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A “rolling middle finger” is about as close to reality as anything. Hummers have become status symbols for people that want to appear more macho than Escalade drivers. I have NEVER seen a Hummer out on the streets with mud or dirt on it’s body. Most of the Hummers I’ve seen are pimped out with lots of chrome wheels and bling. 1/3 of the time I see them being driven by women. About as close as any of them come to “off-road” is going over the speed bumps at the local mall.

But my business degree is in Marketing, not accounting like the toads running GM, so that makes too much sense, eh?

First hand knowledge.

I think the point folks are missing is America does NOT need (nor did it ask for) another “Jeep” type brand of dedicated off-road vehicles that will NOT be driven off road.

Hummers and most Jeep purchases are irrational. These vehicles sell on image and they generally sell once to a fool who has no understanding of what a real 4×4 vehicles is and the many drawbacks of driving and owning one. For the vast majority of wannabe poser owners, all it takes is one flat tire and the love affair with their “rugged image improver device” is over.

With the exception of “real” off-road drivers Jeeps and Hummers are one time purchases generally made by folks that did not “think it though” before they wrote the check. They buy once get pissed and quickly spread the word.

This has been the case since the CJ turn into the wrangler in the 1980s. Jeep pretty much has that niche covered and if GM had done some REAL research they could have figured that out before they dump how many millions or billions into the whole Hummer/ GM project.

Jeep works because a Jeep is emblematic of the good ol’ days, when we fought that universal enemy, the Nazis. Sure, now they’re mostly big, poorly built land yachts, but the Wrangler is still there to remind everyone that they helped make the US the country it is now…or was.

The HMMWV, on the other hand, has a very different image. Now, I don’t want to start a political fight, and I don’t mean any disrespect to any soldiers, but it’s a vehicle that’s now symbolic of a war a lot of people hate, and of course it’s fairly consistently in the news for being an ungainly deathtrap.
All of this, of course, transfers over to Hummer.

Now, if they can make an honest off-road vehicle that’s not overloaded with luxury items and bling, they might be able to overcome this image, or at the least get sales from the people that don’t care about image but want to be able to hose out their truck.

Unfortunately, they seem to like this bad image, and so cultivate it with “Look at me, I’m badass” styling. That market has been on its way out for a while, so they’d better hurry up and figure out something a bit more practical.

Hummer has an actual brand identity – its SUV image and a facade of wealth (I’d bet most who bought an H2 or H3 couldn’t really afford them) – though with little functionality to those who own them. Saab has potential to sell b/c it still has mfgr capacity that can be sold off with it and a chance to rekindle its roots.

All other brands are poison if they try to segregate them from the GM mothership. You can’t do it – only way to off load them is to kill them off. GM’s too poor to be able to do that – so they’ll need bankruptcy to overcome the state’s franchise laws and pay them off with pennies on the dollar.

Are you kidding me? If it wasn’t the buzz, then you wouldn’t see so many greenwashing efforts not just in the auto industry, but in fashion, technology, politics. Just about everywhere. Now more than ever, it’s cool to be environmentally-friendly.

I’d like to hear their fantasies for revamping. And I’d like to hear it from Lutz. Since a sale seems to be unlikely, maybe it’ll happen. Or maybe it’ll just wither along with the dealers.

Hummer certainly wan’t the most fuel efficient mode of transportation but not nearly as bad a a Ford V-10 4WD Excursion. H2 gets about 10-12 driven conservatively and the Exclusion could do about 1 – 3 less. So see Petunia!!!?

It aint all THAT bad!!!

It seems GM “never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity….”(apologies to Henry Kissinger for the quote stealling).

Is it a “no compromise” off-roader like Jeep (ignore the Compass)?

Is it a “luxury off-roader” like Range Rover?

Is it a “rolling middle finger” like many people see it as?

Some actual brand focus would be nice. That H3T actually looks like a decent machine, but it would be far more desirable with a hose-out interior instead of leather. The Wrangler has always been a hit thanks to the availability of an available “stripper” variant.

The H2 needs to be killed or updated.

The H1 needs to be brought back to bring Hummer’s off-road cred back.

I would rather see them keep it and carefully nurture it than continuing GMC or building an endless amount of rebadged crossovers, trucks and SUVS for all their other brands.

GM’s big mistake with it was taking it too mainstream and discontinuing H1 sales while not offering a direct Wrangler competitor.

Sadly, I don’t think GM has the right mindset or people to make HUMMER successful again. Just like Chrysler is now watering down Jeep into oblivion with cars and vehicles that shouldn’t be wearing the name.

It would be one of the few times that GM isn’t seen as heeing and hawing over something, and at least show to someone that there’s some consistency at the top, even if the opposite is in fact true.

In short, with all the resources that GM has put into Hummer, and the success that the division has had in eating a good portion of Jeep’s lunch, it would be a travesty to dump it as unceremoniously as it did other divisions.

Yes, I know the environment and gas prices are all the rage now, and we are (likely) entering a new paradigm, but who says Hummer ever had to sell in copious quantites to be viable? The question you really have to ask is “is it fielding competitive products vis a vis the Wrangler, the FJ Cruiser, et al?” If not, then Hummer has a problem and GM should deal with it as they see fit.

There will always be politically incorrect vehicles cruising around. GM will have done itself no favours PR-wise by unloading Hummer now.