HUMMER buyouts reportedly offered to HUMMER dealers

[Rocket 88]

So Ford Sells Land Rover for big bucks and GM shells out money to kill Hummer?!

Sure its an over simplified way to look at it but you gotta scratch your head a little. Its not like gas was $2.75/gallon when Tata bought Land Rover (and Jaguar).

[MrJamesMc]

You know how one issue with GM is trying to appeal to younger buyers? Hummer doesn't appeal to most of my friends that range from 15-18, so maybe this is a good thing that GM is trying to kill it off. When we are of the age to buy cars, we won't consider Hummer. We like the Cadillac CTS and Camaro though.

[Whitesky]

Originally Posted by MrJamesMc

You know how one issue with GM is trying to appeal to younger buyers? Hummer doesn't appeal to most of my friends that range from 15-18, so maybe this is a good thing that GM is trying to kill it off. When we are of the age to buy cars, we won't consider Hummer. We like the Cadillac CTS and Camaro though.

I guess it may be regional, because most teenagers I'm around (a lot) dream of an H2 or Escalade. They wouldn't be caught dead in a Prius or Civic and can't wait for the new Camaro to come out.

[hughfb3]

I dont get GM sometimes... where are we really going? We have 2mode technology, put it standard in all retail hummers since it is already a pricey brand with cache. Make diesel an option and outfit it with "New Technology" for it to be able to run on ethanol or vegetable oil for filling stations like the green ones we have here in Los Angeles. It would also open up Hummer to the breadbasket states. TRANSFORM IT FROM THE MOST BROWN BRAND TO THE MOST GREEN in an instant, by making it cutting edge niche green. In the long run when/if hydrogen becomes available, Hummer could be positioned to be the first vehicles with the tech since they are large vehicles and can store the components more easily until the tech advances and things get smaller, like they always do.

And since there is a "shortage" on saturn dealerships, merge the beautiful and newish Hummer dealerships with saturn. Saturn/Hummer where Hummer is the enviro-truck component to the euro-saturn cars.

^^^For those that are unfamiliar with the "New Technology" I was referring to, many people here in Los Angeles are using both new and old diesels from old Mercedes to new VW Touregs and converting them so they can run on vegetable oil. We even have filling stations outfitted with Veg Oil, E-85, natural gas, and hydrogen... although hydro is less available

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by hughfb3

I dont get GM sometimes... where are we really going? We have 2mode technology, put it standard in all retail hummers since it is already a pricey brand with cache. Make diesel an option and outfit it with "New Technology" for it to be able to run on ethanol or vegetable oil for filling stations like the green ones we have here in Los Angeles. It would also open up Hummer to the breadbasket states. TRANSFORM IT FROM THE MOST BROWN BRAND TO THE MOST GREEN in an instant, by making it cutting edge niche green. In the long run when/if hydrogen becomes available, Hummer could be positioned to be the first vehicles with the tech since they are large vehicles and can store the components more easily until the tech advances and things get smaller, like they always do.

And since there is a "shortage" on saturn dealerships, merge the beautiful and newish Hummer dealerships with saturn. Saturn/Hummer where Hummer is the enviro-truck component to the euro-saturn cars.

You can't be rational in irrational times.

Americans are freaking out over fuel prices that the rest of the world has been paying for over a decade (strange, since Americans are supposedly so wealthy). As such, it becomes a matter of image, and the big SUV's image is tarnished.

It's the same situation as back in the Depression, when the über wealthy started buying ordinary cars like Buicks and Chryslers because it was simply too vulgar to be seen a Pierce-Arrow. Cadillac was kept alive because GM demoted it from Rolls-Royce status to just-above-Buick, so much so that it caused the death of LaSalle.

Social conditions killed off the luxury marques of the 1930s possibly more so than a lack of wealthy buyers, and today's social conditions will kill off brands like Hummer. Believe me $4/gallon gas ain't affecting the pocketbooks of people in my high-income neighborhood, but I can guarantee you'll be seeing quite a few big SUVs around here replaced by smaller offerings soon.

Today's SUV is tomorrow's disco ball.

[JeffInDFW]

Like so many others, I think killing it or selling is a bad idea. Look at Jeep. There will always be a market for true off road vehicles. What GM needs to understand is, it is ok to design and sell vehicles for people that need them, and build the number of vehicles for that market. They were short-sighted IDIOTS for demanding that Hummer dealers build separate showrooms. They had just spent BILLIONS getting rid of Oldsmobile to cut the number of brand they were liable for....So, they start Hummer. They should have simply did what BMW did with Mini, and offered Hummer to either Cadillac dealerships since they already are setup to cater to high end customers, or to GMC dealerships since they are the truck brand. It never should have been a separate franchise, and instead it should have just been a brand within a brand. That way, if GM needs to alter the product mix or numbers, they can.

I say, fold Hummer into either GMC or Cadillac.

[SUPERBADD75]

Originally Posted by The Law

why don't they or can't they just convert Hummer's spot to other brand either Saturn or Buick and sell Saturn's dealership along in the trade of Hummer or would that cost too much?

Because we know Gm wants Saturn to have more dealerships and Hummer doesn't really need many with the current fuel rate.

just wonder if thus is something that could work for both parties.Hummer would be out of Saab-Caddy showrooms.

i think the whole idea of selling Saturns out of the old Hummer buildings is an awesome idea, but the buildings wouldn't mathc the Saturn brand image so much. Saturn is a great brand and more exposure would certainly see more cars sold. i think their lack of marketing has really been the reason for them not taking off.

[member12]

Originally Posted by Whitesky

I guess it may be regional, because most teenagers I'm around (a lot) dream of an H2 or Escalade. They wouldn't be caught dead in a Prius or Civic and can't wait for the new Camaro to come out.

You live in Michigan.

[ghughes]

"Today's SUV is tomorrow's disco ball." one was part of a dance fad, the other is a product that has been around 70 years and provides utility to their owners, so no, bad analogy. I was really hoping that Hmvee could hang around long enough to merge with jeep when dcx finally goes under. The Jeep-Hmvee dealership

[OneMeanChevy]

GM sells Hummer to ______ for $____________.


Six months later:
Gas Prices tumble to an average of $3.25 a gallon.

Year Later:
Major breakthought makes the production of E85 cheaper and more viable.

Year and two Months Later
Gas Prices tumble to an average of $2.22 a gallon.
E85 Prices tumble to an average of $1.05 a gallon.

Hummers are Hot again.



Ok, Seriously, then again it could happen ^^^, GM should stick with Hummer and revamp the brand within an inch of its life.

[kenman923]

Didn't GM learn anything from shutting down Oldsmobile? Apparently not.

[DemonKnightDK]

It makes me think GM is going to either put hummer on hold, or fold it to caddy. Escalade could become the H2, renamed the Cadilade EX1!

[hercman]

If GM sold "Hummer" what would they sell? The name/dealerships? The whole Hummer line-up are all based off of current GM trucks. So do you give a competitor access to your factories?

I think the Hummer lineup should be revamped and the dealerships dropped. Hummer only needs two vehicles. A small diesel powered wrangler competitor and a mid size diesel powered ultimate off road six passenger vehicle with a decent tow rating. The larger of two would be limited in production maybe 30,000 a year if that much and the smaller one would be in comparable numbers to the Wrangler at a cheaper price. If GM could get a small 4x4 base model with options comparable to that of the Wrangler Rubicon with the 3.6L DI motor at a price comparable to a base model Wrangler sales would be good. Upscale would include a miser diesel and lots of tech goodies throw in winch front and rear as standard etc and see what would happen.