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

[NfamousZ24]

Originally Posted by EldoFan

Sorry my reply wasn't more in-depth (it is though in the other related thread)/ on topic.

I don't want this to sound bad, I'm just severely uninformed here.......what (specifically) do some of the other plants produce (the ones that rank lower than yours) ??

I'd find it just as appalling for GM to close a good performing plant producing a product with low demand as I would for them to keep a poor performing plant in operation, which is producing a product with good/decent demand (of which I'm sure you could name a few....).

At least you can get out with your head still above water though....

GMS (if I can remember right)

#1 Sialo, Mexico
#2 Oshawa plant 1 or 2
#3 Oshawa plant 1 or 2
#4 Bowling Green
tied
#5 Lansing Delta Township
#5 Moraine Assembly
then the rest but who cares they get to move up a spot since Moraine is getting shut down.

[windvale]

Originally Posted by Hurricane

My mother-in-law just traded her Subaru Outback wagon and ordered a new Toyota Prius.....that was the first big sign to me that people are really freaking out about gas prices...

And so it begins...

There's a lot of very informed people in the oil industry that are saying that we're looking at $8.00 a gallon gas w/in 2 - 3 years. If that's the case, then the Smart Car is going to be the next generation's Suburban, and a Vespa will be the family car of the future...

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by EldoFan

I'd find it just as appalling for GM to close a good performing plant producing a product with low demand as I would for them to keep a poor performing plant in operation, which is producing a product with good/decent demand (of which I'm sure you could name a few....).

GM simply has no product to assign to Moraine.

And moving production from a crappy plant like Orion (well it's got a crappy rep at least) to Moraine would cost millions to execute. It's simply not feasible.

I mentioned in another thread that I've read Opel are planning a sub-Theta crossover, ostensibly for Europe and Latin America. Currently the Brazilian plants are running flat-out just keeping up with booming demand in the Mercosur region. Maybe one of the scheduled-to-close plants like Moraine could win the contract to produce an export model. Well I say export, but Saturn could offer it. That is, if plans for such a model even exist.

[bone]

Originally Posted by windvale

There's a lot of very informed people in the oil industry that are saying that we're looking at $8.00 a gallon gas w/in 2 - 3 years. If that's the case, then the Smart Car is going to be the next generation's Suburban, and a Vespa will be the family car of the future...

OMG, that is so hilarious. Unfortunately, there might be an element of truth there-in.

[Gagarin]

Gee, some of yall are some cold blooded people...

Remember when we kept hearing that GMT900 was going to 'save or sink' the company... I don't know if dumping all that development cash was really worth it now.

It seems so strange that a truck plant that's made trucks for years - years before the SUV and truck craze really took off - finds itself without demand for it's product. BUT it is GM's oldest plant, and from what I hear on the Internet, it wasn't very productive.

I feel sorry for this. I'm from Rockford, IL so I feel for these workers and one more Stateline plant closing.

[Whitesky]

The future of motoring is looking grim. A bunch of tiny podcars with no style and substance.

[tripowergto]

Originally Posted by YupYupYup

Another similar artcle, but more related to the Canadian decisions in Oshawa, etc...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0...tional/gm_cuts

And this is why you haven't seen a Jeep YJ/ Wrangler competitor from Hummer. It just might be gone, but I still do not know how they will do that with all the fancy Hummer dealerships. Could another brand move into them...BPG? They might be just throwing the competition off, but it is hard to tell...

Thanks for this Oshawa link. It answered many questions about GM's recent "agreement" with the CAW. Looks like they'll be some serious fall out from this unexpected change of direction.

[61BelAir]

Selling Hummer would be a mistake. They just need to introduce vehicles like the HX with diesel/hybrid technology. They should continue to be built off a shared platform with hopefully a revised small truck.

[paul8488]

GM? Moving truck production from a Canadian plant that makes trucks and replacing it with... nothing.

Honda? Moving truck production from a Canadian plant and replacing it with... more small car production.

If I lived in Ontario, which company might I be more inclined to buy from today?

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by ARCANGEL

SUV's will all become CUV's no more truck frames!!!!

I seriously doubt the Suburban will ever become a CUV. But the others may.

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by 61BelAir

Selling Hummer would be a mistake. They just need to introduce vehicles like the HX with diesel/hybrid technology. They should continue to be built off a shared platform with hopefully a revised small truck.

I'm not thrilled with closing or selling Hummer, just because of the good brand name (among non-tree huggers) and aweareness. I don't GM would get a good price for it if they sold it, but who would really want it with the price of oil? How about an all diesel brand? I think that would be a better way to go.

[adplusone]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080603/gm_sh...ders.html?.v=5

GM President and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said the new small car to be built in Lordstown would get 9 miles per gallon better fuel economy than the company's current small cars, the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 when equipped with a manual transmission. The most efficient Cobalt now gets 36 miles per gallon on the highway. Henderson would not give a total mileage number.

It would be powered by a 1- to 1.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that could be turbocharged for additional power, GM said. The new engine would be built in Flint, Mich.

Henderson said the plant closure measures would reduce the company's capacity to produce pickups and large SUVs by 700,000 per year, about 35 percent.

[Kennyboy]

Drastic measures mean drastic changes. Hopefully, this will focus on more fuel-efficient cars, not relying on large trucks and SUVs. The sad part is that Toyota sells a lot of Tundras here in SOcal that its becoming a common thing. It's amazing that poor people are able to afford the gas prices and yet drive a large truck.

[RSW]

Originally Posted by NfamousZ24

So what is Shreveport going to build? I thought they only had the H3 left....

Where are the Moraine Assembly people going to go? I guess take the buyout or sit in the jobs bank for about 3 years. Unlike all of the other plants UAW and CAW we don't have another plant to flow into. Way to go GM shut down your most productive, highest quality plant in America, Top that off your cheapest Labor with the cheapest labor contract. YAY!!!


(Copy and Past FTW)

Believe it or not, in other industries when the demand isn't there, you lose your job. Then you go get a new job (or career).

I can't remember the last time there was a business decline in my industry and the top bosses said "But where will we flow these employees? They do great work!" It's more like "You're not needed - Bye, bye."

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

I'm not thrilled with closing or selling Hummer, just because of the good brand name (among non-tree huggers) and aweareness.

Au contraire, mon frere...

You've erroneously broken society down into two oversimplified segments: tree huggers, and the absurdly wasteful. There's a huge gray area in between, a large segment of the ordinary public that viewed Hummers and Suburbans and such to be absolute excess. It's not just the radicals who weren't wild about Hummer and its ilk...

I'd like to see Hummer stick around as a real Jeep-like brand. But that can't happen with at least two more models in the mix. The HX/H4/whatever is expected, but Hummer can't survive on just it and the H3, which will likely tank in sales in the upcoming years.

Hummer would seriously need a compact XTerra-ish Theta model as a volume seller. The H2 is dead, and with its passing, so will go Hummer's "prestige" image. Thus a volume seller would be absolutely crucial to Hummer's success. Pairing it with Cadillac was a dreadful mistake on GM's part.

But with today's announcement, it seems like there's some serious belt-tightening at the General. We've heard no speculation on any new Hummer product except for the HX/H4, and it's unlikely that GM can afford to bring two new Hummer products to market in the next 2-3 years.

A refocused Hummer would have added a much-needed spice to the world's automotive landscape, but with today's signing of GM's reality check, I think the reality is that Hummer will be bidding adieu shortly.