Good Or Bad Hummer Isn't With AM GENARELL
Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:52 pm
This may sound odd to some, but are do you think it is good or bad GM is no longer running the show?
Here is my take on things. Feel free to post your own.
The H1 used to be rarely seen on the road. There weren't that many around (especially up here), and were always eye-grabbing, excellent offroad vehicles that could do pretty much any task. Very minimally "civilianized" from the HMMWWV, this was the original Hummer. This truck had a clearly defined purpose: an all-purpose offroad truck designed for use in the most extreme environments.
A few years later, GM gets control of the brand from AM and start doing their own thing. Out come the H2 and H3, still maintaining the Hummer heredity, but making it more affordable to the masses, making it a more common vehicle. OK, so we get both models more "civillianized", but at least they are still keeping the brand alive. With these models, the focus turns away from offroad and more towards onroad use. This is great, because there are less and less places to offroad all the time, and in today's culture, there is more and more driving on roads that needs to be done. However, these trucks both maintain an above average offroad capability.
Soon after, we start to hear news of the new concepts, like the HX. The focus is again less on offroad, and more on onroad. Whether you like it or no, you must agree that it bears little resemblance to its predecessors, let alone the H1 and Humvee, and there is little information (at least to my knowledge) on whether this would hold up offroad to the other models, or even a Jeep for that matter.
We end up with this pattern:
Design mainly for offroad (H1) > Designed equally for onroad and offroad (H2 and H3) > designed mainly for onroad (HX).
Putting all of this into perspective, it appears that GM was manipulating the Hummer line to make it the competitor to Jeep. If GM still had control of the Hummer brand then what would be next? The Hummer family minivan and the Hummer Hybrid sedan? GM saw a way to make money with the brand (which they did - it was one of the only brands making a profit for them), launching mass advertising campaigns that embedding the name onto the brains of the general population - but at the same time fueling hatred amongst the "green community". While appealing to us owners, the Hummer was never designed to be this type of vehicle, and the population picked up on that.
At the rate the brand was moving away from the original purpose of such a vehicle (going back to the 1980s here - a High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... e_wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> ), I think that within years the at least one of the current models would have been relegated to road use - with little to no offroad capability. Case in point - I know that a few years ago, Jeep made a 2WD only model (ie: no offroad capability what-so-ever), while at the same time tacking a chrome badge onto the side saying "Trail Rated" in an attempt to connect it with the other models and original purpose for the jeep.
You can make the case that further reduction of its offroad capabilities to a level of those in the HX and lower are necessary for its continued popularity, but if you just want it as the daily driver for your morning commute to Toronto and back, then you must ask "Do I really need this vehicle?". Us owners would likely say yes, but the general public would not. GM was trying to make the Hummer a vehicle that needed to be in every garage, when that was completely unrealistic. There are models for that: Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys, but not the Hummer.
Bottom line: I think it is good that GM is no longer running the show. It would have been great for someone to pick it up and continue making these trucks (the Russians spring to mind - and of all people they would appreciate the need for such a offroad vehicle), but at least the brand won't go the way of the SUV - no longer a "Sport Utility Vehicle" but a street cruiser with lots of legroom.
What about you guys?
Alan
Here is my take on things. Feel free to post your own.
The H1 used to be rarely seen on the road. There weren't that many around (especially up here), and were always eye-grabbing, excellent offroad vehicles that could do pretty much any task. Very minimally "civilianized" from the HMMWWV, this was the original Hummer. This truck had a clearly defined purpose: an all-purpose offroad truck designed for use in the most extreme environments.
A few years later, GM gets control of the brand from AM and start doing their own thing. Out come the H2 and H3, still maintaining the Hummer heredity, but making it more affordable to the masses, making it a more common vehicle. OK, so we get both models more "civillianized", but at least they are still keeping the brand alive. With these models, the focus turns away from offroad and more towards onroad use. This is great, because there are less and less places to offroad all the time, and in today's culture, there is more and more driving on roads that needs to be done. However, these trucks both maintain an above average offroad capability.
Soon after, we start to hear news of the new concepts, like the HX. The focus is again less on offroad, and more on onroad. Whether you like it or no, you must agree that it bears little resemblance to its predecessors, let alone the H1 and Humvee, and there is little information (at least to my knowledge) on whether this would hold up offroad to the other models, or even a Jeep for that matter.
We end up with this pattern:
Design mainly for offroad (H1) > Designed equally for onroad and offroad (H2 and H3) > designed mainly for onroad (HX).
Putting all of this into perspective, it appears that GM was manipulating the Hummer line to make it the competitor to Jeep. If GM still had control of the Hummer brand then what would be next? The Hummer family minivan and the Hummer Hybrid sedan? GM saw a way to make money with the brand (which they did - it was one of the only brands making a profit for them), launching mass advertising campaigns that embedding the name onto the brains of the general population - but at the same time fueling hatred amongst the "green community". While appealing to us owners, the Hummer was never designed to be this type of vehicle, and the population picked up on that.
At the rate the brand was moving away from the original purpose of such a vehicle (going back to the 1980s here - a High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... e_wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> ), I think that within years the at least one of the current models would have been relegated to road use - with little to no offroad capability. Case in point - I know that a few years ago, Jeep made a 2WD only model (ie: no offroad capability what-so-ever), while at the same time tacking a chrome badge onto the side saying "Trail Rated" in an attempt to connect it with the other models and original purpose for the jeep.You can make the case that further reduction of its offroad capabilities to a level of those in the HX and lower are necessary for its continued popularity, but if you just want it as the daily driver for your morning commute to Toronto and back, then you must ask "Do I really need this vehicle?". Us owners would likely say yes, but the general public would not. GM was trying to make the Hummer a vehicle that needed to be in every garage, when that was completely unrealistic. There are models for that: Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys, but not the Hummer.
Bottom line: I think it is good that GM is no longer running the show. It would have been great for someone to pick it up and continue making these trucks (the Russians spring to mind - and of all people they would appreciate the need for such a offroad vehicle), but at least the brand won't go the way of the SUV - no longer a "Sport Utility Vehicle" but a street cruiser with lots of legroom.
What about you guys?
Alan
