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

[t-rex]

You're the first one to pop into my mind, nfamous...

Sad to hear your plant is closing. I know it'll hit the Miami Valley pretty hard. Who knows though, maybe some new GM product will sell so well that they'll need an additional plant to build it in! Well, we can hope.

***

I'm surprised the Oshawa Truck plant is closing. It's the most productive of the four GMT900 pickup plants. I figured they'd close the lower-volume Flint plant first. And we may see even more GMT900 plants close if sales of that family tank badly. They're being produced in EIGHT plants currently, soon whittled down to five. If another GMT900 plant closes, my bet is on Arlington or Pontiac.

[jameskz28]

Originally Posted by Perian

He also said the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued.

NOOO!

This is GM's problem- they have no clue how to seperate the identities of thier brands. They are too busy trying to make every brand appeal to every customer. Maybe they need to spin off a couple badges. Stop trying to rebadge everything and give your brands some individuality.

Does anyone see Ferarri or Porsche or Lamborghini closing plants? No, and why? Because they know they have a niche vehicle and treat it as such. Make something that your target audience wants to buy and it doesn't matter what kind of gas mileage it gets OR how much it costs.

[Mikkoo]

I watched the live coverage on CNBC today. It was inevitable that GM would have
to face these hard decisions. I applaud them as not only a shareholder,
but a fan also. As the days of cheap oil are well behind us, the consumer will choose
more fuel efficient vehicles. The big SUV as we know them, are quickly becoming a
albatross around GM's neck. These cash cow's can no longer be expected to be the
bellwether they once were. The future will likely be to some degree vehicles that
the American market has shunned in the past. More vehicles like the Honda Fit,
Opel Meriva, and the upcoming Chevy Beat, that has yet to be confirmed for the
North American market. Small, but rather tall people movers will increase in
market share in the coming years. I do believe that GM will cease this opportunity
to re-invent itself and produce vehicles that will meet this challenging high energy
cost future.

[paul8488]

Closing Hummer is a start... but they should go an extra step and turn Pontiac into a new Geo. As gas prices get higher and higher people are going to care even less than they do now about paying a bit more for a Pontiac that they can get at Chevrolet or Saturn. GM could be the only manufacturer with a proper channel for eco-friendly cars (now that Scion has already forgotten that that was their goal).

GM has a handful of good, small, economical cars out now, a few in need of better engines, and a couple more on the way. They shouldn't get tossed into the mix with exisiting brands... they'll too easily get lost. Heck, drop the Pontiac name and use the Geo moniker again. It has a nice ring to it and sounds ecological on its own. It could be the home of all of GM's small cars (Beat, Matiz, Agila, Aveo), along with a basic version of the Cobalt and even the Volt. They could get a people mover too, like the (hopefully coming soon) new Rezzo in Europe, or the Vibe (rebadged). They could offer up some car-based mini pickups and mini utility vans like in other countries.

Make these things as light as possible and focus on fuel economy. The Cobalt XFE shows what GM can do with exisiting platforms... they just need to apply this thinking to all their small cars. I think a semi-new name (Geo) with a bit of recognition would be the best way to get some attention (as we read in another thread that 54% of Americans won't even consider a domestic brand).

[ARCANGEL]

Seriously HUMMER is a dinosaur!!! It doesn't sell and doesn't fit in this new ERA of vehicles!! The trucks are on the slow path to death and are gonna become only for commercial use! SUV's will all become CUV's no more truck frames!!!! This is a vital step and correct step forward for GM it needs to do this ASAP!!!

[skylark68]

Originally Posted by ZillaZ

This is what happens when you don't ADVERTISE your fuel saving features on your trucks... Displacement on Demand ,6 speed transmissions, Hybrids (where available). If no one knows they can get better fuel economy buying a new truck then they might just buy a new car.

Here in the Houston market at least, Chevrolet runs a commercial calling out the fuel savings of the Silverado versus the Tundra.

Sorry to hear about the plant closings. Hopefully the Volt will truly revolutionize the market and cause some plants to reopen to build them.

I think Hummer should be sold off. I don't want to see a unibody Hummer in my lifetime.

[ARCANGEL]

sell off hummer who's gonna buy it!!!!! IT DOESN'T SELL!!!!!

[63cat]

What I would do:

1. Cadillac and Buick need to offer smaller models. ASAP.
a. Caddy is GM's luxury brand. Have a decked out compact.
b. Buick is GM's # 1 brand in reliability. Bring over the Excelle, with a new name.
2. It is time to really think about the Saturn experiment. Does it need to be a full brand? Drop the Outlook. The biggest they offer should be the Aura. Make the Vue a new Buick Rendezvous that looks like a mini Enclave.

[zete]

Originally Posted by ZillaZ

This is what happens when you don't ADVERTISE your fuel saving features on your trucks... Displacement on Demand ,6 speed transmissions, Hybrids (where available). If no one knows they can get better fuel economy buying a new truck then they might just buy a new car.

As the analysts stated up here on the news this morning, it has more to do with the fact that the folks who bought the large trucks and SUVs are hurting. Many are in the trades, and housing is in the dumps so they're not buying and folks who used to buy those vehicles as family haulers are no longer interested due to gas prices.

You can advertise all you want but when credit is tight, the economy is in a hole, and gas is sky high the last thing you'll be thinking of buying is an expensive SUV or a truck unless you absolutely need it for work.

GM is simply reacting to the fact that BOF vehicles are going to become a smaller part of the overall sales picture. This was expected, but gas prices just brought the end that much sooner.

[ARCANGEL]

I agree not every division needs a large CUV or SUV ax the outlook( horrible sales anyway) ax the 9-7x (even worse sales) ax the torrent(insert same here) crap if it was up to me i would ax all of GMC there just chevy rebadges anyway

[ptmeyer84]

I think Hummer should stay, but be scaled down and refocused. Either axe the H2 or greatly limit the production, Redesign the H3 and bring in the H4 along the lines of the HX concept. If Jeep can survive, so can Hummer.

[nsap]

Good moves. They need to kill Hummer before it is too late though.

[jkennedy293]

You know everyone complains that GM is too focused on trucks, but when they cut production and close plants everyone complains they didn't try hard enough to sell them.

It must be nice to want everything.

[osv_alero]

Saturn is the perfect retail outlet for being "green". They already attract that type of customer.

As far as Hummer is concerned; we should have all expected it. It produces a bad image for GM in general. By dropping Hummer and introducing some great smaller cars, maybe GM can convince the public they do make great cars.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by jkennedy293

You know everyone complains that GM is too focused on trucks, but when they cut production and close plants everyone complains they didn't try hard enough to sell them.

If they're going to insist on making so many big trucks and SUVs they may as well advertise them and try to sell them!