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Huge, pricey trucks haul jobs and profits for the Detroit Three

DECATUR, Texas — Mickey McMaster is on his 12th pickup truck. The 61-year old farm equipment dealer in Decatur, Texas, two weeks ago treated himself to a 2019 GMC Denali for around $69,000 — a reward for long hours at work. "For me this is the Cadillac of trucks, it's a real luxury vehicle," McMaster said. "I've worked my way up to afford a truck like this and it shows that I've earned it." McMaster is the kind of customer General Motors Co is banking on as it plans to add 1,000 jobs at a plant in Flint, Michigan that will build a new generation of its largest pickups. Demand from Texas and other heartland states for big pick-ups is providing a lifeline to many workers the No. 1 U.S. automaker is laying off at plants elsewhere. The Detroit Three automakers and thousands of their U.S. workers are counting on customers like McMaster to keep buying bigger and more luxurious pickup trucks even if overall U.S. vehicle demand weakens this year, as most analysts predict. At Flint, GM will build a new generation of its heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierras, including luxury models that are some of the most profitable vehicles on the planet. GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Ram division own the segment and are each doubling down with new or redesigned models launching this year. Sales of heavy-duty pickups in the United States have grown to more than 600,000 vehicles a year, up more than 20 percent since 2013, according to industry data. Prices for luxury models can easily top $70,000. GM on Tuesday celebrated the launch of a new generation of heavy-duty GMC and Chevrolet pickups at the assembly plant in Flint, Michigan, that is now building all such trucks for the company. At the same time that GM is laying off thousands of U.S. workers and planning to shutter five North American factories, Flint is hiring. The plant runs on three daily shifts, six days a week. As the new model's assembly system ramps up, the plant's capacity will increase by more than 25 percent, plant manager Mike Perez told Reuters. The Flint plant plans to add 1,000 workers, more than half of the 1,500 factory workers who have asked to transfer from plants GM has targeted for shutdown as part of CEO Mary Barra's restructuring plan. "We're bringing in 50 to 100 people every week," said Perez. Workers last week were still finishing the job of retooling the Flint factory to build the new heavy-duty trucks as part of a $1.5 billion investment project.

GM hard at work on Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra PHEV pickups

Autoweek heard from sources at General Motors and Ford about how each automaker is addressing the dip in EV enthusiasm and sales. At General Motors, AW reports, "plug-in hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are headed to market, in a hurry." The sources gave no timeline for when the trucks might appear. GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts during GM's Q4 2023 earnings call, "Let me be clear, GM remains committed to eliminating tailpipe emissions from our light-duty vehicles by 2035, but in the interim, deploying plug-in technology in strategic segments will deliver some of the environmental benefits of EVs as the nation continues to build its charging infrastructure."  It's too soon to predict how the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV will fare on the market, the Silverado EV Work Truck still the only one available to customers. It might be better for GM if they're not too popular at first, the automaker's cautious EV production ramp-up and recent software setbacks responsible for some still-healthy reservation rolls. Barra said the company plans to build between 200,000 and 300,000 EVs, this year, which would clear that backlog. Heading into the end of February, with the Chevy Bolt out of the picture and additional EV pickup production pushed to 2025, our Spidey senses feel those are optimistic numbers. The Chevy Bolt was the third-best-selling EV in the U.S. last year, at 62,044 units. GM didn't have another vehicle in the top ten. Furthermore, the combined sales of every EV in the top ten after the Bolt — seven models from six manufacturers — is only just over 200,000 units. The Blazer EV and Equinox EV could make it happen, but there's no way Chevy wants to rush those, the Blazer EV still in software purgatory.   The report speaks of collateral damage, GM said to have canceled an electric pickup sized below the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. Automotive News said it saw the truck in January 2023, describing it as a futuristic two-door with a low roof and a 4.5-foot cargo bed. A new full-size van program supposedly got the axe as well, eliminating the plan to put a new Chevy Express and GMC Savana on a Brightdrop EV chassis. Over at Ford, AW says its sources mentioned another canceled midsizer; Ford's apparently stopped working on an EV pickup sized a bit below the Nissan Frontier.

2024 GMC Hummer EV pickup gets a price hike - with a catch

Watching auto industry MSRPs move around is like watching the Vegas big board for odds, the numbers almost always going against the folks laying down the money. In yet another sign of the times, a few trims of the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUT — that's the pickup — are seeing additional price increases. A little more than a year ago, GMC increased prices by $6,250 for the EV2, EV2X, and EV3X trims due to the rising costs of parts. Those joining the lengthy reservation list also found the automaker also increased the destination charge from $1,995 to $2,295. The 2024 Hummer EV configurator doesn't list the EV2 yet, so its $86,245 suggested sticker price may yet hold up. The MSRPs for the rest, and their changes from the most recent pricing, are: EV2X: $98,845 ($1,600) EV3X: $106,945 ($700) EV3X Omega Edition: $150,295 ($300)  Taking a longer view back to December 2021 reveals just how far the bar has moved. At that time, the EV2 was predicted to cost $79,995, the EV2X was going to go for $89,995, and the EV3X for $99,995. The 2024 Hummer EV3X now costs more than the 2022 Hummer EV Edition 1, which started at $112,595 after destination. The Edition 1 came with the 24-module extended-range Ultium battery pack that's now a $9,995 option on the EV3X; the price above is for a 20-module pack, one of the new features for 2024. The EV3X Omega Edition and its Neptune Blue paint not only blows everything else out of the water price-wise, its feature set could make even Edition 1 buyers blue with either sadness or envy.   The good news? GMC is offering discounts for early reservations. Per the GMC configurator, at the moment, buyers who reserve an EV2X will get an $8,150 instant discount, buyers wanting an EV3X will get a $6,250 discount. These effectively wipe out the new price rises and last year's price increases, taking the 2X down to $90,695 and the EV3X down to $100,695. The savings could be enticements to get people in the reservation line. With tens of thousands of reservations already in the books and threads on forums like Hummerchat wondering if anyone's seen the EV2X trim that was due earlier this year, it might be a while yet before an order turns into a Hummer EV.  Related Video This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.