GMC’s Hummer X concepts are an admission that GM has a problem
Where are the off-roaders?
GM pulled the covers off the Hummer X this week. Two of them. A truck and an SUV, both midsize electric vehicles, unveiled at the grand opening of GM’s new Advanced Design Pasadena Studio in Southern California. Yes, GM already said they’re not going into production. But these concepts prove that GM knows they have a problem.
GM does not have a credible answer to the Wrangler. They don’t have a credible answer to the Bronco either. The Blazer name came back as a front-wheel-drive crossover that shares more DNA with a Chevy Traverse than it does with anything that ever went off-road. There’s a Trailblazer overseas built on the Colorado platform that GM has chosen not to bring to the United States. Meanwhile, the Wrangler and Bronco are sitting on dealer lots with real trail credibility and aftermarket ecosystems that have taken years to build. GM has no SUVs that compare right now.
So what do you do when you have a gap that big and no near-term production answer? Apparently, you build a concept and open a design studio in Pasadena.
What is the Hummer X?
The truck comes in at 207.3 inches long, nearly 10 inches shorter than the current Hummer EV. The SUV is 188.3 inches, more than a foot and a half shorter than the production Hummer EV SUV. The current Hummer is a $100,000 slab that’s too wide for most garages and too heavy to be fun anywhere except a wide open desert. These concepts at least look like something a human being could use.
The off-road numbers are genuine. The SUV gets 37-inch Goodyear tires, beadlock wheels, Multimatic shocks, removable fender flares, and 13.2 inches of ground clearance with a 44-degree approach angle and 46-degree departure angle. The truck steps down to 35-inch rubber and 12.5 inches of clearance. For reference, the Bronco Raptor tops out at 13.1 inches of clearance.
The Wrangler-Sized Hole in GM’s Lineup
This is really what the Hummer X is about. The body-on-frame off-road SUV segment is having a moment. The Bronco came back from the dead and it worked. The 4Runner has been a sales staple for decades. The Wrangler has a religious following. These aren’t niche vehicles, and GM is watching all of it from the sidelines with a Blazer EV that nobody asked for.
The Hummer nameplate carries weight in the off-road market, and downsizing it into a mid-size electric off-roader that could actually compete with the Bronco and Wrangler on price and usability is the second most logical thing GM could do with it. The most logical would be to give it an internal combustion engine, but I digress.
The current Hummer EV is a halo vehicle for people with long driveways and fat wallets. A $55,000 to $65,000 Hummer X that fits in a normal garage and can actually run trails would be a different conversation entirely.
The problem is that’s not what GM said this is. They called the Hummer X a rolling laboratory for future technologies, manufacturing techniques, and design ideas rather than a preview of a production vehicle. Which is the polite way of saying they don’t know how to build it yet, or more likely, they have perceived risk in entering this competitive segment and are afraid of losing money.
If GM is serious, the path is simple to describe and hard to execute. Competitive price point, enough range that buyers aren’t nervous heading somewhere remote, and enough lead time to start building the aftermarket ecosystem the Wrangler and Bronco have spent decades cultivating. That last one is the part nobody talks about and the part that matters most. The removable fender flares and modifier-first design philosophy of these concepts show GM understands the customer. Whether GM actually develops an answer to the Wrangler and Bronco, or keeps showing concepts at studio openings is the only question that matters now.