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General Motors' (GM) Hummer Name to Run Again as EV Truck

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General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) intends to revive its 2010-failed model — Hummer Name — as an all-electric pickup truck, which will be sold as an individual model under the GMC brand. The latest Hummer, likely to be on sale by 2022, will be delivered in small volumes as a rugged, jeep-like pickup truck appealing to off-road pursuits.

Reportedly, the Hummer and other electric trucks will be produced at the company’s Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. NBA player LeBron James has been hired by the company to support Hummer's return, including a deal to air a commercial during the Super Bowl this February.

Notably, General Motors has no plans, as of now, to bring back Hummer as a stand-alone brand, which it was before the company terminated the model in 2010 in the aftermath of its bankruptcy. However, the vehicle will be among the first of the several big, battery-powered SUVs and pickup trucks to be rolled out by the car maker over the next few years.

The company’s decision to re-introduce Hummer as an electric-model, which had earlier become a symbol of gas-guzzling due to excess size and low-fuel economy, has taken the industry by surprise. Hummer has seen it all — from exhilarating sales growth in early 2000s to becoming a frequent target of environmentalists later in the decade — as gas prices soared and profits tanked.

Meanwhile, General Motors has also announced its plans to produce the next-gen Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups, with an investment of $1.5 billion. With this investment, the company looks forward to invest in growth areas and strengthen its U.S. manufacturing base.

General Motors currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). The stock has underperformed the industry it belongs to over the past year. Its shares have depreciated 4.2% compared with the industry’s rise of 22.7%.

The company has also been increasing its capacity investment in emerging markets to fuel global sales. It expects half of the global sales growth by 2030 from emerging markets. It is trying to gain from growth of emerging countries via product launches and the Wuling plant. The firm is undertaking several initiatives to make its vehicles more advanced, safer and fuel efficient. The automaker is focused on electric and autonomous vehicle development, in order to adapt to the changing dynamics and customer preferences. All the above-mentioned initiatives are likely to bolster the company’s prospects in the days ahead.

EV Market Revolution

A host of factors such as pollution issues, technical superiority, stricter fuel-emission standards, and increasing adoption by both automakers and customers have turned the fortunes in favor of electric vehicles. Automakers have turned their attention to fully-electric vehicles and taken key positions to invest in the segment. As more auto giants step into the electric-vehicles (EV) market space in order to keep investments flowing, the global electric car fleet is likely to expand at a faster pace in the near future. The EV market is expected to witness a CAGR of 25.6% during the forecast period 2019-2026. By 2026, the market is estimated to reach more than $567.2 billion, according to Acumen Research and Consulting.

As we know, Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) is making headlines for its new Cybertruck, which was recently unveiled by Elon Musk. Tesla currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

While the long-awaited Tesla electric truck is getting a lot of attention, it isn’t just this company that will hog the spotlight in the electric pickup market. Competition has been heating up, with Ford (F - Free Report) prepping its all-electric F-150, and Ford and Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) -backed EV start-up — Rivian — planning to bring in the R1T pickup and R1S SUV by Fall 2020.

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