It's been a hard road for the Hummer.
A civilian version of the M998 Humvee, the Hummer was first marketed in 1992 and quickly became an environmentalist's nightmare due to its gas-guzzling ways.
The brand was discontinued in 2010, but General Motors GM revived the massive vehicle in an electrified form in 2020.
DON'T MISS: ChatGPT: Students Battle Over Using AI to Cheat in College
And the Hummer took off--big time.
In September GM stopped taking reservations for the GMC-branded Hummer EV and the forthcoming GMC Hummer SUV after more than 90,000 of the vehicles were reserved, due to limited capacity to build them.
The following month saw recalls for 2022 Hummer EVs and BrightDrop EV600 electric vans due to a battery pack sealing problem.
Tough Sales Numbers
Production was paused as a solution was implemented and wasn't restarted until Jan. 31, a GM spokesperson told FOX Business.
The Hummer EVs became so popular that people began reselling the 4.5 ton vehicles for tons of money.
A quick look at Cars&Bids website revealed a 2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup Edition 1 selling at auction for $174,000 back October, while another one sold for $169,000 earlier this month.
Not bad when you considered that the 2023 Hummer EV Pickup is priced from $108,300.
But the vehicle's popularity and GM's efforts to make more of them have resulted in dismal first-quarter sales numbers.
The Hummer posted only two deliveries, compared with 854 sold last year.
Overall, GM delivered 603,208 vehicles in the quarter, down from the previous quarter's total of 623,621, but up 17.6% from a year ago. Fleet sales increased 27%.
Taking on Tesla
GM said it was on track to build 50,000 EV's in North America through June and double that in the second-half period of the year.
The company has called 2023 a "breakout year for electric vehicles" as it takes on EV kingpin. By comparison, Tesla (TSLA). Tesla sold more than 420,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter.
"We gained significant market share in the first quarter, pricing was strong, inventories are in very good shape, and we sold more than 20,000 EVs in a quarter for the first time,” Steve Carlisle, executive vice president of North America, said in a statement,
GM recorded record quarterly sales of the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, totaling 19,700 units combined.
GM wants to concentrate its forces on the development of electric vehicles and part of that plan includes letting go of as many white-collar workers as possible to drastically reduce costs.
The automaker offered buyouts to most of its U.S. salaried workforce and some global executives. The group wants to avoid layoffs, preferring voluntary departures. GM has some 58,000 salaried workers in the U.S.
