Hummer Australia Sales Defy US Crash

[JoeT]

Hummer In Australia Defies US Crash

Chris Zappone
4 June 2008
www.smh.com.au

Soaring fuel prices have failed to dent sales of the Hummer H3 in Australia, as General Motors says it may drop its hulking sports-utility after figures showed US motorists are buying smaller cars.

The Australian division of Holden overseeing Hummer sales said it had sold 852 H3 vehicles since it began importing the model in October.

''We have only been able to meet customer pre-orders,'' said Emily Perry, a spokeswoman for GM Premium Brands. ''For us the Hummer brand has been extremely successful,'' she said.

General Motors in the US said overnight that it may drop its Hummer unit, as surging fuel prices turn buyers away from the vehicles that generated profit for the automaker and criticism from environmentalists.

Hummer vehicles - dubbed the ''planet killer'' by some environmentalists - may be redesigned, or all or part of the division may be sold, GM said. The company didn't say when it would make a decision.

Ms Perry said the H3 model with a Vortec 3700 3.7 litre engine gets 13.9 litres per 100km, comparable to the efficiency of a large V8 sedan.

The H2 model, with a much larger Vortec 6000 V8 engine, is imported in small numbers by outside businesses who then convert the vehicle for use on Australian roads and sell it in niche volumes.

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Hummer Under Review For Sale Or Major Revamp
Front Page Poll: What Should GM Do With Hummer?

[redTT]

Why doesnt America just export to all over the place instead of killing the hummer?

[SpaceCowboy]

So basically all of the cars sold were meeting pre-orders placed before the fuel surge?

Sales for Hummer are impressive, but it's a new brand and I get the feeling it will remain a niche brand here. Sure there will be a rush at first, but things will soon calm down.

Sales of SUV's in Australia don't seem to be slowing though so Hummer may still do alright here, but a diesel engine would help more than anything especially when it comes to selling into regional areas.

Only time will tell, but I can't but think it is the wrong vehicle at the wrong time.

[Patto1]

And again I have been vindicated

There IS a market for large SUV's + pick-ups in Australia

No matter how though the market gets, there will always be people in this country who need/want these types of vehicles.

[TJ95GAGT]

There is a market for these anywhere IMO. Someone will always want and can afford a vehicle of this nature. Maybe improve FE some, offer it with a 2 mode option since I'm sure most sold in the US never make it offroad from what I see around here.

[Robert Ryan]

Sales for Hummer are impressive, but it's a new brand and I get the feeling it will remain a niche brand here. Sure there will be a rush at first, but things will soon calm down.

Only time will tell, but I can't but think it is the wrong vehicle at the wrong time

Exactly. Hummer is not long for this world GMNA has to sell or kill it. Soon it will be a curiosity.

[The Law]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

Exactly. Hummer is not long for this world GMNA has to sell or kill it. Soon it will be a curiosity.

GM can revamp the whole line up starting with producing the Trax concept, then something along the lines of a jeep wrangler.

[rsbaker]

Originally Posted by redTT

Why doesnt America just export to all over the place instead of killing the hummer?

I agree! They shouldn't kill it or sell it but remake it and export to places this want to buy.
GM could offer some hybrid versions in the US....every little bit helps.

[BBDOS CV8]

Selling 800 in 8 months is hardly earth shattering or vindication of anything. That's probably a couple of nights overtime for the plant. If all they've done is meet preorders it's hardly going to help the overall picture for Hummer, especially as those sales are to people who put down deposits i.e. really want one.

It's if they can sell them off lots when buyers aren't committed. And these would all have been ordered before $1.60 a litre ULP. I wonder how many orders they've taken in the last month?

[PontiacBixler]

Here's the thing that I have never understood... why does everyone in America hate Hummer?

When we were looking at getting an SUV a few months back I really wanted an H3. However when my in-laws found out, I got nothing but snarky comments about how bad the gas mileage is on those things and how "elitist" they are.

Well after test driving one, I personally loved it, but my wife sat in the back seat with our, then 3 month old, baby in his car seat and said that the ride was too bumpy back there for him. Plus with the news that the V6 was coming next year, I nixed the decision for a Hummer purchase this year. We then found a nice Jeep Grand Cherokee that had a smoother drive for our baby and was cheaper (since it was used). I checked the MPG before buying and found that the ratings were pretty close to the H3.

After driving it now for about 2 months I find that I get about 14.4MPG in the city and 21MPG on the open road. Funny thing is that when my in-laws saw the Jeep they were like "Oooh" and "Aahh" and all complimentary about how they were happy we went with a Jeep instead of a Hummer. I looked at them and told them the MPG was the same as the H3 and asked them what they had against Hummer anyways. The only thing they could muster up was that it was the aura of the vehicle.

Both vehicles started out life as military transports which have progressed into the market as rugged SUVs. Why is it though that Jeep has a better image than Hummer?

Is it because of the HumVee H1 and Ah-nold in California? If it is then an image issue, that can be erased with proper marketing, which is something that GM has failed to do miserably with ALL of their brands of late.

It's almost as bad as asking someone if they would look at a new Saturn Aura and you get the upturned sneer followed by "but those cars are made of plastic and are cheap"....

Hummer can EASILY be GM's Jeep. They just need to make them a little lighter, get better MPG, not be such dogs on the HP end and make smaller versions. Jeep's 2 door Wrangler is starting to feel full sized now. If Hummer could bring the H4 in at something slightly smaller than the Wrangler, they could have a real winner as well as axe the H2 or at least make it smaller.

The H3 has a great design feel to it. Let that vehicle be the halo design that all subsequent Hummers are based off of.

All this CAN be done GM.

[mcool]

Originally Posted by redTT

Why doesnt America just export to all over the place instead of killing the hummer?

I don't see GM selling the Hummer Brand... though I do see a scaling back and down of the brand and its positioning. Look for the H4 to get fast-tracked, and the H2 to get dropped.

I'll bet the luxury/excess branding will be swiftly rearranged into off-road utility a la Jeep pre-90s. No more full-size vehicles, but more sensibly-sized, and credibly efficient.

[Rocket 88]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

Here's the thing that I have never understood... why does everyone in America hate Hummer?

Both vehicles started out life as military transports which have progressed into the market as rugged SUVs. Why is it though that Jeep has a better image than Hummer?

Hummer can EASILY be GM's Jeep. They just need to make them a little lighter, get better MPG, not be such dogs on the HP end and make smaller versions. Jeep's 2 door Wrangler is starting to feel full sized now. If Hummer could bring the H4 in at something slightly smaller than the Wrangler, they could have a real winner as well as axe the H2 or at least make it smaller.

If your right and eveyone hates hummer then there may be little use in keeping it. Generally, I agree with your point that Hummer can be GM's Jeep. GM is obviously concerned about investing the resources to change the products and reduce the size. I'd also guess they some concern over how appealing a much smaller Hummer would be.

Jeep probably has a better image because folks equate JEEP with Bantam, Willys, CJ and Wrangler; friendly looking vehicle originally designed to replace the horse. Not really threatening and more about military transportation then actual combat.

Hummers are mostly associated with the H1 and H2. A massive and excessive vehicles in size and other measures.

Some folks hate it because it says "I'm a jerk compensating for my small pee pee."

Some folks hate em because they don't fit in parking spaces and the owners end up taking two.

Other hate them because they seem like the ultimate assault on the enviornment with bad fuel economy.

some hate them because they find it offensive for people to "play soldier" while our troops are getting killed in them overseas.

Some folks are just jealous.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by PontiacBixler

Here's the thing that I have never understood... why does everyone in America hate Hummer?

When we were looking at getting an SUV a few months back I really wanted an H3. However when my in-laws found out, I got nothing but snarky comments about how bad the gas mileage is on those things and how "elitist" they are.

Well after test driving one, I personally loved it, but my wife sat in the back seat with our, then 3 month old, baby in his car seat and said that the ride was too bumpy back there for him. Plus with the news that the V6 was coming next year, I nixed the decision for a Hummer purchase this year. We then found a nice Jeep Grand Cherokee that had a smoother drive for our baby and was cheaper (since it was used). I checked the MPG before buying and found that the ratings were pretty close to the H3.

After driving it now for about 2 months I find that I get about 14.4MPG in the city and 21MPG on the open road. Funny thing is that when my in-laws saw the Jeep they were like "Oooh" and "Aahh" and all complimentary about how they were happy we went with a Jeep instead of a Hummer. I looked at them and told them the MPG was the same as the H3 and asked them what they had against Hummer anyways. The only thing they could muster up was that it was the aura of the vehicle.

Both vehicles started out life as military transports which have progressed into the market as rugged SUVs. Why is it though that Jeep has a better image than Hummer?

Is it because of the HumVee H1 and Ah-nold in California? If it is then an image issue, that can be erased with proper marketing, which is something that GM has failed to do miserably with ALL of their brands of late.

It's almost as bad as asking someone if they would look at a new Saturn Aura and you get the upturned sneer followed by "but those cars are made of plastic and are cheap"....

Hummer can EASILY be GM's Jeep. They just need to make them a little lighter, get better MPG, not be such dogs on the HP end and make smaller versions. Jeep's 2 door Wrangler is starting to feel full sized now. If Hummer could bring the H4 in at something slightly smaller than the Wrangler, they could have a real winner as well as axe the H2 or at least make it smaller.

The H3 has a great design feel to it. Let that vehicle be the halo design that all subsequent Hummers are based off of.

All this CAN be done GM.

Yeah, it's an image thing. Part of the problem is they started stupid huge and got smaller, as opposed to Jeep, which went the other way around. The anti-enviromental loopholes the H2 qualified for (so big it isn't counted towards CAFE or needs to put MPG on it's sticker, and the huge business tax breaks on big vehicles) didn't help.

The H3 is not a huge vehicle, and the (apparently now cancelled) H4 would have been smaller. But sales are in a free fall on pretty much all non-crossover SUVs, small and large. If the H4 was ready to go, they would make it, but they probably can't justify spending the money on it in this gas price climate.

I don't think they will kill HUMMER outright very soon, just do an Isuzu-like slow term bleed to death (resulting in it's death in a few years, but long after anybody cares). They will kill the H2 when GM's contract with AM General expires, but H3 will stick around as long as they still make Colorados and Canyons at the same plant, and the H3T is far enough along that it will be released. But advertising will be minimal to nonexistant, and there will be no new products after the current batch.

This is the proper thing to do; investing more in HUMMER instead of, say, a small car that can properly compete with the Corolla and Civic would be a bad investment right now.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by BBDOS CV8

Selling 800 in 8 months is hardly earth shattering or vindication of anything. ...

I agree. I like HUMMER, but I don't let that blind me to the realities of the market. Australia is a land mass approximately the same size as the USA, but with only 1/15 the population (20.4 million vs. 298 million). The US State of Texas at 23.5 million has a population 15% greater than that of Australia.

At 800 sales in eight months, the HUMMER sales rate in Australia is 100/month. Scaled to the US population, this is an equivalent sales rate of 1500/month. May 2008 US sales for HUMMER were 1,843 after a 61.7% drop from May 2007 (4,636).

The takeaway message is that Australia cannot save HUMMER.

[2648562]

I bet most people in Australia don't put 24 inch rims on them and cover them with chrome. Hummers do have a practical side--most Americans just ignore it (including GM who didn't care how they were portrayed as long as they were selling).