I am at a loss for words here

[dwaxman1]

Posted by Mike Levine | January 11, 201

By Patrick Olsen



Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a roundtable discussion this morning that Jeep will introduce a “multipurpose” vehicle that will have a pickup truck-like bed in the back.



Talking about the Gladiator concept that was shown in Florida last year, Marchionne said, “I like that vehicle. I liked it the first day I saw it. There’s a better than 50 percent chance that you’ll get one. Regardless of what Ram says. They’re totally peeved off at the fact that we’re going to have anything that looks like a pickup truck with a Jeep badge on it. I actually think that there’s space for it.”



“So you just said yes to a Jeep truck?” one journalist asked. “I said [yes] to a multipurpose vehicle out of Jeep,” Sergio replied, “with something that they call a truck bed.”



Just don’t call it a Jeep pickup: “It’s an exotic within Jeep.” The reasoning behind this, according to Marchionne, is that the Ram brand is largely a North American name that has not been, in his word, internationalized. Jeep does not have that issue, hence the potential for a “multipurpose” Jeep with a pickup truck bed.

[Hesh]

NICE! I cant wait. I wanted a J10/Full Size Jeep Truck sooo badly, and would have loved to rock a commanche or a scrambler when I first got into trucks. Despite being a thru-and-thru Hummer fan, I have a strong love for the current JK's and if they came out with something like the AEV Brute, or similiar, I'd be all over that.





Cant wait to see the finished product.





Some nice looking FSJ's/pickups & conversions

























concept:

[T.C.]

good for jeep brand....looks good to me <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... ght_on.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':right_on:' />

[dwaxman1]

I guess the question is why can this be successful in marketing and sales and Hummer can't?? This is what bothers me, it is obvious there is a market out there for trucks like this, especially if Jeep is gonna start to mass produce them...so why did Hummer Not keep it up?? The H3T was a beginning for the smaller model of our trucks but remember don;t forget the Two-Man H1....what a great truck...Jeep is going to profit one the disappearance of Hummer, I am sure I am not the only one that has noticed the newer Commercials for Jeep advertising it's off road capability and Jeeps driving more over the country sides then just the roads...they are pushing more that now then before I believe.



The question is if Jeep (with no real new modifications or attention brought to their Mileage or Greenness) has a market for it... Why can't Hummer still survive (with minimal modifications)



Maybe Hummer just needed some new Marketing strategies and some new Spokesmen...Maybe GM should have listened closer to it Communications Director and promoted it's Truck more, there is always a market for Elite vehicles and there is a Market for the H3/ H3T... just needs to be promoted different...and also maybe GM should have and should listen to clubs like ours and members like ours on what and how we could help..I am sure we all have ideas... I know i have more then a mitt full...



I would at anytime go the extra mile for the Brand as I am sure many of our members would...





So with that I say good for Jeep with it's new products but Hummer you had a large chunk of this market...why give it up without a fight... This truck is not the type of truck to just throw in the towel!





my 2 cents!

[Hesh]

With no disrespect, I think the problem exists in origins. People had a hard time accepting the H1 series of trucks, functional as they were, as anything more than excessive outside of military usage, especially with the pricetag they held to the point that people saw them as an exotic before they saw them as an military-originated offroad-worthy consumer-level/embraceable truck. When they began designing and distributing the H2 & H3 models, they were seen as a FAR leap from the H1 series and while that may have been what people needed/could have used on the consumer level, they never eclipsed the shadow of the H1 series. It's like being an athlete and having an Olympic Gold Medalist as a big brother - youre always gonna be compared to him (unfairly) and likely not gonna live up to his accomplishments. Jeep has always been a brand with military origins, but also had a very boiled down, less-is-more, type concept let alone the much more minimalist pricing structure. Despite the abundance of similiarities, both then and now, it is difficult to put the two on the same level.



The Hummer brand/moniker was both the best & worst thing that could have ever happened to the H2 & H3, and the further they shifted away from the original vehicle, the more it became the latter of the two.

[dwaxman1]

I don't disagree with that Hesh But I still do believe there could have been a different spin put on it...Marketing is everything.....no matter how much bad publicity some items and companies get in the world.. they seem to spin back...there are many examples in the world of business to show and prove that... this is an example of a Mistake, a large mistake, from a pricing model to a marketing plan...I agree that when H1s hit the streets at over 100K.. wow but there was still a market..an elite one..H2s came out at between 80-100K full loaded..again crazy and without a diesel option, this hurt them but as far as I know, a diesel model was being worked on and the price point needed to come down. As for the comparison... hard to shake that but again the H2 didn't need to be for the Hardcore Off roader, nor did it need to be for the Soccer mom...and I am sure the 100K price tag could have been adjusted as well..but I don;t work there, so hard to say.



I do believe that the H3 could have hit the market in a different manner and been presented differently to the industry, again hard to shake a comparison because of the HUMMER name but come on.. did anyone truly believe it would have the same capabilities as the H1??



Every brand of vehicles out there has their HIgh end and then scaled back versions, from Ford F-series trucks, to Honda Civics, to Toyota Everything , and even to Jeep, I mean look at the Patriot compared to a Rubicon, there is no comparison and Jeep doesn't try to promote that, they market it differently..



Anyways, all I saying is that there is a market, the trucks are still selling and people are regularly asking where they can get one, not just in Canada or the US but world wide...

[Hesh]

I agree Derek, but the H1 was never marketed as anything more than a niche-demographic oriented vehicle. It was not marketed, atleast on our side of the border, in any heavy way, shape, or form beyond appearances in movies, and maybe music videos, and I really never saw any TV commercials in the states on TV on a regular basis. When the H2 came out and was competing with the success of Luxury rides such as the Navigator, Escalade, but wrapped itself in a offroad-image it made a huge mistake. Longer than I can remember, outside of the Jeep brand, the majority of offroaders that *would* appreciate, enjoy, and use the H2 for what it was capable offroad, never were spending escalade-money on Jeep-like performance because of the much cheaper options, and the strong trend of utilizing used/older vehicles over cutting/scratching/dinging up new showroom-floor vehicles. You have to remember that while the H1 cost even more for such offroad performance (than the h2), if you look at the units sold, the numbers paled in comparision to anything else that was offroad-oriented on the market during its duration. As soon as people began to snicker at the comparison between an H3 and the H1 if put a sad stranglehold on alot of potential sales regardless of its capabilities and how it stacked up against its other competitors on the market. As much as marketing is everything, people's insecurities are an even bigger motivator, and I strongly believe that sadly the idea of being snickered at by those who foolishly continued to compare the H3 (or H2) to the H1 hurt sales of the brand. The Hummer brand has always been for a unique type of individual, and far be it from a regular demographic as they typically buck the trends/mainstream. Marketing or trying to snag a captive demographic in the mainstream cross section of the automarket was, imho, the equivalent of the brand shooting itself in the foot.



Regardless of the brand name though, Im glad that in a market saturated with so many Hybrids and green friendly vehicles, that us Offroaders and 4x4 fans are still being catered to to some extent and that we still have some (albeit less than before) quality options when it comes to new vehicles.

[dwaxman1]

still not a fan

[shotgun-cam]

Problem was GM sold by fragmenting itself ie Hummer , then GMC, Pontiac, Cadillac and Chevy oldsmobile and Buick each seperate dealerships with separate supply chains.You could not buy or in most cases get repaired a Hummer at a GMC dealership even if the same part was needed. I n some cases you have 3 GM dealers in same block IE Queensway, Popham ( Humberview) and Courtesy) not very efficent. Chrysler on the other hand has one dealership chain and thus lower costs as One dealer sells and repairs all lines.