General Motors has confirmed that it will be unveiling a new electric vehicle in a Super Bowl commercial to compete with Tesla’s Cybertruck
Jan. 31, 2020
There was a time when General Motors (NYSE: GM) was the ruling motor manufacturer in the land, rivaled only by the greatness of Ford (NYSE: F). Now, however, times have changed, and combining the market value of both of these household names won’t give you the worth sum of relative newcomer Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
However, General Motors will not be going quietly into the night, as the carmaker just confirmed on Thursday that it was resurrecting an old asset in order to compete in the electric vehicle market: the Hummer.
Why is GM resurrecting the Hummer?
Like Frankenstein’s monster reborn, the Hummer is being dragged up from the basement, a decade after GM retired the model. However, what was once a gas-guzzling, mid-life crisis enabling, pre-financial crisis wealth symbol has a brand new look and will be 100% electric.
The Hummer was originally discontinued due to the global recession between 2008-2009. Once the economy collapsed, and fuel prices rose, sales plummeted leading the product to be discontinued. However, promising a “Quiet Revolution,” the new GMC truck will pair the classic name with an all-new electric drivetrain that will have enough power to take on the Tesla Cybertruck.
Can it match Tesla’s Cybertruck?
On paper, yes, it looks like the electric Hummer will give the Cybertruck more than a fair fight. It will reportedly have 1,000 horsepower and go from 0 – 60 miles per hour in three seconds, according to new teaser images and videos released today. This compares with the Cybertruck’s similar specs, which were highlighted in a November stunt depicting the Tesla vehicle towing a rival Ford F-150 up a hill.
However, GM has made no claims as to whether its Hummer will have bulletproof windows. For those of you who remember the hilarious Cybertruck unveiling back in November, you might recall that its ‘bulletproof’ windows were smashed by a metal ball upon testing…
The EV revolution heats up
The global electric vehicle market is estimated to be worth $1.5 trillion by 2025, and it has taken some of the bigger U.S. names some time to catch up with the trend. In Europe, the likes of Volkswagen are direct competitors, while all-electric names such as NIO (NYSE: NIO) have emerged in China.
Likewise, Tesla has been on one of the most successful runs in the stock market over the past 3 months, up more than 50% in the last month. On Thursday alone, it saw its stock jump more than 10% following an incredibly successful Q4 earnings call, as well as guidance that it would ‘easily deliver’ more than 500,000 vehicles in 2020.
As the world becomes more and more environmentally conscious, as evidenced by the rise of companies such as Tesla and Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), old-world names such as GM and Ford may get left in the past. In order to catch up with the times, drastic measures are needed, such as reviving one of the most infamous products in company history and giving it a fresh, ‘green’ makeover.
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