Report: Hummer *Will* Return, Expect a Super Bowl Ad

The much-rumored return of Hummer to the General Motors fold is apparently a go.

According to sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, GM has purchased hyper-expensive ad time during next month’s Super Bowl game, during which it plans to reveal its intent to resurrect the name of once loved (and equally derided) brand. It won’t be a brand, however.

Tapped to promote the vehicle, as well as GM’s push into electric vehicles, is L.A. Lakers forward LeBron James, sources claim. In its future form, Hummer will not be a hulking SUV with fuel economy rivalling that of a Saudi oil tanker. Rather, the resurrected name will be found on the flanks of an electric pickup truck, one GM plans to build at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Detroit.

Expected to go on sale in early 2022, the vehicle will not be the first model of a returning brand. Instead, it will be badged as a GMC (which happens to combine two previous rumors into one reality).

GM embarked on its EV pickup journey in response to crosstown rival Ford’s decision to build an all-electric version of its F-150 pickup. That vehicle is expected to launch next year. Competition also exists in the form of the Rivian R1T, which enters production late this year.

It seems names hold sway over a great many people’s hearts. Forever linked to the U.S. military but also to rappers, general ballers, and a certain Lieutenant in the Miami-Dade Police Department, Hummer became a cultural force after GM wrestled the name away from AM General. Though civilian production lasted only a decade, ending in 2009 after a recession and bankruptcy knocked GM to the ground, the name still holds weight. The SUV-filled decade that followed had many wondering why the hell GM axed Hummer while keeping Buick around.

Just like Ford, it seems GM feels that a hard-to-sell propulsion source needs a shot of name recognition and heritage in order to get buyers’ attention.

Super Bowl 54 will be played February 2nd in Florida. We’ll be watching.

[Image: LeStudio/Shutterstock]