Wrong Turn award: GM suggests Hummers are just tools to get a job done
Oh, GM, give it up.
In today's USA Today there is an article about how sad it is that people don't understand just how utilitarian a Hummer is. I mean, listen to Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales, service and marketing for GM North America, who said, and I'm serious, that, "No one criticizes a bulldozer for its gas mileage. That's because it's built to do a job."
Wow. I bet he said that line with a straight face, too.
I mean, how could anyone possibly think that a Hummer H3 was an image vehicle instead of something we only use for work? Just watch the GM ads for this totally serious work vehicle below the fold. Can't you see all of the work going on in these commercials. I swear, there are hard hats everywhere. C'mon people, it's obvious. Geez.
/sarcasm
I think theres a saying about making beds and then the requirement to lay in them. If GM doesn't want to take a bunch of crap for building Hummers, there are two things they can do: One, make them get like 30+ mpg or, two, stop building them. A biofuel Hummer HX concept here and there isn't going to cut it. Until one of these things happens, you can bet the "Hummer salute" will remain in vogue.
Gallery: Detroit 2008: HUMMER HX Concept
[Source: USA Today via Winding Road]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
why not the LS2/LS7? 5:27PM (2/21/2008)
Even a huge vehicle can efficient if you use it to its max. A bus is larger than a HUMMER but it's a fuel saver, not waster. Well, unless you only ever put one person in it.
HUMMER buyers are to blame for the waste, and GM is to blame in as much as they encourage people through their advertising to buy a HUMMER to drive it alone and unloaded.
Reply
MarkR 5:50PM (2/21/2008)
I'd buy a Hummer before I buy that box called the Scion or cube. Talk about a model of inefficiency. smaller scale but still environmentally impotent.
Reply
Brian 6:22PM (2/21/2008)
I refuse to take Hummer critics seriously until they criticize the Toyota Sequoia, Nissan Armada, etc. in the same breath. You lose all credibility when you single out one particular brand when almost all brands have gas-guzzling models.
Reply
GoodCheer 6:36PM (2/21/2008)
I love that second ad.
HUMMER: The bastard lovechild of wreck and ruin.
Reply
Chris M 7:12PM (2/21/2008)
Well, I'd be critical of the Toyota Sequoia and Nissan Armada if they pretended to be a serious work vehicle rather than the ovesized inefficient family haulers they are.
The original "HummVee" was designed for the military for use in war zones, where its extreme offroad capabilities make sense. Most "Hummers" are sold to chickenhawk macho pretenders who like the military look but would never consider actually signing up.
Pickups, trucks, vans, and even some SUVs make sense as work vehicles. Not the Hummer (or, for that matter, the Cadillac Escalade).
Reply
Francis 10:24AM (2/22/2008)
If GM wanted to play that card, it's tough hand against the unimog which by all accounts DOES get the job done, every day.
The hummer cannot carry implements, can't haul a dump body and could never be effectivly fitted with either hydraulics or a PTO; What job does it do then?
Wait that's right, it's job is being a full time vanity plate. It does that job well.
Reply
SkiD666 9:44AM (2/22/2008)
Something to think about.
GM sold 13,000,000 vehicles last year.
GM sold about 60,000 or so Hummers (H2/H3), most of the Hummers sold were 5 cylinder H3's.
Toyota also sold 13,000,000 vehicles last year.
Toyota doubled their Tundra sales from 100,000 to 200,000, most of the Tundra's sold had 5.7l V8's.
Reply
BGJ 10:08AM (2/22/2008)
The same blog post could be made about (insert hybrid vehicle here).
Oh, (OEM of said vehicle), give it up. You really think people buy this vehicle to be "green"??
The amount of energy & natural resources it takes to build it, and the amount of greenhouse gas it emits are not *that* different than any other car with an internal combustion engine. People buy it as a status symbol, just like those that buy giant SUV's (that aren't used as work vehicles).
If you really cared about the planet, YOU WOULDN'T DRIVE A CAR PERIOD.
Face it, we are all just dogs crapping on the lawn. Some of us realize it and we leave everyone the hell alone. Others are so full of hypocrisy that they stand up and say, "hey you over there, quit crapping on the lawn, you evil bastard!". Then they turn around and take a dump just like the rest of us.
Reply
Holden Miecranc 10:49AM (2/22/2008)
For all the rhetoric about big the H3 is, let's compare some specs. The H3 is 2.8" longer and .1" wider than an FJ Cruiser. It is 18.4" shorter and 5.1" more narrow than a Seqoia. The H3 is bad becuase it's HUGE and the Sequoia is okay, even though it's bigger and sells in larger numbers.
The mileage difference between a V8 H3 and a 6 cyl FJ? 2MPG. The Sequoia and the H3 get the same city MPG, but once again, no outcry or hatred towards the Sequoia.
HUMMER hatred is a prime example of what happens when stupid people get caught up in a fervor. I've not seen the Earth Liberation Front destroying Toyota dealers' property, even though Toyota products cause more harm than Hummers, given their greater sales.
The problem with the information age is that any feeble minded dweeb can post their opinions, founded or not, as though they are the truth. Those not smart enough to find the truth before forming an opinion follow suit and the result is today's society.
Reply
Rick 11:09AM (2/22/2008)
The hatred simply starts at the top and works it way down. As it stands, the hummer line is the most obnoxious visually....you tend to attack the large targets first. When it's gone, yes, people will go after the Sequoia and Armada.
Reply
Emil 3:12PM (2/22/2008)
Hummer gets most of critics because it is a symbol of the unnesessary use. It came so because the same company that produces H2 / H3 had killed EV1.
Of course Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu etc. aren't "righteous" and they build "gas hogs" too. But somehow I see the direct connection between the Prius and the breakthrough of Toyota to no. 1.
My fellow worker who uses an Isuzu SUV for everyday commute must be blamed too for the energy waste.
But the real purpose of that my comment is to testimony that the Hummer is a very bad military vehicle ! Especially its fuel economy ( because of the extra-shield - less than 10MPG ( 4 km a liter )!
Reply