On the one hand, GMC is probably having its best time in the company’s history – the demand for its cars has never been close to this level. No matter what model GM releases – whether it’s the GMC Hummer, GMC Sierra, Chevy Silverado, or Equinox or Blazer – they’re all covered in a matter of hours.
On the other hand – this huge demand means huge waiting times. The GM group cannot produce enough cars in a reasonable time. Never mind the Covid-related delays, supply chain issues or chip shortages – GM hasn’t been able to deliver such numbers even at the best of times.
Take the GMC Hummer EV, earlier in the year the company confirmed that it had received more than 65,000 orders for both the pickup and SUV. At the time, the company was confident that it would deliver the cars within 2 years, despite a surprisingly large number of orders. There have been painful wait times for customers, but that information hasn’t deterred new buyers.
When GMC launched the Sierra EV, the order limit for the GMC Hummer EV was 90,000 vehicles – that’s around 5,000 new orders each month. If the production increase at GM’s Zero plant goes according to plan, that means more than 2 years of waiting time in case there are minor issues along the way – another 3 years seems likely.
But GMC doesn’t just make Hummer EVs. The company sells the entire production in less than two days. Sierra EVreleased the . Then there’s the Chevy Blazer and the Equinox EV, and there’s the Chevy Silverado, which had 150,000 orders by the end of July. Demand for EVs (Electric vehicles) is so high that Chevy plans to double Bolt EV production to 70,000 units per year from 2023.
With the Hummer EV’s 90,000 orders and current production rate of 700 units per month, it would take about 11 years for GMC to fill existing orders. The company claims the ramp is going well, The Factory is closing for a few weeks this November to increase the rate of production. I’m trying to stay positive here but the 2 or even 3 year wait time is starting to look optimistic.
Despite all this, the news is actually good – at least for the company. Orders are coming in and the conversion rate is over 95 percent – yet another record. People always placed orders for new cars, often for speculative reasons. Never before had so many pre-orders turned into real purchases at any company.
In the current climate, with inflation constantly rising, ordering a GMC Hummer EV actually seems like a good investment – the resale value is pretty high, which we’ve already heard. This explains why so many pre-orders turn into purchases. GMC should run an ad: “Buy a Hummer – it’s safer than money in the bank.”