Report: GM Is Using Warranties to Discourage Hummer EV Scalping

pcmag.com:

General Motors is reportedly using limitations on warranties to discourage Hummer EV scalping.

Corvette Blogger reports(Opens in a new window) that GM has restricted warranty transfers on vehicles sold less than a year after they were originally purchased. That makes buying affected vehicles from scalpers a riskier proposition—especially for people already paying more than retail price for the product.

GM North America president Steve Carlisle reportedly told dealers on July 29 the company is also "barring the seller from placing future sold orders or reservations for certain high demand models (as identified by GM) if the vehicle is resold within the first 12 months of ownership."

Carlisle specifically cites the "23MY Cadillac Escalade-V, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and GMC HUMMER EV (SUT and SUV)" as some of the vehicles affected by this policy change. GM could put similar restrictions in place for other products that are expected to be in high demand.

The limitation makes sense for the all-electric Hummer. Some 77,000 people have expressed interest in buying the vehicle, The Wall Street Journal reported(Opens in a new window) in June, but GM is only making a dozen of them each day. That means it would take 17 years for the company to meet demand.

This is the exact kind of situation that drives people towards scalpers. These limitations probably won't stop everyone from buying a Hummer EV from a scalper, but for people who actually care about their vehicle being covered by the manufacturer's warranty, they could make a difference.

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