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GM exec: We need more new Hummers (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/28/news/companies/gm_hummer/index.htm?cnn=yes)

Sept 28 2006 CNN/Money

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/hummer2.jpg

Paris (Reuters) -- General Motors Corp.'s Hummer brand needs to double its product lineup by adding two or three more models, the executive charged with GM's product planning told reporters on Wednesday.

"Hummer needs some more products. It needs two or three more products to give it sufficient market coverage," General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters at the opening of a Hummer dealership in Paris.

Lutz said making a Hummer-branded pickup truck, which would have ample passenger seating, remained an "option."

Earlier this year GM (http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=GM) (Charts (http://money.cnn.com/quote/chart/chart.html?symb=GM)) faced pressure from activist investor Kirk Kerkorian to consider spinning off Hummer, which began as a high-mobility vehicle produced for the U.S. military.

But GM executives have argued that the brand is central to the automaker's strategy as it moves to cut costs, shore up market share and return to profitability in the U.S. market.

Sales of Hummer were up almost 50 percent in the first eight months of this year. By contrast, GM's overall sales were down 12 percent.

Hummer currently has three models: the H2, H2 SUT and H3. GM announced earlier this year it is stopping production of the original H1 Hummer, which was larger than the full-size H2.

The H2 SUT has short pickup-style truck bed.

The H3, which is built on GM's midsize pickup truck platform, accounts for about three-quarters of the brand's current sales. It is similar in size to a Nissan Pathfinder or Toyota 4Runner and is powered by a 5-cylinder engine.

GM executives have said previously that a smaller vehicle, similar in size to a Jeep Wrangler, is also being considered for the brand.

Hummer, which GM bought in 1999, has acquired both fervent fans like California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and outspoken critics, who see the brand's heavy SUVs as a symbol of American consumer excess and dependence on foreign oil.

:Banane37: Have any of you seen the New H-3 Hummer? It is really a nice vehicle and here is something I bet few people realize regarding it's FE. It gets the same FE as the GM Suburban and about the same as the GM Tahoe. So really if one likes the H-3 there is no reason as far as FE not to buy one. If you don't have a problem with the larger SUV's that is an there FE. It is no worse and kinda manly looking/robust if you will. I just saw a truck load of them today at the dealership while I was getting a New Suburban unloaded and took a look at them. That is why I noticed the FE on the MSRP on the window and then looked at the Suburban and Tahoe and there was like 1-Mile Per Gallon difference between them.

Terry (tiger)

so the question is, why is GM making three vehicles with the same milage and practicaly the same utility.

if GM was any smart, he put the two mode system in every hummer made from now on. Market it as improved performance + economy and you got the best of both worlds.

GM will probably come out with two Alternate Fuel Hummers: one that burns coal and one that burns $100 bills.

GM will probably come out with two Alternate Fuel Hummers: one that burns coal and one that burns $100 bills.

If God forbid, we experienced the hyperinflation Germany did in the 1920's, burning currancy might have a chance. :eek: :D

I'll confess to a little bias in the article - specifically the picture. Note the large rims in the picture - you don't off-road in those but I thing everybody knows how many people buy them off-road - wildlife isn't impresed with Hummers. ;)

Nail in coffin.

the [Hummer] brand is central to the automaker's strategy - Brilliant!!!!!!!!

I just saw a commercial the other day for the Hummer truck. They called it the H3T. I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to it. But, I've found a link about it.

http://jalopnik.com/349200/2009-hummer-h3t-unofficially-revealed

Wierd Al would be proud :)

http://www.youtube.com/v/fjkCOYi4GxM&hl=en&fs=1



Maybe GM can use this one as they are begging the Obama Administration for money. Is is consistent with the President-elect's vision? ;)

http://www.youtube.com/v/bQvXNrit9ns&hl=en&fs=1

Fact is stranger than Fiction.

The new H3T ad I saw on the boob tube less than a month ago.

http://www.youtube.com/v/UL1gdNKDnxk&hl=en&fs=1 allowscriptaccess=always allowfullscreen=true width=425 height=344

So the H3 is out, now the H3T (finally!), all we need is one more Hummer model to get "sufficient market coverage"

11011011

That was a nice camback cover though.

Are these just rebadged Chevy Colorados?

5 cyl engine and all?

Fact is stranger than Fiction.

The new H3T ad I saw on the boob tube less than a month ago.

http://www.youtube.com/v/UL1gdNKDnxk&hl=en&fs=1 allowscriptaccess=always allowfullscreen=true width=425 height=344

So the H3 is out, now the H3T (finally!), all we need is one more Hummer model to get "sufficient market coverage"

11011011

All that stuff can fit in my Prius. ;)

OK, not the dirt bike. But to be quite honest all the places in which I want to drive a dirt bike are pretty much places A DIRT BIKE CAN GET TO ON ITS OWN. ;)

Hummer Rental is something I'm actually quite partial too (Truck rental too). I'd have no problem taking an annual trip to Colorado and renting a Hummer for a day's climb in the mountains. If 365 Hummer owners instead rented in a similar fashion, that's a 99.6% reduction in Hummer emissions. :)

I see a big future in truck rental, BTW. If I had a truck and didn't want to sell, I'd start a business. It may be a low margin business though do to "oversupply."

Hummer Rental is something I'm actually quite partial too (Truck rental too). I'd have no problem taking an annual trip to Colorado and renting a Hummer for a day's climb in the mountains. If 365 Hummer owners instead rented in a similar fashion, that's a 99.6% reduction in Hummer emissions. :)A number of members at GearHeadHybrid has been more irrate when I suggested this than if I insulted their wife. :confused:

So when we the US taxpayers bailout GM, are we paying for the Hummer commercials? I sure hope not!

All that stuff can fit in my Prius. ;)

OK, not the dirt bike....Look again. I don't think the dirt bike fits in the Hummer either, at least not all the way. All the shots where the bike is in the hummer, the tailgate is down. It doesn't look like the bed is long enough to hold the bike with the tailgate up.

So... if you left your trunk up, I think you could fit the bike no problem. Apples to Apples right.

11011011

If my Insight will take a couple of bikes on a rack, a Prius could at least match that. ;)

I think this does a pretty good job of explaining why American Car makers are in the predicament they are in. Sales are down, your business is about to collapse, what do you do? Build more Hummers.

Of course that article is 2 years old. GM would love to sell off Hummer now.

The only Hummer I liked was the H1, but I just wouldn't ever need something that big. My 13 year old Jeep Grand Cherokee goes everywhere i could take a Hummer, and many more places. (I even manage to get better than EPA mileage for what it is, carpool to work, and still run tires big enough to get me where I want to go...)

I thought it strange a year or so ago when GM scrapped plans for revamped car lines so they build more trucks and SUVs... Guess it hurt them pretty good.

I'm suprized how quickly cheap gas vanished this summer then easy credit came to a screeching halt.

I acknowledge this is from 2006, but the auto industry can't plan three or six months ahead - it takes 4-5 years to design a new car. Any business would plan for a worst case scenerio - in their case, the HAD to know cheap gas would end sometime. Same thing on easy credit. At least Toyota has a full line of SUVs, trucks, and fuel-efficient cars - GM had their eggs on one basket and they are in dire straits.

All that stuff can fit in my Prius. ;)

......

I see a big future in truck rental, BTW. If I had a truck and didn't want to sell, I'd start a business. It may be a low margin business though do to "oversupply."

Back when I was renting cars the problem with our truck rentals was that renters used the trucks too hard. We avoided daily rentals on them when we could.

You'd have to charge a high daily rate to cover all the 4x4 transmission and suspension repairs.

I acknowledge this is from 2006, but the auto industry can't plan three or six months ahead - it takes 4-5 years to design a new car. Any business would plan for a worst case scenerio - in their case, the HAD to know cheap gas would end sometime.Agreed. Basic risk analysis. I've worked in small companies that used much more sophisticated risk analysis than the Big 3 appear to have demonstrated.

The concept is almost stupidly simple. You look at the bad things that could happen to you (including highly improbable risks), try to assess the probability of each one, multiply that by the cost of it happening and balance that against the cost of possible mitigation alternatives.

At a minimum you would do risk analysis for the 4-5 year design window, although any sensible company will do it further out than a single design cycle.

I find it incredible that either (a) the Big 3 don't do this, or (b) they didn't consider the possibility that fuel has been expensive, despite the fact that the threats of both climate change and peak oil have been widely known for years.

My guess is that (c) these guys DO have risk analysts (all large companies do) and management just refused to listen. Which means top management didn't live up to their fiduciary responsibility. Fire them NOW as a condition of any bailout!

I haven't considered gas cheap for 5 years. Once gas hit $2/gallon, and I bought my Neon for the mileage... Gas today is cheaper here than it has been for three years.

I just don't understand why every small car gets replaced with something bigger. Just makes no sense.

It seems that ever since we announced we were bringing out our next generation of full-size trucks and utilities, people seem to think it's unwise.

I'll admit that on the surface it may seem incongruous to introduce vehicles like this, given today's fuel prices. But, I have to tell you, these products still make a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by Bob Lutz' blog - 2005
It seems that ever since we announced we were bringing out our next generation of full-size trucks and utilities, people seem to think it's unwise.

I'll admit that on the surface it may seem incongruous to introduce vehicles like this, given today's fuel prices. But, I have to tell you, these products still make a lot of sense.


I think they should fire him based on these comment alone.