GM ups price of already pricey Hummer EV

Amid rising commodity costs, General Motors Co. is upping the price on its GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV by $6,250 starting June 18. 

The base price for the Hummer EV 3X coming this fall will go from $98,400 to $104,650. The Hummer EV 2X available next spring will be $94,650, up from $88,400. And coming spring 2024, the Hummer EV2 will be $84,650, up from $78,400. 

All existing Hummer EV reservations, which as of Friday stood at 77,500, placed before June 18 will see no increase to the base price, GMC said. 

The price increase comes as new vehicle prices are already at record highs but automakers, including Tesla Inc., are raising them even more since expenses for raw materials, technology and logistics have also increased. An electric car now costs $61,000 on average, according to researcher Edmunds.com.

Tesla raised prices this week for all of its U.S. models, with the Model Y long-range price increasing to $65,990 from $62,990.

"Price hikes are never popular with consumers, but acknowledging our current macro environment where prices for all goods are rising, consumers are less likely to be incensed over these changes," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of insights, in a statement. "Given Hummer EV's initial high price point, six thousand dollars is likely not a deal breaker for the vehicle's affluent customers."

Cadillac's Lyriq EV went up $3,000 when the brand opened the order bank for options outside of the debut edition, which started at $59,990. Cadillac bumped that price up to $62,990 for the rear-wheel drive Lyriq in May. There's also a $64,990 all-wheel drive option.

Caldwell said it's "very likely we will see more price changes for EVs in the coming years as automakers try to find the sweet spot for pricing and product."

With its EVs, GM has opened the order bank far in advance of when the vehicles will be available and that has enabled "a little bit of flexibility" on pricing, GM CFO Paul Jacobson said at the Deutsche Bank autos conference on Wednesday.

GM, Jacobson said, wants to "to maintain some price flexibility ... we don't want to end up in a situation where a customer has ordered a vehicle two, three years out, and we don't know where inflation is going."

At the same conference, John Lawler, Ford's chief financial officer, said the automaker has raised the price of its all-electric Mustang Mach-E crossover by an unspecified amount. Commodity cost increases, he said, had wiped out bottom-line profits the automaker had reported soon after the vehicle's launch.

Average transaction prices for new vehicles increased 13.5% year over year to $47,148 in May, according to data released this month by Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive company.

The average price paid for a new vehicle in the U.S. last month was the second-highest on record, behind December 2021, when the average transaction price reached $47,202.

GM though is still cutting the price on its lower-cost EV, the Chevrolet Bolt despite the rising expense to make cars.

The 2023 Bolt EV will start at $26,595, down from the 2022 starting price of $32,495. The 2023 Bolt EUV will start at $28,195, down from last year's starting price of $34,495. Both prices include dealer freight charges.

And so far the automaker still plans to offer its electric Chevrolet Equinox starting around $30,000. The Equinox will be revealed this year and on sale in 2023. 

GMC also said on Friday that customers with an existing Hummer EV 3X reservation can customize their vehicles before submitting an order. Customers can select new paint color choices and available options like an extreme off-road package and the available 24-module battery pack that enables the "Watts To Freedom" mode to go 0-60 mph in about three seconds. 

khall@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @bykaleahall

Staff Writer Jordyn Grzelewski contributed.