When Harley Earl arrived at General Motors in 1927, he brought Hollywood with him. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Earl spent his early career building custom cars for movie stars before GM tapped him as its first design director. He went on to pioneer clay modeling as a tool for shaping vehicles, a practice the industry still relies on nearly a century later.
It is fitting, then, that GM has now opened a major new advanced design campus in Pasadena, California, and marked the occasion with a concept that pushes well beyond what clay alone could produce.
The new Pasadena studio spans 148,000 square feet across three buildings and is home to about 100 designers, sculptors, fabricators, and artisans. It is fully equipped for full-size clay modeling and digital collaboration, serving as GM’s primary hub for conceptual design.
The focus is on work that looks past current production programs to ask what vehicles could look like a decade or two from now. Hussein Al Attar has been named the studio’s director, taking over from Brian Smith, who returns to the Chevrolet Corvette design team in Michigan.
To open the studio, GM revealed the GMC HUMMER X, a pickup and SUV concept pair designed to test new ideas in manufacturing, materials, and off-road capability. Neither is headed to production. Instead, they are design and engineering studies that may hint at GM’s future direction.
FLEX FAB and its future implications
Automakers may build cars differently in time
The most technically interesting element of the HUMMER X concept is something called FLEX FAB, a manufacturing approach that could reshape how automakers think about body panel production.
Traditional automotive manufacturing relies on large, expensive stamping tools to press sheet metal into body panels. Each tool is designed for a specific part, which means any design change requires new tooling. That makes the process slow and costly, two things the automotive industry writ large tries to avoid.
FLEX FAB works more like industrial 3D printing, but for metal. It enables small-batch, on-demand production of metal panels without the need for dedicated stamping tools. The same equipment can produce multiple designs, which opens the door to far greater variety and faster iteration (two things the automotive industry writ large wants).
For the HUMMER X concepts, FLEX FAB accounts for 57% of the body’s components in both the truck and SUV configurations. The resulting aesthetic is direct and functional, with flat surfaces, clean edges, laser-welded seams, and exposed precision bolts. There is nothing decorative about it. The look follows from the process, and the process is the point.
If FLEX FAB were ever to reach production, it could allow automakers to offer more configuration options without the manufacturing overhead that typically makes such variety cost-prohibitive. It could also shorten product development timelines. For now, it is only a proof of concept, but a compelling one nonetheless.
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HUMMER X concepts and the “builder maker”
Old-school car enthusiast approach
Even setting aside the manufacturing story, the HUMMER X makes a strong impression as a vehicle concept. Although it would be amazing to see it in production, maybe we will get lucky, and GM will at least send it on the auto show circuit, as it has done with its current Hummer models.
Both pickup and SUV configurations are built around a modular platform designed for serious off-road capability. Ground clearance on the SUV is 13.2 inches, with approach and departure angles of 44 and 46 degrees, respectively. The truck version offers 12.5 inches of ground clearance and an approach angle of up to 41.5 degrees.
Goodyear tires and 22-inch aluminum beadlock wheels are standard, which help give the HUMMER X its signature look. While the SUV variant rides on 37-inch rock tires, the truck version has a set of 35-inch street tires. Multimatic shocks, a GM staple, are complemented by robust underbody protection.
On the inside, stackable displays let drivers arrange their digital setup based on how they’re using the vehicle at that moment, whether that’s exploring a remote trail or merging onto a busy highway.
GM describes the intended buyer as the “builder maker,” someone who modifies and customizes their vehicle, turns wrenches, and takes part in a wider car community. It’s an old-school car enthusiast approach for sure, though the “builder maker” mentality may help bring new people into the hobby of vehicle ownership.
To serve that customer, the design team created the HUMMER HUB, a suite of connected apps that includes a scout drone. The drone can fly ahead on a trail, send real-time terrain data back to the driver, and dock itself when not in use. It’s a new school approach if there ever was one.
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Sustainable material strategy
Morse code on the floor
The design team focused on what they call mono-materials, replacing adhesives and multi-material assemblies with snap fits and mechanical fasteners made from a single material throughout.
The goal is to make parts actually recyclable rather than theoretically recyclable. Several interior components, including seatbacks, headrest backs, and instrument panel ends, are made from recycled car bumper fascias. Parts are also designed to be swapped, shared, and recirculated.
Tucked throughout the concept are a few intentional details. The team’s working mantra, “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints,” is encoded in Morse code on the floor. The tire treads spell out the same phrase in full. These are small touches, but they speak to how thoroughly the concept was imagined and developed.
What the Pasadena studio represents
The new campus is the latest chapter in nearly 40 years of GM Design in Southern California, building on the same regional tradition that Harley Earl helped establish. GM’s global Advanced Design network also includes studios in Detroit, the United Kingdom, and Shanghai. The Pasadena facility is now a key part of that.
The studio’s purpose is to look ahead, not just to the next model year, but to the next generation of what mobility could mean. The HUMMER X concept, with its flexible manufacturing, circular materials strategy, and modular off-road platform, reflects that mandate. Whether any of it reaches production in recognizable form remains to be seen, but the HUMMER X is a clear statement of where GM’s West Coast design operation is headed.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
