bronco, hummer, grand wagoneer: why everything old is new again

Photo credit: Ford, GMC, Jeep

Mark Grueber’s first day at Ford was June 12, 1996. “This is a fun story,” he says, an illuminated first-generation Bronco grille hanging on the wall behind him in his home office. That's the day Ford built the last fifth-generation Bronco, ending a production run that began in 1966 and launching what became known as the Bronco Underground, a group of people within Ford dedicated to the return of the off-road SUV.

This year, they got their wish. The Bronco is back, and Grueber, now Ford’s marketing manager, is tasked with the brand’s present and future. Of course, he’s hardly alone in his excitement, and Ford isn’t the only automaker leaning hard on its past, though it’s maybe leaning the hardest. Aside from the Bronco, Ford is leveraging two more classic names, the Lightning and the Maverick, but applying them in new ways. And then it took its most iconic badge, Mustang, and put it on an electric crossover.

General Motors is prepping the return of the environmentally maligned Hummer, but now it’s a 9000-pound electric pickup and SUV. Acura is relaunching the Integra, which has been gone for more than two decades. Jeep revived the Wagoneer nameplate this year and put it on a luxury SUV built to park comfortably next to all the McMansions. And if you’re still wondering why manufacturers took this dive into the archives, you probably already know. It’s about money.

“A company that’s sitting on an asset like Grand Wagoneer, why wouldn’t it use it?” says Elea McDonnell Feit, a professor of marketing at Drexel University and former market researcher in GM’s advanced vehicle development center. Decades of communication and success (or failure) have made these names mean something to people. There is power in meaning, and profit in power—even if the strategies with the nameplates differ.

bronco, hummer, grand wagoneer: why everything old is new again

Photo credit: Ford

At Ford, dealers are dedicating separate showrooms to the Bronco and the smaller Bronco Sport crossover. Owners can visit one of four Bronco Off-Rodeo schools while dressed in Bronco merchandise—or wait and pick up the merch on site. “Wagoneer is definitely the premium extension of Jeep,” Jeep CEO Christian Meunier told The Verge’s Decoder podcast in October. But there’s no Jeep badge anywhere on the new full-size SUVs. And while Hummer was its own brand under General Motors prior to its demise in 2010, it’s now falling under the GMC umbrella.

General Motors questioned bringing back the Hummer name because of its history, says Phil Brook, GMC’s vice president of marketing. Unlike Ford with the Bronco or Jeep and the Wagoneer, GM is trying to change people’s perceptions associated with a name, and those perceptions are part of why it failed the first time. The company attempted to sell Hummer to a Chinese manufacturer in 2010 but when that deal failed, GM shut down the brand because the trucks were gas guzzlers.

“The look on people’s faces when we’ve said that Hummer is coming back—they’ve gone ‘really?’ As soon as you say electric, everything that was in any way a concern or negative just completely evaporates,” Brook says. But GM will have to reiterate that. “They can say Hummer, and it instantly means excess,” McDonnell Feit says. “They also have to communicate the second part of the new message.”

NBA superstar LeBron James, who owned a Hummer H2 in his early years in the league, stars in the new Hummer’s commercials, and the brand calls it the first all-electric supertruck. In the TV spot, it’s storming, lightning strikes, and the slogan “A quiet revolution is coming” pops up on the screen to point out the truck’s electric powertrain. However, “car companies are notoriously bad at assuming that people understand,” McDonnell Feit says.

bronco, hummer, grand wagoneer: why everything old is new again

Photo credit: GMC

Americans are spending at higher price points, too, and Jeep is aware. Its roots are in military-inspired off-roaders, but the brand’s bestselling model last year was the Grand Cherokee, which ranges in price from $35,105 to nearly $100,000 for the 707-hp Trackhawk model. The Grand Wagoneer is the company’s new flagship, and it can reach prices over $110,000 fully equipped. GMC is homing in on this, too, and that’s why it put Hummer under its brand, rather than on its own like before. Brook says that GMC’s highly equipped Denali models account for nearly half of its sales.

They’re not just spending more. Americans have a newfound desire for adventure and getting outside, heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ford sees this and is entering the rugged off-road SUV space, dominated by the Jeep Wrangler for years, with the new Bronco. And it nailed the Bronco’s retro-inspired looks with near perfection—particularly the grilles, which are reminiscent of the one hanging on Grueber’s wall.

Prior to the Bronco’s debut last summer, the Bronco Underground made three big attempts to bring it back. The first was when Ford built prototypes in 1999, but then the automaker was hit with the recall of over 14 million Firestone tires, mostly on its Explorer. Four years later, an awkward-looking silver Bronco concept was revealed, but it wasn’t considered production ready. Then Ford tried to build a Bronco on an actual platform, but the market was shifting to larger four-door utility vehicles, not two-door rugged SUVs. In 2013, Ford risked losing the Bronco trademark, so it issued a one-off Expedition and put the Bronco name on it.

bronco, hummer, grand wagoneer: why everything old is new again

Photo credit: Michael Simari – Car and Driver

The breakthrough was when the market shifted from sedans, Grueber says. Ford dropped them from its lineup in 2018, which freed up space at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant when the Focus was nixed. “We activated the underground and started to put together the plan to bring it back,” he says. Now Ford hopes its new Maverick compact pickup will attract those former sedan buyers.

These names evoke nostalgia in consumers, reminders of the way things used to be. Especially with millennials, McDonnell Feit points out. “The automotive companies are trying to leverage millennials’ fascination with all things old-fashioned,” she says. This demographic is listening to vinyl records again; binge-watching Stranger Things, the Netflix science-fiction series set in the 1980s; and, the Detroit automakers hope, buying Broncos, Hummers, and Wagoneers.

Keyword: Bronco, Hummer, Grand Wagoneer: Why Everything Old Is New Again

CAR'S NEWS RELATED

GMC Hummer EV EarthCruiser Debuts As Eco-Friendly Go-Anywhere Overlander

You can stay up to seven days off-grid.

View more: GMC Hummer EV EarthCruiser Debuts As Eco-Friendly Go-Anywhere Overlander

The GMC Hummer EV Is Still The Least Efficient EV You Can Buy

I have dreams about this car, sometimes. They aren’t good ones. Photo: General Motors By now, we all know the Hummer EV’s deal. It’s comically oversized, so heavy it’s banned from parts of U.S. infrastructure, and somehow produces more carbon dioxide than a gas-powered vehicle with the same number ...

View more: The GMC Hummer EV Is Still The Least Efficient EV You Can Buy

2024 GMC Hummer EV Pickup Price Increased By Up To $1,600

However, the online configurator mentions an instant discount for early reservations.

View more: 2024 GMC Hummer EV Pickup Price Increased By Up To $1,600

GMC Hummer EVs Receive Shocking EPA Rating: True Electron Guzzlers

The fuel economy barely exceeded 50 MPGe, which explains the necessity for a large battery.

View more: GMC Hummer EVs Receive Shocking EPA Rating: True Electron Guzzlers

GMC Hummer EV With EarthCruiser Overlanding Upfit Will Debut This Month

A new teaser image shows the luxury electric truck with a large pop-top camper shell.

View more: GMC Hummer EV With EarthCruiser Overlanding Upfit Will Debut This Month

Tesla Cybertruck Might Weigh Less Than Rivian R1T, Hummer EV: Teardown Experts

Experts from Munro & Associates state reasons why the Tesla could weigh less.

View more: Tesla Cybertruck Might Weigh Less Than Rivian R1T, Hummer EV: Teardown Experts

2024 GMC Hummer EV 3X Pickup Gets Range Boost, Can Go Up To 381 Miles

That’s GMC’s estimate for the truck with the big, 24-module battery pack.

View more: 2024 GMC Hummer EV 3X Pickup Gets Range Boost, Can Go Up To 381 Miles

Barbie goes electric, with a little pink Corvette, while Ken gets an electric Hummer

Credit: Barbie movie / Warner Pictures and General Motors. Australian actress Margot Robbie drives a custom electric 1956 Corvette in the new Barbie movie, but General Motors (GM) is using the film to market SUVs from its growing EV range, including Ken’s EV Hummer. GM’s Barbie marketing deal, comes ...

View more: Barbie goes electric, with a little pink Corvette, while Ken gets an electric Hummer

GM Defense Unveils Hummer EV-Based Military Vehicle Concept

Electric Hummer returns to its military roots

GMC’s Hummer EV Has a Very Complicated Battery Pack

US: GMC Hummer EV Pickup Sales Down 83 Percent In Q2 2023

Military-Spec Hummer EV Unveiled

GM’s EMCV Breaks Cover As Militarized GMC Hummer EV

Watch How GM Builds the GMC Hummer EV

GMC Hummer EV And Cadillac Lyriq Recalled For Potential Power Loss

Street-Spotted: Hummer Station Wagon

GMC Hummer EV Battery Teardown Proves Our Fears

1,000 HP GMC Hummer EV Edition 1: What’s It Like To Live With?

GMC Hummer EV Battery Teardown Reveals Excessive Complexity, Weight

OTHER CAR NEWS

; Top List in the World https://www.pinterest.com/newstopcar/pins/
Top Best Sushi Restaurants in SeoulTop Best Caribbean HoneymoonsTop Most Beautiful Islands in PeruTop Best Outdoor Grill BrandsTop Best Global Seafood RestaurantsTop Foods to Boost Your Immune SystemTop Best Foods to Fight HemorrhoidsTop Foods That Pack More Potassium Than a BananaTop Best Healthy Foods to Gain Weight FastTop Best Cosmetic Brands in the U.STop Best Destinations for Food Lovers in EuropeTop Best Foods High in Vitamin ATop Best Foods to Lower Your Blood SugarTop Best Things to Do in LouisianaTop Best Cities to Visit in New YorkTop Best Makeup Addresses In PennsylvaniaTop Reasons to Visit NorwayTop Most Beautiful Islands In The WorldTop Best Law Universities in the WorldTop Richest Sportsmen In The WorldTop Biggest Aquariums In The WorldTop Best Peruvian Restaurants In MiamiTop Best Road Trips From MiamiTop Best Places to Visit in MarylandTop Best Places to Visit in North CarolinaTop Best Electric Cars For KidsTop Best Swedish Brands in The USTop Best Skincare Brands in AmericaTop Best American Lipstick BrandsTop Michelin-starred Restaurants in MiamiTop Best Secluded Getaways From MiamiTop Best Things To Do On A Rainy Day In MiamiTop Most Instagrammable Places In MiamiTop Interesting Facts about FlorenceTop Facts About The First Roman Emperor - AugustusTop Best Japanese FoodsTop Most Beautiful Historical Sites in IsraelTop Best Places To Visit In Holy SeeTop Best Hawaiian IslandsTop Reasons to Visit PortugalTop Best Hotels In L.A. With Free Wi-FiTop Best Scenic Drives in MiamiTop Best Vegan Restaurants in BerlinTop Most Interesting Attractions In WalesTop Health Benefits of a Vegan DietTop Best Thai Restaurant in Las VegasTop Most Beautiful Forests in SwitzerlandTop Best Global Universities in GermanyTop Most Beautiful Lakes in GuyanaTop Best Things To Do in IdahoTop Things to Know Before Traveling to North MacedoniaTop Best German Sunglasses BrandsTop Highest Mountains In FranceTop Biggest Hydroelectric Plants in AmericaTop Best Spa Hotels in NYCTop The World's Scariest BridgeTop Largest Hotels In AmericaTop Most Famous Festivals in JordanTop Best European Restaurants in MunichTop Best Japanese Hiking Boot BrandsTop Best Universities in PolandTop Best Tips for Surfing the Web Safely and AnonymouslyTop Most Valuable Football Clubs in EuropeTop Highest Mountains In ColombiaTop Real-Life Characters of Texas RisingTop Best Beaches in GuatelamaTop Things About DR Congo You Should KnowTop Best Korean Reality & Variety ShowsTop Best RockstarsTop Most Beautiful Waterfalls in GermanyTop Best Fountain Pen Ink BrandsTop Best European Restaurants in ChicagoTop Best Fighter Jets in the WorldTop Best Three-Wheel MotorcyclesTop Most Beautiful Lakes in ManitobaTop Best Dive Sites in VenezuelaTop Best Websites For Art StudentsTop Best Japanese Instant Noodle BrandsTop Best Comedy Manhwa (Webtoons)Top Best Japanese Sunglasses BrandsTop Most Expensive Air Jordan SneakersTop Health Benefits of CucumberTop Famous Universities in SwedenTop Most Popular Films Starring Jo Jung-sukTop Interesting Facts about CougarsTop Best Hospitals for Hip Replacement in the USATop Most Expensive DefendersTop Health Benefits of GooseberriesTop Health Benefits of ParsnipsTop Best Foods and Drinks in LondonTop Health Benefits of Rosehip TeaTop Best Air Fryers for Low-fat CookingTop Most Asked Teacher Interview Questions with AnswersTop Best Shopping Malls in ZurichTop The Most Beautiful Botanical Gardens In L.A.Top Best Mexican Restaurants in Miami for Carb-loading rightTop Best Energy Companies in GermanyTop Best Garage HeatersTop Largest Banks in IrelandTop Leading Provider - Audit and Assurance In The USTop Best Jewelry Brands in IndiaTop Prettiest Streets in the UKTop Best Lakes to Visit in TunisiaTop Highest Mountains in Israel