with a $113,000 special “Edition 1” pick-up truck and that subsequent models with lower starting prices will be added in 2023.

The Edition 1 will be able to go 329 miles on a charge, tow up to 7,500 pounds and carry up to 1,300 pounds in its four-door cab and bed. 

CNBC noted that if GMC meets the December timeframe, it means the automaker stayed on track for the delivery goal announced when the truck was first unveiled in October 2020. 

Last week, GM showed off the Hummer when President Joe Biden toured one of the company’s plants in Detroit and took a ride in the supertruck. Following the visit — which was part of an effort to promote the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Biden’s Build Back Better Act — GM said it saw a notable increase in reservations for the vehicle.

GM executives have said the automaker has sold out of the first year’s worth of pickups but declined to disclose the specific number of trucks that will be made nor the number of reservations it has received. 

On Tuesday, Aldred said GM has more than 125,000 “hand-raisers” who have requested information about the Hummer, and he expects those parties will turn into buyers.

GM has been ramping up its EV production with the goal of eliminating gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and becoming carbon neutral by 2040 with its products and operations. In June, the company outlined plans to boost global spending on electric and autonomous vehicles from $27 billion to $35 billion through 2025

By 2025, GM plans to bring 30 new EVs to market. 

The electric truck market is expected to grow increasingly crowded in coming years with entrants from new and traditional automakers.

In September, Rivian, a start-up backed by Ford and Amazon, became the first company to bring an all-electric pickup to market, beating out Tesla, as well as the Detroit Three. 

After GM debuts its Hummer EV, Lordstown Motors and Ford are expected to follow next year, along with Tesla, which recently pushed back deliveries of its Cybertruck from 2021 to late 2022.

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Source: Equities News