General Motors Co GM.N said it has sold out the first year's worth of its hulking GMC Hummer EV electric pickup truck after a splashy video reveal on Tuesday.

The GMC website showed a “reservations full” banner over the Hummer EV “Edition 1,” due to start production in the fall of 2021. The next version of the truck, the $99,995 Hummer EV 3X, is not scheduled to begin production until the fall of 2022.

The least expensive Hummer EV, starting at $79,995, is scheduled to go into production in the spring of 2024, GM said.

The Hummer EV was designed and engineered in 18 months, General Motors officials said during a presentation on Wednesday. The brawny truck can “crab walk” sideways on rough terrain using its four-wheel steering system, and has a “Watts to Freedom” mode that accelerates the truck to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) in 3 seconds.

The Hummer EV is in part a response to Tesla Inc's TSLA.O Cybertruck, which has a very different but equally eye-grabbing design and a bevy of extreme performance features. The Cybertruck's starting price is $39,900, though a model with 500 miles of range starts at $69,900.

Tesla has begun building a factory in Austin, Texas to build the Cybertruck starting in late 2021.

The head of GM’s GMC division, Duncan Aldred, said about half the brand’s dealers have agreed to sell the Hummer EV lineup. GM is taking orders on its website, and Aldred said the company’s intent is to offer no-haggle prices. Online reservations and firm pricing are similar to the Tesla approach.

High-performance electric pickup trucks could be a crowded niche in the U.S. market, with eight companies promising to launch models by the end of 2021.

Ford Motor Co F.N is promising an electric version of its F-series pickup, though Ford has said its electric pickup will be aimed at customers who want to use the truck for work. GM has Chevrolet versions of its electric truck in the works.

Startups Rivian, Nikola Corp NKLA.O, and Lordstown Motors are among other companies that have electric pickups in development.

Source: reuters

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General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday they were in talks with White House, USA officials about how they could support the production of medical equipment like ventilators that may be needed to combat the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra spoke to White House, USA economic adviser Larry Kudlow about the issue after the Detroit automaker announced it will suspend North American production through March 30. Kudlow told Fox News on Wednesday that he had spoken to one automaker looking at producing ventilators.

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GM spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said the automaker “is working to help find solutions for the nation during this difficult time of CoronaVirus pandemic and has offered to help, and we are already studying how we can potentially support the production of medical equipment like ventilators.”

Ford said on Wednesday it “stands ready to help the administration in any way we can, including the possibility of producing ventilators and other equipment. We have had preliminary discussions with the U.S. government and are looking into the feasibility.” Kudlow praised the idea of autoworkers producing medical equipment when plans were idled. “That’s the kind of can-do spirit that we are hearing and seeing,” Kudlow said.

GM and Ford could face significant hurdles before it could build a complex piece of medical equipment like a ventilator and it is unclear how long it would take to do so, however.

Countries around the world have raised concerns about potential shortages of the ventilators needed to treat critically ill patients suffering from coronavirus (Covid-19). Running in the thousands of dollars per unit, ventilators are used to help people with respiratory difficulties to breathe.

Source: Reuters

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General Motors and Honda are moving toward an alliance in North America to share vehicle development and technology costs as the industry moves toward electric and autonomous vehicles.

The nonbinding memorandum of understanding was announced Thursday, and the companies say they plan to share vehicle underpinnings as well as engines and transmissions.

It’s another sign of increasing consolidation in the automotive business as companies face huge capital outlays to develop current products as well as battery-powered and self-driving vehicles.

“The auto industry has a long history of being pressured by costs and lower (profit) margins,” said Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau. “They’re trying to get to the other side here on an expensive vehicle development process, and being able to do that as efficiently as possible.”

No details were given on what vehicles would be developed jointly, but the companies said in a statement that planning work will start immediately and include vehicles powered by both electricity and internal combustion engines. Engineering work would begin early next year. They also will cooperate on manufacturing, parts purchasing, research and connected services.

Earlier this year, crosstown rival Ford finalized a similar deal with Germany’s Volkswagen, while Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler is heading toward a merger with France’s PSA Peugeot early in 2021.

In the GM-Honda deal, the companies say they’ll collaborate on a “range of vehicles sold under each company’s distinct brands.”

The announcement builds on work the companies have been doing jointly on electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, as well as an autonomous vehicle. In April the companies announced they would jointly develop two electric vehicles for Honda based on GM’s global electric vehicle platform. Windau said the fuel cell work started in 2013, so it’s no surprise that the cooperation would be broadened.

“The alliance will help both companies accelerate investment in future mobility innovation by freeing up additional resources,” GM President Mark Reuss said Thursday in a statement. He said the companies would get “significant synergies” in developing vehicles.

“We can achieve substantial cost efficiencies in North America that will enable us to invest in future mobility technology while maintaining our own distinct and competitive product offerings,” Honda Executive Vice President Seiji Kuraishi said in the statement.

The alliance would be governed by a joint committee of senior executives from both companies, the statement said.

Windau said the alliance could extend to one company making vehicles for the other at one of its factories in the U.S., where GM has excess manufacturing capacity. It would be relatively simple to build a Honda on a GM assembly line if the vehicles were built on the same platform and had the same powertrains, he said.

Differentiating between Honda and GM vehicles built on the same underpinnings could be a problem, although Windau expects GM to focus on trucks and larger vehicles and Honda on vehicles built off of car platforms.

Windau says he doesn’t see the alliance evolving into a full merger between the U.S. and Japanese automakers.

Source: AP

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