GM Likely Killing Hummer H2, SUV Sales Still Strong
Published by Joel May 24th, 2007 in Cars. Share This
Good and bad news from this opinion column at SFGate.com: GM is probably killing the Hummer H2, the comically pathetic “military-inspired” SUV that is simple a big GM truck with a fancy shell, built on the same platform as the Chevy Tahoe and the GMC Yukon. It seems sales are down enough to axe the model and its six-liter, 10 MPG engine.
Sadly, though, it appears Americans are buying SUVs in greater numbers than recently, causing an upswing in sales over 2006 numbers. One cause behind the uptick in SUV sales is thought to be the abandonment by auto manufacturers of the minivan, now relegated to the junkyard alongside other perfectly serviceable automobile configurations like the station wagon.
I understand that a few people have a need for large SUVs and that a person’s willingness to pay the premium in fuel goes a long way towards justifying the cost. But what I don’t understand is what seems to the acceptance of edge-case preparedness, the idea that a person has a few kids and makes the occasional trip to the big box store, so must therefor own a vehicle capable for addressing that need even if it is very occasional. Is there some shame in having a store deliver your large goods? Is there really a “comfort” issue for large people as claimed by the 6′ 4″ man in the above-linked article? I’m 6′ 3″ and fit just fine into a Honda Civic, which has enough seating for four and plenty of cargo-hauling room in the back, especially in the hatchback.
What’s it going to take for the average American car owner to accept that owning a modest vehicle is, you know, actually cool? What’s wrong with buying a crossover SUV that gets great has mileage, still seats six (or the now-magical seven), but might not quite be able to tow your boat down the highway at 80 MPH?
Rejoice, The Hummer Is Dead [SFGate]
14 Responses to “GM Likely Killing Hummer H2, SUV Sales Still Strong”
- 1 Trackback on May 31st, 2007 at 12:01 am
And you know, if the Dodge Magnum station wagon was cheaper, I would own one as I LIKE the station wagon form. Reason being is I need a lot of room for tech equipment, but dont want to be driving a SUV.
I definetely have to say that the 6′4″ guy was full of crap. I’m a tick over 6′8″ and found the Hummer to be very uncomfortable (tried it at the Detroit Auto Show). Meanwhile my Chevy Monte Carlo has tons of room. There are quit a few smaller cars with lots of room for the tall.
I’m pretty much a snobby “No American” car person (minus the Corvette, of course), but god damn if that Magnum isn’t a good looking ride. I’m so happy to see people rolling around in those on the street as a “cool” car, because handling, mileage, etc. aside, it has a ton of character.
Station wagons are even cooler when you brand them as ’sportwagons’ like our friends at BMW. My 525iT gets 26 mi/gal (combined) has obscenely more cargo than an X5 and handles like a bat outta hell. Most euro car brands still faithfully churn out wagons- Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Saab, Volvo. Unfashionable here, but all the room and none of the guilt. That’s why I buy cars from overseas.
Most Euro car brands don’t bring their really nice stationwagons to the US though - like the Audi RS4, RS6 and S6 in Avant form; the new BMW M5 wagon; and those lovely smaller Mercedes AMG wagons that I’ve only ever seen as F1 safety cars (although I’ve heard rumours that the E55/E63 AMG wagons were/are available in the US)…
I like the looks of the Magnum too, but if I had to have more cargo room (than I do in my Corolla, which I adore) I would probably go with the Honda Element - tons of space, nice design, and the mileage is slightly better even than most of the wagon styles, including the Magnum.
I’m a living testament that you can fit 2 kids (BOTH with carseats), 2 adults, a dog, and whole lotta kidgear into a sedan - comfortably. Love my Civic. Great mileage too.
Saturns actually got a new Euro brand (ie re-badged Opel)hatchback coming here that looks pretty nice called the Astra.
http://www.caranddriver.com/assets/image/2007/Q1/020720071424214249.jpg
I’d have to see it in person, but if they are really keeping the Euro interior which the saturn.com website seems to be showing, then it would be a nice change of pace compared to typical GM plastic.
My wife and I both have Jeep Liberties. We live in a city with an atrocious transit system, forcing us both to drive.
When we bought the second Liberty, my only concern was making sure she was in something AWD for our long, icy winters. A second Liberty was the furthest thing from our minds, but 0% vs. a 6.9% lease rate unfortunately ruled out many other options. About 1 month after purchasing the second Jeep, we started to feel guilty. After these leases run down, we’ll likely do some rearranging to become a one vehicle household. The bright side of our two-Jeep debacle is that we’re making a conscious effort to go more green to offset the damage we’re doing.
i think it’s pretty impressive how quickly a stigma has developed about SUVs. Especially the stupid huge ones. i wonder how many excursions are sold now. i really wish that honda would come out with a hybrid version of the CR-V though. that thing would get at least 40 in the city, and it’s nice to have the room. i’ve driving at mazda protege 5, which they sadly don’t make anymore. i freaking love it, and it fits a ton of stuff with the back seats flat.
I know it’s the modern version of the “Griswald criuser”, but are we all forgetting the mini-van? My wife and I have two vehicles, one of which I won’t mention here out of embarassment (ok, it’s a ‘92 Taurus, bought out of need for cheapest price mostly). The one we drive the most, however, is our newest of the two, an ‘03 Kia Sedona.
See, we have two children, boys, 12 and 14. The youngest is around 5′7″ and the oldest is 6′2″. So, obviously we need more room for them than most of your two-child families do. And, although I’d like for our van to have better gas mileage, for a six-cylinder vehicle it gets pretty good mileage.
All I’m saying is, a mini-van may not be considered by most folks as a sexy car to drive, but it has at least almost as much room in it as your average SUV, with much better mileage, at a MUCH cheaper price.
Well, a car is in many cases, like clothing and assessories. There will be average Joe and Jane, who will buy a good quality but very affordable, not very stylish clothing from the likes of Costcos, Wal-marts or Target. Then, there will always be people that will spend an unjustifiable amount of money to buy something from 5th Ave, NYC, such as a $400.00 sunglass. Just like people will buy a Hummer. It is not a necessity, but it is a choice.
I believe people should leave other people’s choice alone, just like I don’t see any Hummer Drivers Rolling up to the Gigantic McMansions on the Hollywood hills for telling these multi-millionaires that they are distroying the world with the huge houses……….all over the world. Well, if everyone of them live like Daryl Hannah, I won’t have any beef with them telling me I should be more environmentally concious. When they stop flying on Private Jet, start living in normal houses like the 1500 sq feet home for a family of 4, then, they have the right to ridicule others for distroying the world, otherwise, they should just shut up.
Not that I don’t think it is important to protect mother earth, but spending all the energy to vilified our Fellow Drivers on the road is not helping. Carbon offset, that is just another way of telling the poor that………..the wealthy can pollute more because they can afford it.
Noneof you guys probaly have a 4000 square ft. house, a job that makes 100000 or more year, or even a full size s.u.v. so I suggjest you all just shut your poor,smug,gay mouths before we go after your gay hybrids and minivans