Hummer brand to be scaled back or even sold

[Jim Prower]

I guess people in the market for a capable off-road machine don't look in the $40,000+ price bracket. If they've got that much money to spend, it goes into modifications, not the purchase of the vehicle itsself.

 

[superberkut]

Good point.

I thought the Hummer was going to be replaced with an issue concerning the flat floors of the H1. It made the truck vulnerable to land mine detonations, and the casualty rate of its passengers was prohibitively high.

 

[Joey D]

Now, wait. In what way is the 350Z "Retro?" it looks EXTREMELY modern (perhaps a little dated, since it's been around awhile) to me.

And I personally don't mind "Retro" styling.

The Z car is, I'm just going off the name.

 

[niky]

The 370Z... now that's going to have a bit of retro... around the C-pillar. That's my beef with the GT-R's design and the tentative designs for the next Z... that huge "retro" C-pillar, that's meant to evoke 70's coupes, but comes off as looking exactly like what it is... a big piece of sheetmetal where a small window should be.

 

[Philly]

Looks like the Indians are already ready to snatch it up:

Got an automotive brand to sell? It doesn't matter how it's performing in the marketplace, whether its products are outdated or just not popular in the present buying climate. If you've got one, an Indian automaker wants to buy it. At least that's the way it seems after learning that two Indian automakers, Tata and Mahindra, have approached General Motors to purchase the HUMMER brand. GM only announced that it would begin considering what to do with HUMMER this week.

Tata has already gobbled up Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, but apparently is still hungry for some more American-owned metal, and what's more American than HUMMER? Mahindra, meanwhile, will be bringing its diesel-powered Appalachian pickup to the U.S. market by the end of 2009. Tata and Mahindra tend to go after the same things, as both were bidders for Jaguar/Land Rover and both are competing for the right to own motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta. Of course, neither India-based company is commenting on their interest in HUMMER and GM's all like, "Whoa, we just said we were thinking about it" (not an actual quote). HUMMER sales last month fell 60.2% last month compared to May 2007, and with gas prices going up and up, the poster brand for insensitive consumption may not have long to live under the GM corporate umbrella.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

I wonder what the Indians would do with the HUMMER brand. Maybe make a military quality vehicle like the H1? A cheap car for the masses?

 

[Jim Prower]

Make vehicles for the Indian Military, probably. (In order for an invasion of the United States.)

Joking.

 

[Joey D]

They already attack us with sub-par customer support and their broken English .

 

[Tornado]

I'm pretty sure can't buy it until the Government stops using HMMWVs. They would be forced to split the brand from AM General before doing so, and I doubt GM would want to keep AM General but not Hummer.

 

[YSSMAN]

AM General doesn't have a relationship with GM whatsoever. All they did is sell the HUMMER nameplate to GM and let them build the H1 civilian vehicle under contract. The General is just looking to dump-off the brand, as it isn't selling too well. Kinda funny, as a lot of HUMMER dealers just did major investments in the corporate styling of their buildings.

Oh well...

 

[KAMKA-Z]

While the HUMMER may be a capable off-roader. The people I see driving them here, buy them for the image. That "Image" being I have Money. (but my taste lacks refinement) I have money, I could care less about things like Global Warming, or gas mileage, or what the rest of you poor slobs are driving. Most other drivers view HUMMER drivers as war mongering, gas-glutonous, showy, obnoxious pigs. Who hasn't seen the bumper sticker, "Support Our Troops - Donate Your HUMMER". Hummer dealers are prime targets for eco-terrorists. While higher end products, (things that the really wealthy folk buy) are usually less affected by economic swings, the HUMMER apeals more to the "get rich quick" crowd. Thus, the HUMMER has hit a slump. The novelty has worn off as fast as it came on.

Dump this one fast GM.

 

[McLaren]

How are those cars I bolded getting ruined? The new Camaro and Challeneger are beasts to be beheld in style, power and handling. The Mustang is getting back to original design cues and is still a very capable car. And the Nissan Z too, that has made a real turn-around. Performance-wise at least. Perhaps Nissan ruined Z's styling.

In base form, sure. But similar as to what Joey said, when they keep trying to bring a GT500 back in retro form, they simply just fail at it. 1 magazine just picked Challenger SRT8 over the GT500, once again noting the GT500's chassis being the reason for its poor performance against others. Then there's Ford trying to bring back the KR & the SuperSnake with the KR model at $80,000. Who the hell wants a $80,000 Mustang? You're only getting 40 extra horses over the GT500, some revised parts, and not much more except a more limited-made car.

 

[Philly]

That is one problem the Americans seem to be having with their whole "retro" thing. It's one thing to have a body designed to look like it was made in the 50s and a completely different thing to have a chassis that was designed in the 50s...

 

[Joey D]

Agreed, if I wanted a car that looked and acted like a 1960's muscle car I would just skip this whole retro thing and buy a car from the 60's.

 

[Jim Prower]

waaaaitwaitwaitwaIT WAIT!!!!!

How did we get onto this...and why do I feel somehow responsible? This is about HUMMER's possible Sale...

 

[buickgnx88]

Like I said before, GM needs to keep the H3 design and rebadge it either as a Chevy or GMC, and then sell off HUMMER. They could put a better engine in it (when they put the new engines in the Colorado/Canyon) and it could be GM's mini true-4WD, since the only true 4WD's they have left are the Trailblazer/Envoy line (soon to be dropped) and the Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Escalade line which best not be dropped.

 

[YSSMAN]

* The Envoy/Trailblazer/et al are officially dead... They've been replaced by the Enclave and company.

* The GMT900s are to die as well, likely to be replaced by Zeta-based crossovers. Crazy world, eh???

 

[Eric.]

GM could possibly slip the Hummer in as a couple of models (or just one, to cut down the damage to corporate mileage) built as a Chevy or GMC. The best approach would be to keep any GMC or Chevy badges off of it, in the same sense that the GT-R was just going to be the GT-R.

 

[Philly]

I could see a Chevy HUMMER just being called a HUMMER, similar to what they already do with the Corvette. And then they can just tack on any further distinguishing things on the end of the name. It wouldn't be Chevy if the nameplate didn't reach halfway across the car.

Chevy HUMMER H4 AWD V6 SE Z71 LTZ anyone?

 

[YSSMAN]

There was a plan a while back that similar to the BPG dealers (Buick-Pontiac-GMC) that we'd see a CSH (Cadillac-Saab-Hummer) setup eventually. It wouldn't surprise me to see a dual Hummer setup (likely H3 and H4) to be sold at Cadillac dealers, but it just seems unlikely to keep the brand fully-afloat now given the current gas crunch that people seem to say we're in. GM could find a fair bit of success in this model, however, they've just got to fiddle with the brand a bit more... That little HX concept is showing up in Transformers 2 (along with the Chevy Beat), so it makes me wonder if a Wrangler-competitor like that could finally be the answer to what they need.