GM, Hummer Dealers. Publisher?s Note: GM announced yesterday that it was ?undertaking a strategic review of the Hummer brand to determine its fit within the GM portfolio.? Not only that, they said, ?At this point, the company is considering all options, from a complete revamp of the product lineup to a partial or complete sale of the brand.? Now, I know most people consider Hummers to be all bad, all the time, but that really wasn?t or isn?t the case. We happen to like the H3 and the Hummer brand for a lot of reasons. GM waltzed in and took the title of most competent off-road vehicle right out from under the Jeep, while Chrysler?s then Daimler execs were asleep at the wheel. As brand launches go, the Hummer was the most successful launch from a domestic automaker since the Saturn and the advertising - especially the ?Happy Jack?-tracked spot - was superb. The brand had a character that stood out from the sea of sameness that drives much of this country?s auto population. Many might not have agreed with it, but it did have a distinct personality all its own.
But it was clear 30 months ago that the H2 was dead in the water, soon replaced by the H3 because of its smarter size and appeal. But even the H3 had severe limitations in that its weight (4700 lbs.) was too much for its 5-cylinder engine, despite subsequent horsepower improvements. The reason I was cautiously optimistic for the Hummer brand was that GM showed an H4 concept to the media in December of ?06 that was off-the-charts cool (it became the Hummer HX concept displayed in Detroit last January). If
this was the future of Hummer - a
lightweight, compact, 4x4 with small, efficient 4-cylinder turbo power or even a small turbo-diesel - then yes, I could see a
raison d?etre for the brand. But now that GM is scrambling to put everything they?ve got into bringing fuel efficient cars and lighter-duty crossovers to market, putting dollars behind an all-new H4 program is a giant non-starter, so one option actually on the table is to consider jettisoning the brand altogether.
This is GM?s lack of visionary thinking at its finest. Launch a brand, nurture a brand and then bail at the first opportunity. Instead of green-lighting an all-new H4 Hummer two years ago that would have positioned the brand correctly for the higher fuel prices that we?re dealing with today, what does GM do? They announce a Hummer H3T
pickup truck at the Chicago Auto Show last February that we roundly criticized here at AE for being yet another Answer to the Question No One was Asking. And wasn?t it not too long ago that GM made its dealers invest huge amounts of money into the Hummer corporate ?Quonset hut? look for its dealerships across the country? And now, with the first signs of trouble, GM is actually floating out the idea that they might just walk away from the brand entirely? What a bunch of unmitigated bull****. If I were a Hummer dealer who had just spent millions upgrading my dealership on GM?s suggestion, only to find that these jokers were considering pulling the plug on the brand instead of making it right for these fuel-conscious times, then apoplectic wouldn?t even begin to cover my seething disgust. As a matter of fact, you can bet that there are Hummer dealers around the country preparing their lawsuits as you read this. If GM lets Hummer go, or runs it into the ground, or whatever ugly scenario they undertake, yes, a lot of green-tinged zealots out there will be pleased. But if GM had been smarter and had adapted the brand to a fuel-conscious future, it could have had a place in the automotive spectrum around the world as
the off-road capable vehicle to have when needed. Not good. - PMD
(GM)
The Hummer HX Concept.
GM. The ugly High-Octane Truth about GM?s vaunted new crossovers, the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and soon-to-be-online Chevrolet Traverse? The real-world mileage in urban driving is all of a sudden a big concern to GM?s execs. Rated at 16 in the city and 24 on the highway, the vehicles, when compared to something on the order of a Tahoe or a Suburban, do just fine for most consumers. But now that the bloom has shriveled on the SUV rose, the real-world mileage of 13?16 in stop-and-go driving in the city is giving consumers more than a little pause. When GM designed and engineered these large crossovers, their mileage was a noticeable improvement over traditional full-size SUVs, while being just as roomy inside. But with a curb weight pushing 5,000 pounds, more efficient powertrains aren?t going to be enough, so GM is now in the throes of considering a plan of action to put these vehicles on a serious and much-needed diet.
GM. How bad is it out there right now for GM? The company's May sales were down 27.5 percent, with a stunning 37 percent decline in truck sales. GM sold 268,892 vehicles last month, down from 371,056 in the same month a year earlier. The American Axle strike contributed, but the sudden collapse of the SUV and light-truck market is the real culprit.
06-04-2008, 07:00 PM
Autoextremist - On the Table
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