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GM's Ultium EV platform finally shows up in Q3 sales numbers

General Motors has heralded its Ultium battery-electric platform as the future of its passenger car and truck lineup, but for the first two years of its existence, its impact on the marketplace has been virtually nonexistent. Well, that finally changed in the third quarter of 2023, and while the cars based on this architecture don't represent anywhere near the volume of GM's broader combustion portfolio, we're reaching a point where Ultium products are finally in view (and in the hands) of real-world shoppers. At this point, five U.S.-market Ultium models are in production: the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Blazer & Silverado EV, and BrightDrop Zevo 600. If you're not familiar with that last one, that's OK; it's a commercial product that you likely won't see on the road for some time. Together, these four combined for 4,257 sales in the third quarter alone — up from 2,663 for the entire first half of the year. While that may not seem like a significant uptick when viewed from altitude, the quarter-to-quarter numbers paint a clearer picture.  Let's toss out the stragglers first. The Chevy Blazer EV, and Silverado EV for example, are barely in production. GM delivered 19 Blazers and 18 Silverados in the third quarter and that's the entirety of their production runs so far. Likewise, GM's BrightDrop Zevo 600 delivery van effectively exists apart from the consumer marketplace, so its contribution of just 35 units can be set aside too. That leaves us the two you've heard of: the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq — models with high sticker prices and long reservation queues.  Through the second quarter (remember, we're talking six months here), GMC sold 49 Hummer EVs. No typo. In the three months that made up the third quarter, GM moved 1,167 of them. Not only is that a dramatic improvement over the first half, but it's more Hummers than GMC sold in the entirety of 2022 (854). Lyriq's improvement was less eye-popping on paper, but after moving just 122 total units in 2022 and 2,013 of them in the first half of 2023, Cadillac managed to up that figure to 3,018 units in the third quarter alone.  GM is betting its short-term EV future on the Ultium platform, so these trends need to continue if that's going to be a profitable wager.

Barrett-Jackson rundown: 2024 GMC Hummer EV, Colin Powell's Corvette and more

The echoes of the last hammer fall at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale Auction have disappeared into the Arizona night, as have the record crowds and the traffic jams. During the Super Saturday charity auctions, three main attractions drove onto the dais for bidding: Late U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State General Colin Powell’s 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the hammer price benefitting AmericaÂ’s Promise Alliance, the nonprofit Powell founded to support kids; The first production 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV Edition 1 with VIN 001, proceeds going to Tread Lightly!, which educates people on how to enjoy the outdoors in a motorized vehicle and simultaneously protect the outdoors; And the first production 2024 Ford Mustang GT Fastback VIN 001, its hammer price benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Before the Saturday showcase, charity auctions on Friday took Barrett-Jackson past a huge milestone. When an 800-horsepower 2021 Shelby Super Snake Count's Kustoms Edition hammered for $350,000 to support the veteran's charity Camp Freedom, the auction house officially surpassed the $150 million mark for charity auction proceeds. Piling on before the clock struck midnight, a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning 4x4 Super Crew sold for $275,000, those funds donated to Fighter Country Foundation. Then came Saturday. Powell's Gunmetal Gray on black Stingray was said to be a daily driver, but with just 15,600 miles on the odometer, Powell — who died in 2021 — apparently had a very short commute. Equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission and chrome wheels, it sold for $200,000. The first production 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV Edition 1 ran the bidding up to $500,000. That's quite a ways down on the $2,500,000 that the bedded 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 garnered at the charity auction in 2021, and not a bad price all things considered. The owner gets the first one off the line instead of getting lost in the 90,000-order backlog, and the markup goes to a good cause instead of a flipper and eBay fees. The first production 2024 Mustang GT Fastback brought in both less and more than the Hummer EV. The Ford's hammer price came to $490,000. However, two additional philanthropic donations for this lot in the amounts of $50,000 and $25,000 took the final price to $565,000. The big movers on the day were outside the charity sphere, four cars breaking the million-dollar mark.

2024 GMC Sierra prices go up — and also down

The 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 is ready to work the yard, but how much you'll need to get the pickup back to your yard has changed compared to the 2023 Sierra — most often in a good way. The changes for the new model year aren't substantive, just enough to give Sierra lovers enough modification to prove they have the latest. The AT4X was only available with the 6.2-liter V8 in 2023; for 2024 the big bad off-road trim makes the 3.0-liter Duramax diesel inline-six the standard engine and takes $2,400 off the base price compared to last year's 6.2-liter. On top of that, the 6.2-liter AT4X costs $500 less than last year. Re: the gas V8, this is the opposite of the hefty increases we've seen Chevrolet generally do with 6.2-powered trims. The SLT, AT4, AT4X, Denali, and Denali Ultimate get the option of an active exhaust on four-wheel-drive trims with the 6.2-liter for $395. The 2.7-liter Turbo H.O. four-cylinder gas engine is rebranded TurboMax and comes with a five-year, 100,000-mile warranty. Two new wheel designs enter the catalog, availability depending on trim, and colors join the palette, their availability also trim-dependent: Downpour Metallic replacing Pacific Blue Metallic, and Thunderstorm Grey, both adding $495 to the price. Now to the haggling. Even though destination has risen $100, to $1,995, five of the eight trims — including the diesel AT4X — are less expensive than they were a year ago, some of them by $1,000. The new sums after destination and their differences from 2023 are:  Sierra Pro Regular Cab Standard Box 2WD TurboMax: $39,695 ($700) SLE Double Cab Std Box 2WD TurboMax $51,095 ($1,000 less) Elevation Double Cab 2WD TurboMax $52,795 ($1,000 less) SLT Crew Cab Short Box 2WD 5.3L V8 $56,795 ($1,000 less) AT4 Crew Cab Short Box 4WD Duramax 3.0L I6 $68,595 ($500 less) AT4X Crew Cab Short Box 4WD Duramax 3.0L I6 $81,195 (New trim) Denali Crew Cab Short Box 2WD 5.3L V8 L84 $68,595 ($1,000) Denali Ultimate Crew Cab Short Box 4WD Duramax 3.0L I6 $83,490 ($500) Since certain varieties of the 2023 Sierras are still on the configurator and in dealer inventory, any business wanting to take a tax loss for 2023 should buy the older Sierra. Regular buyers willing to forego the new bits on the 2024 Sierra will likely be able to find dealers ready to take a machete to the MSRPs of some 2023 Sierras sitting on the lot.