Hummer EV to be sold at only about half of GMC dealerships Cost, location and customer experience are cited as reasons BEN HSU
Oct 26th 2020 autoblog.com
The new 1,000-horsepower Hummer EV will be sold under the GMC brand, but you won't find it in every GMC showroom. Currently, just about half of GMC's dealers have agreed to take on the electric truck, Buick GMC VP Duncan Aldred told investors on a conference call last week.
According to Muscle Cars and Trucks, there are a number of reasons for the irregular availability. For one, there's the cost of upgrading dealerships to sell and service a fully electric vehicle. Stores would need to be upgraded with charging stations, and service centers would require new tools and training to work on an EV.
Then there's the customer experience. At $112,595, the initial Hummer EV Edition 1 caters to a different clientele than the traditional GMC truck. The planned EV3X trim level that arrives in late 2022 and EV2X arriving in spring 2023 will start at just below $100,000 and $90,000, respectively. Some sellers believe that customers paying six figures for a vehicle will expect certain niceties that will necessitate showroom upgrades as well. Complimentary doughnuts, at least.
So many gm dealers are just run down in my area of western mass, it is a good point though that spending 6 figures for a vehicle should also come with a nice new clean dealership with all the modern necessities to get service from. I simply don't have any around here, all the gm dealership are well over 20 years old and nothing to write home about. Lexus, all the german makes all have nice newer facilities in my area, gm has simply gone with the it's good enough approach for the last couple decades here.
Makes sense, if I had a GMC dealership I'd sign up to sell the Hummer if there were BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Land Rover dealers in my market. If they aren't there then I doubt that market can support the Hummer.
GMC/Buick has as similar problem as Cadillad, too many mediocre dealerships. A loaded Yukon Denali hits $80k nowadays & there are expectations with that. This new Hummer only raises those expectations. And yes, I do consider the condition of the Dealership where I choose to have my vehicles serviced.
My local dealership is fantastic, newly remodeled even though they had just remodeled to be the flagship Saturn dealership right before they shut down Saturn. But I didn't buy my CT4 there, the dealership I bought from is the highest volume GM dealer in the state, I was floored by the number of people buying cars. Decent looking dealership, I think because of the volume it dirties things up fast - could have used a paint job. But that aside, when they asked for feedback my comment was that they need to make a special area for Cadillac buyers. My salesperson was trained to be a Cadillac saleswoman and did a nice job, but the desk we completed the transaction at was cramped and I was in a "cubicle sea". It didn't feel like a luxury experience. Though overall it was a positive experience.
Image 2000 (The Tower and Drive Thru Service Write Up Stall), Revamp 2010, (dull down the Tower, New GM, New Look) now Image 2022 (Rugged but Environmentally Sound) Hummer Look. A lot of Revamps for the Same old GM.
I imagine 1/2 of the GMC dealers are also in markets that will NOT buy OR even receive the Hummer so paying to upgrade just the HUMMER is quite pointless
dealers out in the country / small town are NOT likely to sell many EV anything compared to MORE urban area dealers
I'd be interested to know if these are really Hummer specific upgrades or upgrades to be able to service any GM electric vehicle. I can see rural GMC dealerships opting out of Hummer. But if these are general BEV updates they don't necessarily need to do them right now, but they might need to in a few years anyway. Were I one of those dealers I'd wait an see vs. doing it now, but have in my mind that sometime within something like 5 years I'll have to take the plunge.
It's about selling Gucci Tennis Shoes, out of a J.C. Pennies, no matter what you do to the Store Front, it is still J.C. Pennies clientele that go there to shop. The rest of the Store is full of J.C. Pennies Products.
People shopping for the Hummer EV aren't impulse buying while looking at a Buick Encore. They're shopping for the Hummer. The JC Penny analogy is a totally different animal.
No surprise. If you are spending 100 plus grand you expect a certain level at a dealer, all dealers will not be able to float that. Still a pretty big difference between an 80K 3/4 ton Denali and 80K Yukon XL Denali and a 112K Hummer EV.
lol at spending insane $$$ on dealership sales buildings while all you really need is a nice looking easy to use website........if only automakers could break the chains and get rid of this outdated system.
That is just it, The Trickle it down to the Dealer Level, and Many Times at Many $$$$$'s.
I work at a Dealership, over the last 30 years, both GM and Ford. I have never needed a "Now Serving # 132" Sign/Line.
Now, if GM believes the Hummer EV is the Be All to End All, that's fine, if 1/2 of the GMC Dealers believe that also, well it is Their $$$$ going into Their Store Front to be apart of the Hype.
But "Nobody Knows" YET is this is "The One" But I am sure the ELR, Silverado Hybrid, Hummer H2/H3, Volt, were all once passed off as "The One" previously. What if "Dealers" were forced to Up Their Antes" then? (well they were, Image 2000, Image 2010, 2008 Restructuring/Cutting Dealerships). The Old Dirt Floor Dealerships are long gone, even Family Owned, 3rd generation Single Dealerships are a thing of the past. GM is still "The Same Market Brand" not Upscale Must Haves.
IMHO GM dealers of ANY brand have a VOLUME SALES feal to them and without ANY "luxury" OR "personal touch" - this applies to FORD and FCA dealers
where as BMW/Audi/Merc dealers spend the extra "effort" on LOOKING HIGH CLASS often having "ART" not sales promo stuff on the walls ETC and the "spaces" are more "luxury feeling" BUT IMHO the "brass tax" of selling and servicing vehicles is quite similar outside of Lincoln that is offering drop off / pick up @ home service including a loaner and some Toyota dealers offer the same without a LOANER left behind
and for dealer upgrades that is "normal practice" Dodge had to upgrade to sell the sprinters and Jeep Diesels FORD only has select "SVT" dealers in the day and it is also GOOD FOR THE CONSUMER in that we do NOT need another Matrix/vibe case where GM dealers could NOT repair a TOYOTA properly and the GM version got knocked for BAD reliability while the Toyota Version was better
IMHO it is more of a "customer experience" OVER a "quality of finishing" that separates "BAD" from "GOOD" dealers
US franchise laws do make it "hard" for GM to inforce "image" standards allowing "crap" dealers to slip through BUT likely those dealers are "A" on there way out OR are in a TINY one dealer market and a NEW showroom and a "modern" tele will make ZERO difference
the Merc dealer in my town moved to a NEW shiny "luxury" dealer lot and there OLD location is now one of them "have job will finance" operations that is a royal pain in the to get into and park
autohous VW sells Porsches out of the same showroom so 911's sharing showroom space with Golfs
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