More than 10 years after General Motors discontinued the Hummer as part of a bankruptcy announcement, the popular brand might be back, and it's entering a much different segment of the automotive market.
According to a report from Reuters, via the Wall Street Journal, the Hummer will make its comeback as an electric pickup truck and electric SUV. Quite the departure from it's gas-guzzling origins.
The Hummer will be sold under GMC and return as part of a Super Bowl campaign. The new EV will compete against Tesla's recently unveiled Cybertruck and the electric pickup trucks from upstart Rivian.
The new Hummer will reportedly re-enter production at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant beginning in 2021 as part of the company's $3 billion investment in the facility. The company will start with electric trucks next year with electric SUVs coming online in 2023.
The brand was nearly sold to a Chinese company in January 2010 for $150 million. However, about two months later, the deal collapsed and Hummer was shut down.
GM has not commented on the reports, but the new incarnation will likely be a significant departure from the gas hog that was essentially pushed into the civilian marketplace by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early 1990s, only to be run out of town 20 years later as gas prices soared and consumers became hyper-aware of the vehicle's poor fuel economy. Hummers, which could retail for more than $100,000 at the time, averaged about 15 miles per gallon.
To compete with the Cybertruck, the new incarnation will need to match or surpass Tesla's reported range, which starts at more than 250 miles per charge.
