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An all-electric Hummer is reportedly under consideration at GM

GM is reportedly considering a return to the Hummer brand, but not in the traditional Hummer way. No, a report from Bloomberg says that GM is mulling over the idea of building an electric Hummer. The report cites unnamed sources within GM, as the folks prefer not to be named due to the private nature of the conversations. At this point, Bloomberg characterizes the Hummer talks as preliminary discussions. GM is figuring out how it wants to organize its future electric trucks and SUVs, and Hummer is a part of those discussions. Just as anyone would expect, Hummer could be used to profit off the current demand for rugged and tough vehicles. Mark Reuss didn't commit either way to a Hummer revival when asked by Bloomberg. "I love Hummer. I don't know. We're looking at everything," Reuss said. Other GM sources said that the company sees an opportunity to compete with Jeep for off-road vehicles that have creature comforts commanding high premiums. The report states that designers have done work with Hummer concepts, experimenting with Hummer styling to implement it on GMC-branded products, too. There's also the question of whether an electric Hummer is a smart move to begin with. Folks bought up Hummers before because they're big, brawny, good off-road, and gas was cheap. Gas is relatively cheap today, but attitudes around cars that achieve 10 mpg have changed. Rivian thinks that consumers are interested in premium electric SUVs and trucks, and the hype around that company is real right now. An electric Hummer would undoubtedly go after the same space as the Rivian R1S. The number of people willing to drop over $70,000 on an electric adventure vehicle is still untested, though. Even if GM did give an electric Hummer project the green light, we're still years away. We know GM is currently in development of an electric pickup truck platform, but that doesn't mean it's anywhere close to production. We haven't seen a new Hummer since GM halted sales of the brand in 2010. The recession and high gas prices drove sales down so low that Hummer declared bankruptcy in 2009, but GM still kept the brand in its portfolio. It's hard to think of a better time than the SUV and crossover hoopla of today to introduce something like an electric Hummer, but until we hear something more substantial from GM, the vehicle is going to remain a rumor.

GM raises 2023 guidance on strong sales, higher profits

General Motors beat first-quarter profit estimates and raised its full-year earnings and cash-flow guidance after vehicle demand at the start of the year surpassed expectations. Its shares rose in premarket trading. GM made $2.21 a share in adjusted profit in the first quarter, compared to a consensus forecast of $1.72 a share. Revenue rose 11% to $39.99 billion, it said Tuesday, which was more than the $39.24 billion analysts expected. The stronger results stem from rising sales in the US, even in the face of higher interest rates and inflation. GM executives said demand was strong enough to revise 2023 guidance upward, boosting profit estimates for the year by $500 million to between $11 billion and $13 billion. “We did it with strong production and inventory discipline and consistent pricing,” GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said on a call with journalists. “All in all, weÂ’re feeling confident about 2023.” The Detroit automaker raised per-share full-year guidance to between $6.35 and $7.35, up from $6 to $7 a share, and said free cash flow would also increase by $500 million to a range of $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion.  GMÂ’s shares pared a gain of as much as 4.4% before the start of regular trading Tuesday, rising 3.5% to $35.50 as of 6:55 a.m. in New York. The stock was up 1.9% for the year as of the close on Monday.  North American Strength The automakerÂ’s sales were particularly strong in North America, where first-quarter earnings rose before interest and taxes rose to $3.6 billion. Vehicle sales rose 18% to 707,000 in the region. Jacobson said the company originally expected to sell 15 million vehicles in the US this year, slightly less than the 15.5 million annualized rate automakers foresaw in the first quarter. North American demand was enough to offset a weak performance in China, GMÂ’s second-largest market. The automaker continues to struggle in the country, where its vehicle sales fell 25% to 462,000 vehicles in the quarter. Profits from its joint ventures in the market slumped 65% to $83 million.  The market has struggled overall in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions and foreign automakers have had to overcome a growing preference for Chinese brands by competing on price, squeezing profit margins. The situation in China probably wonÂ’t significantly improve until the second half of the year, according to Jacobson. GM remains on target to sell 150,000 electric vehicles this year, the CFO said.

Best and Worst GM Cars

Oh yes, because we just love receiving angry letters from devoted Pontiac Grand Am enthusiasts, we have decided to go there. Based on a heated group Slack conversation, the topic came up about the best and worst GM cars. First of all time, and then those currently on sale, and then just mostly a rambling discussion of Oldsmobiles our parents and grandparents owned (or engineered). Eventually, three of us made the video above. Like it? Maybe we can make more. Many awesome GM cars are definitely going unmentioned here, so please let us know your bests and worsts in the comments below. Mostly, it's important to note that this post largely exists as a vehicle for delivering the above video that dives far deeper into GM's greatest hits and biggest flops, specifically those from the 1980s and 1990s. What you'll find below is a collection of our editors identifying a best current and best-of-all-time choice, plus a worst current and worst-of-all-time choice. Comprehensive it is not, but again, comments. -Senior Editor James Riswick Best Current GM Vehicle Chevrolet Corvette We were flying by the seats of our pants a bit in this first outing and my notes were similarly extemporaneous. When it came time to tie it all together on camera, I failed spectacularly. Thank the maker for text, because this gives me the opportunity to perhaps slightly better explain my convoluted reasoning. I chose the C8 Corvette because it's simply overwhelmingly good, and it's merely the baseline from which this generation of Corvette will be expanded.  While the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing (more on that in a minute) is an amazing snapshot of GM's current performance standing and its little sibling so enraptured me that I went out and bought one, their existence is fleeting. Corvette will live on; forced-induction Cadillac sport sedans, not so much. So while all three are amazing machines when viewed in a vacuum, the Corvette stands above them as both a reflection of GM's current performance credentials and a signpost of what is to come. So, given the choice between the C8 and the 5V-Blackwing right now, I'd choose the C8. In 10 years, when the Blackwing is no longer in production and Corvette is in its 9th generation? Well, that might be a different story. Now, just pretend I said something even remotely that coherent when we get to the part of the video where I try to make an argument for the 5-V Blackwing as best GM car I've ever driven. Or just laugh at me while I ramble incoherently.