GM Responds To Jeep Wrangler Success; Hummer H4 Gets Green Light

[atomicshark]

Originally Posted by CrunkedRL

CobaltSScrazy once again you come through making a whole lot of sense. The Wrangler has been in existence for many years and if anyone was "late to the party" it was Chrysler for not capitalizing on this nameplate some time ago. Most here should bear in mind that this is the only edge Chrysler has on GM. Every other car Chrysler has produced from the now defunct Crossfire to the Avenger is out performed, out classed, and out shined by by most every GM car within the same segment. 09' I think would be the perfect time to bring a new product or two to the Hummer brand. I've spoken with several individuals about Hummer over the past couple years and many associate it's name with both luxury refinements and extensive offroad capabilities. This is great start to a relatively younger brand to GM.

I agree completely. I look forward to seeing the H4. I like the fact that there will finally be a true Wrangler competitor.

Hummer has the potential to become as popular as Jeep, but with a more premium image. All good things for GM's bottom line.

[BigAls87Z28]

Late to the party? Yeah, I guess you can look at it like that....60 years late?
The Wrangler is like the 911. There is a gentlemans agreement that the other Big 2 wouldnt make a car to compete directly with the Wrangler...oh well, thats over.

The H4 has been ready for a while now, but the green light has yet to be given. MY2011? Thats too late. MY2009? That sounds about right. Show it off in Detroit or have a MASSIVE launch at SEMA with aftermarket parts and other stuff ALL READY set for it.

What GM should do is make an H4 but be designed and built like the H1. IFS/IRS with everything tucked up and away. Since the original Hummer replaced the Jeep as the off-road, do anything military vehicle, the H4 will do the same!

Really, what will this H4 be able to do? Will it have IFS? Will that hurt sales vs the solid axle'ed Wrangler? I see that none of the dealer people took a look at that, as there was no mention of that.
Looks like an enclosed dune-buggy with exposed shocks and massive tires eh?
Looks like the Rubicon will be facing some serious competition. If this car is 3 years away, that means that we are getting an all new chassis.

[JonathanRohr]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

Late to the underaged party and left holding the beer when the cops show up.

BWAAHHAHAHA!

..youre my hero

[acorvettekid]

How can GM get a H4 to market by 2009 ? That's only one year (fall of 08).... how long has it taken to get a Camaro here ? Geez

[t-rex]

Three years until it arrives? Lord I hope gas prices don't bury Hummer before then. I think GM's biggest mistake with Hummer is to keep it as a "luxury" brand, instead of making it a full-line Jeep competitor. It was good for them start Hummer off that way, but the line should have gotten new model additions every 2 years or so. If GM could have only afforded to do so!

Is built off GMT345? Will Shreveport build it?

[kodos78]

I think that the problem is that it seems like GM was indecisive about H4 until they saw the success of the redesigned Wrangler. Those things are just flying off of dealer lots, and the ones near me still have an ADM of about $4000!

I'm not paying $35,000 for a Wrangler.

Maybe this can be Hummer's HHR. Have the critics poo-poo a "me too" version of the original, but come out with something so good it makes the original Chrysler unit (which has a bunch of sore points still) look bad.

But this is Hummer of course. The same folks who brought us H2

[jkennedy293]

Originally Posted by acorvettekid

How can GM get a H4 to market by 2009 ? That's only one year (fall of 08).... how long has it taken to get a Camaro here ? Geez

I agree. It seems people forget that they just can't build an assembly line and put cars together. You have build tooling, vendors have to build tooling, pre-production models have to be made, engineering for the vehicle's 1000+ parts has to be done, and they have to fit together flawlessly. Frankly, if GM rushed this vehicle to market and it wasn't up to snuff, everyone would be wondering why they didn't take their time and build it right.

I guess GM can do no right, even with their own fans.

[momolos]

Originally Posted by Olds88

I agree, and futhermore, I don't really see the H3 competing with the FJ. The FJ is a pretend offroader , essentially a reskinned 4Runner which competes with TrailBlazer and Explorer. H3 is a purpose built machine, you buy one to go offroad. FJ is a "me-too" reincarnation of an old toyo Jeep clone/rip-off.

Not that I want to stick up for Toyota but the 4Runner is a great offroad vehicle.
Toyota has been making offroad vehicles longer than Hummer....Not better but just longer.
I mean the original FJ jeep was 20 times better than the wrangler ever was at that time.
And they also have multible Land Cruisers around the world. Also they made the Mega Cruiser which was like a Hummer H1 well before there was an H1.
As much as I love GM I am man enough to give credit where credit is deserved.
If you really look at the history of Toyota they made a lot of suv vehicles it's in their DNA.
That is why it's funny to me now that they are known for being the Green car company!
But Hummer is best in the world for offroading now in my opinion.
And to your original point about the 4Runner going up against the Trailblazer offroading.....The Blaze has no chance against the 4Runner.

[Chaz_23]

"Colorado based"
Hey GM, when's the next all-new midsize pick-up truck coming out?

[Havasavana]

Originally Posted by adplusone

Hummer dealers are dying on the vine.

This is what amazes me. How do these people hang on, and why in the world did they sign on in the first place so sell 1, at the time, vehicle? What were they told about follow-on products when they bought the franchises? From what I remember, Toyota usually sells more FJ Cruisers per month than GM sells Hummers of all models. Last month, for a change, GM sold 5093 Hummers, down from 5,661 in 2006, and Toyota sold 4,483 FJs, down from 6,366 in 2006.

[BigAls87Z28]

I can see two ways of doing this...

Shortened 355 chassis, but who knows how short they can get that thing to be the same size as a Wrangler 2dr. The 4dr Wrangler Rubicon is just about as big as an H3 though....

An all-new chassis designed for the H4/X only. Its just gunna take a very long time to get here if thats the case.

[OrlandoGuy80]

I'm beginning to wonder how many of the Hummers should have been given to GMC from the get-go. GM could have easily fostered a "professional grade" brand image for GMC whilst also expanding the brand's appeal to cover both traditional truck/SUV segments (Sierra, Yukon, H2, H3, H4) as well as crossover style vehicles (Acadia).

Just a thought ...

[jkennedy293]

Originally Posted by Havasavana

This is what amazes me. How do these people hang on, and why in the world did they sign on in the first place so sell 1, at the time, vehicle? What were they told about follow-on products when they bought the franchises? From what I remember, Toyota usually sells more FJ Cruisers per month than GM sells Hummers of all models. Last month, for a change, GM sold 5093 Hummers, down from 5,661 in 2006, and Toyota sold 4,483 FJs, down from 6,366 in 2006.

Most Hummer dealerships I've seen are in tandem with a Caddy dealership.

[Olds88]

Originally Posted by momolos

Not that I want to stick up for Toyota but the 4Runner is a great offroad vehicle.
Toyota has been making offroad vehicles longer than Hummer....Not better but just longer.
I mean the original FJ jeep was 20 times better than the wrangler ever was at that time.
And they also have multible Land Cruisers around the world. Also they made the Mega Cruiser which was like a Hummer H1 well before there was an H1.
As much as I love GM I am man enough to give credit where credit is deserved.
If you really look at the history of Toyota they made a lot of suv vehicles it's in their DNA.
That is why it's funny to me now that they are known for being the Green car company!
But Hummer is best in the world for offroading now in my opinion.
And to your original point about the 4Runner going up against the Trailblazer offroading.....The Blaze has no chance against the 4Runner.

I agree with you but I think you misunderstood me. I was referring to the onroad behavior of the TB vs FJ/4R. The TB is an onroader for sure and it rides far smoother than the 4runner and outperforms it too. I was trying to point out the bias in the review. The FJ was chosen over the H3 in an offroad competition due to onroad abilities. By that logic a TB would be chosen over an FJ in a similar comparison.

[rsbaker]

Originally Posted by adplusone

Typical GM...late to the party.

Their favorite game is "follow the leader".

Hummer dealers are dying on the vine.

2009 Model year?

Oh wait, isn't that when the Camaro is finally due?

Late for sure, this is GM after all, but it does seem that they have been doing the work on it because it says it will be a 2009 model year offering so that's really only a year away. They could have said 2011 or 12. It also says some select people have seen it and liked it which bodes well for the new H4 model.