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GM Throws Shade at Ford and Ram, Says Hummer EV is Better Than F-150 Raptor R and TRX

Back in June 2020, the Ford Motor Company’s big kahuna made a rather spicy comment about the sixth-gen Bronco in relation to the Wrangler, using the words “much superior” to describe the pickup truck-based sport utility vehicle. Hindsight is 20/20, and obviously enough, the Blue Oval flunked the rollout of the Bronco much to Jeep’s amusement. Ford experienced plenty of issues with the Bronco, and ongoing supply chain-related constraints don’t help the off-road utility vehicle’s cause either.
GMC Hummer EV 7 photos
Photo: GMC
GM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck AssemblyGM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck AssemblyGM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck AssemblyGM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck AssemblyGM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck AssemblyGM's Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly
Jim Morrison couldn’t resist throwing a couple of proverbial punches in retaliation, lambasting the Bronco’s roof problems and pitying Explorer Timberline customers for not getting the Grand Cherokee Trailhawk instead. It’s hard to understand in which universe the I4-engined Explorer Timberline competes with the V8-engined Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, but as Jim Morrison from The Doors once said, people are strange like that.

Despite not being provoked by the competition, a high-ranking executive at General Motors threw shade at Ford and Ram during a recent media event. Global vice president of Buick and GMC Duncan Aldred was asked by GM Authority if a rival for the F-150 Raptor R and TRX is on the horizon, to which he replied that it’s not happening. Why not, though?

It boggles the mind how witless the biggest of the Big Three in Detroit can be sometimes. General Motors already has two supercharged V8s ready to be transplanted into the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 to create a ZR2 R or ZR2 Bison R of sorts, yet General Motors won’t do it. The naturally-aspirated 6.2L small block simply isn’t good enough even against Ford’s V6-engined Raptor, and the ZR2 doesn’t hold a candle to the standard Raptor’s off-road chops despite its clever dynamic spool-valve dampers.

“When you’ve got a Hummer EV in the portfolio, which makes those vehicles [F-150 Raptor R and TRX] look a bit ordinary, in my mind, I don’t think we need anything else in that space,” he added. Shots fired?

Not really. Aldred’s rather sassy comment does not hold water if you take a few steps back to look at the bigger picture. The Hummer EV still is a low-volume affair with pretty bad real-world range despite its humongous battery. The R-branded Raptor and TRX are gas-guzzling trucks as well, but still, their target customers are very different from those prepared to pony up in excess of $110,000 on a product from a brand that General Motors had to axe as part of the Chapter 11 reorganization from 2009.

Although it’s not clear how many Raptors and TRXs were delivered in 2022 in the United States, we do know how many Hummer EVs were: 854 units. With that kind of volume, Aldred may want to eat some of that humble pie. He may also want to get behind the wheel of a Raptor R and TRX before presenting the Hummer EV as the better - or, better said, more exciting - pickup.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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