GM's Hummer brand under review for sale or major revamp

[Bvonscott]

I can't belive they are shutting down Oshawa. Thats where they made my truck, and I think they do the best job. I sure hope GM doesnt put all their focus away from their trucks and stop upgrading them. I will always have a truck and i only want a GM. If they let them languish and fall behind in design and engineering I'm going to be pissed.

[paul8488]

This story was on the news in France tonight. I was pretty surprised... I never see any US news here unless it's political.

[GMusa]

I can see why the plants are closing... but selling/closing HUMMER is ashame, I like HUMMER. The only way to save HUMMER is to move to smaller vehicles like Jeep. I would still love to see Jeep as a GM brand!

[CadiEldo67]

Originally Posted by paul8488

I got thinking tonight... why are there two midsize BOF truck / SUV platforms? In what world did GM think it was necessary to have the Colorado and Canyon on one platform and the Trailblazer and its 10 variations on another? Why can't their powertrains be interchanged? Why do different versions exist in Australia and Thailand and South America?

I have often wondered this. Just think of the development dollars that could have been saved when creating a new platform for the midsize pickups. And for that matter, they wouldn’t have needed to add new variants of the Atlas Inline-six and add more cost than needed.

Originally Posted by paul8488

You're saying that as if Pontiac is going to get serious about Pontiac, but they're not. The G5, Vibe, and upcoming G3 are proof that GM doesn't see value in Pontiac as a performance brand. They've decided that Pontiac needs as much volume as possible... which makes it Chevrolet.

The Saturn Vue is a gas hog, and the Astra apparently isn't all that efficient either. Chevrolet has comparable vehicles that get better gas mileage. Hybrid sales are somewhere around 1000 for the year for all of GM, according to another article on GMi. If Saturn is the green brand then Buick is the hip brand.

I can see where you are coming from. Pontiac isn’t a serious performance brand, and a die hard Pontiac fan (me) is ready to write them off. There is nothing wrong with having a smaller more efficient car in the lineup, but a new grille and red lit gauges don’t change the fact that it’s a Chevy in drag. I was referring to Pontiac in its heyday, when Pontiac was synonymous with Performance. When Saturn was created, it had a few little cars that got great fuel economy, again, not so much anymore. I’m hardly saying that Pontiac is performance, Saturn is green, Buick is near luxury, Saab is Euro, but I’m saying what it should be. Personally, I don’t think that giving the brand these qualities would hurt them one bit, in fact, they would probably do great.

[paul8488]

I mentioned it in another thread, but I find it very frustrating that, at least with the GMT360s in Moraine, GM clearly saw the writing on the wall and sat and did nothing at all. The TB and Envoy and the others made GM tons of money over the years, but even over a year ago we heard that there was no replacements planned and no new product earmarked for Moraine.

If that's not admitting that there was no future for midsize SUVs, what is it? People have been trying to say that GM was caught off guard by high oil prices, but the fact that they have planned for over a year to let this plant and its product fizzle out tells me that the crystal ball wasn't cloudy, but that they either weren't competent enough to react or preferred to wait and pretend that now, in May 2008, it's too late to do anything about it. Either way that really dissapoints me.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by CadiEldo67

I can see where you are coming from. Pontiac isn’t a serious performance brand, and a die hard Pontiac fan (me) is ready to write them off.

Hey, I'm not trying to rag on you man! I'm actually a Pontiac fan, if you can believe it. I had a 1984 Fiero and a 2004 Vibe, and really liked both vehicles. I grew up with my parents 1986 Trans Am, and thought that it was a great car. When I return to Canada I'll look for a used G6 or Vibe, or even G5. Heck, I'll even take a Wave / G3!

Still, fans like us are few and far between, and GM can't dedicate a brand to people like us, as much as I'd like them to! Emotions aside, in the grand scheme of things, GM has squandered any goodwill that the Pontiac name ever had, and I think that it's a waste to keep the brand alive when their product is (and I can't even say glorified, because they're not!) Chevys.

I know that from a cost standpoint closing Pontiac is prohibitive, but from a theoretical, I'm-typing-on-the-internet standpoint, I fail to see a true reason for keeping Pontiac around.

[paul8488]

If Toyota and Honda were smart they'd go out of their way to increase production in Ontario. There will be alot of bad publicity around the Oshawa closure, and alot of upset direct and indirect GM employees in the province. What better way to gain sympathy than to increase vehicle production while GM takes it away?

It's not that I actually want to see Toyota and Honda benefit from GM's further downturn... but if I was running either Toyota or Honda I'd do all I could to look like the good guy in this situation by pumping up Canadian production.

[Stéphane Dumas]

Originally Posted by paul8488

If Toyota and Honda were smart they'd go out of their way to increase production in Ontario. There will be alot of bad publicity around the Oshawa closure, and alot of upset direct and indirect GM employees in the province. What better way to gain sympathy than to increase vehicle production while GM takes it away?

Actually, it'll all depends of how the Canadian currency will go for the upcoming year(s). I knew then Toyota plans to open one plant near Woodstock ONT (it currently in construction) besides the current one in the WKC arebut there was another post mentionned elsewhere then things aren't all that rosy (if someone from the area could give us more infos about this situation)

[TriShield]

TTAC is reporting HUMMER is going the way of Oldsmobile. With the quickness.



By Robert Farago
June 3, 2008

An anonymous source (whose information has been independently confirmed) tells TTAC that GM has killed the HUMMER brand. While not "official," GM told its field teams that all corporate investment in HUMMER has ceased. No refreshes. No new models. And no more marketing support. The decision pulls the plug from 171 HUMMER franchisees, including 71 standalone dealers. According to our tipster, GM field operatives– who must make nice with the abandoned store owners– are "crapping themselves." And why wouldn't they? Many of these dealers have just spent millions upgrading their dealerships to meet Hummer brand requirements set forth just two years ago. The first lawsuits have probably already been filed. The rest will follow. Still, it should cost GM less than the billion dollars spent shuttering Oldsmobile– although that was back when a billion dollars was real money, not GM's monthly cash burn.

[E. Haskell]

HUMMER up an vanished like a fart in the wind.

[RamJet502]

Dumb f#*ks, very short-sighted. Refresh the exteriors and give them more efficient powertrains.

[TriShield]

Can GMC, GM's other gas-guzzling, all-4x4 brand be far behind?

[rumble bee]

Well, I hate to see them go. Big heavy gas guzzlers, but thoses are the best!

We need to get gas prices in line because they are why Hummer and the others sales are drying up.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by TriShield

Can GMC, GM's other gas-guzzling, all-4x4 brand be far behind?

NO.
Bad.

[TheGeneral]

Any fundamental reason to keep HUMMER?