I asked something very similar of one of GM's execs who is involved in the Hummer line. I was told that the even though the H3 has superior off road capability, they feel that most people will never take the vehicle off-road. I then asked why is there a $1000 premium on the GM extended warranty if only a small percentage were going to take the H3 off-road and abuse it, which means the extremely rugged/over designed H3 should be more reliable and fail less. He didn't realize that the H3 had a $1000 warranty surcharge. Two weeks later it was lowered to $500.

There is a commercial running here that shows the H3 going down a steep snow covered hill. That's about all that I have seen that demonstrates its off-road ability.

If you look a some of Susan's previous projects, you'll see that she knows the target market segment pretty well even though the H3 was started before she came to the Hummer line.[/quote]

Susan was with Cadillac before. And Cadillac's turnaround is largely due to pimped Escalades (tarted up Tahoes/badge engineering at its best). Very lucrative, cannot deny the profit contributions. Hummer enjoys similar profits due to sales to people that will never take their vehicle offroad.

Business is business. And this is far more lucrative than selling mediocre cars to rental car companies.

S.