General Motors announced today that it plans to shutter four of its truck/SUV manufacturing plants. It’s a practical, if not rushed, move for a car company that is seeing Americans quickly turn European and Asian in their desire to drive smaller cars. GM also announced that in the process it may unload its Hummer brand. Good riddance.For the true off-road enthusiast, ok, maybe this truck had some utility. But in my neck of the woods, where there are many more acres of subdivisions and corn fields than forest, motoring with this lumbering leviathan is equivalent of drivable bling. Chrome wheels, chrome bumpers, funky paint jobs and, heaven forbid, nary a speck of mud.
So, let’s start the countdown and say so-long to one pure show boat.
H3, H2, H1. Buh-bye.
3 comments:
Contrary to what was widely reported, GM's statement about Hummer was ambiguous at best.
"Finally, GM is undertaking a strategic review of the Hummer brand to determine its fit within the GM portfolio. 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."
GM is pushing hard for its sales to go through channels with combined dealerships. For example, Pontiac/Buick/GMC. They've talked about a Cadillac/Saab/Hummer premium channel but the current Hummer models compete for the same customers as the 'sclades.
Discontinuing Hummer altogether would be too painful for GM, so they'd rather see someone step up and buy it like Tata bought Land Rover from Ford. There are other specialty players out there with money like India's Mahindra & Mahindra. Then again, maybe Cerberus will step forward and snap up Hummer to settle that 7-bar grille thing once and for all.
Thanks for the comment, Greg. The premium positioning makes sense. People with money won't feel the sting of $4 gas as a lot of other folks will.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be just as happy as anyone to see them fade away. It would be nice to see the full-size truck/SUV market return to the point where they are purchased out of necessity and not vanity.
Post a Comment