General Motors’ core brands are without a dedicated off-road vehicle, something the car giant reportedly wants to change.
As reported by specialist publication GM Authority, the carmaker could revive the GMC Jimmy nameplate for a body-on-frame SUV, targeting potential buyers of the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler, plus the Toyota 4Runner.
It’s not the first time GM has done so, having planned to resurrect the Jimmy in the late 2010s before ultimately cancelling the project towards the end of 2019, about two years before the Ford Bronco relaunched in North America.
At the time, GM decided to invest its money into electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles (such as the now-defunct Cruise division) instead, though a stumble in EV demand plus walking back its AV targets has reportedly led to a change of heart.
Also helping the business case for the GMC Jimmy’s return is the Trump Administration’s recent relaxing of vehicle emissions standards and penalties, opening the door for a V8 to be offered in the lineup.
According to GM Authority, insiders have said a V8 Jimmy is well and truly in the mix, especially in the wake of the car giant rolling out the first of its sixth-generation small-block V8s in the Corvette, off the back of investing billions into production of the engine.
The Jimmy, if it does indeed return, will fight its rivals for market share in what is a niche but celebrated segment of the market.
Sales figures compiled by GM Authority show the Wrangler (167,322 sales), Bronco (146,007 sales) and 4Runner (98,805 sales) combined for just over 412,000 sales in the US last year, in a market which sees 16.3 million sales annually.
This means even the most popular of the three offerings accounted for just one per cent of overall vehicle sales in the nation.
The publication hasn’t said whether GM would consider exporting the Jimmy outside of North America, or build it in anything other than left-hand drive.
Jeep produces the Wrangler in right-hand drive and exports it to Australia, where years of significant price increases has left it withering to just 433 deliveries in 2025, against a market doing more than 1.2 million sales.
Neither Ford nor Toyota import the Bronco and 4Runner respectively to Australia, despite being based on platforms underpinning some of the most popular vehicles in their respective segments.
The Ford Bronco’s T6 platform is shared with the Everest, which last year notched up 26,161 deliveries in Australia. Its Ranger ute twin has been the best-selling vehicle for the past three consecutive years.
Toyota’s 4Runner rides on the TNGA-F architecture, shared with both the full-sized LandCruiser 300 Series and the new LandCruiser Prado 250 Series. Last year Toyota sold 26,106 Prados, roughly on par with the Everest.
Due to the popularity of these local offerings and the costs of reengineering their left-hand drive counterparts to be sold here, it’s unlikely that we’ll see them, though there is something of a case for the GMC Jimmy, if it comes to fruition.
GMC launched in Australia last year with the Yukon full-sized SUV, joining the stable of General Motors Specialty Vehicles products alongside the Chevrolet Silverado and Chevrolet Corvette.
Rather than adding cost to the US production lines where they are built, the Yukon and Silverado are converted to right-hand drive by Walkinshaw in Melbourne, and sold in GMSV dealerships.
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