Hummer Guy

Living a ‘green’ life has gone from being a political statement of a few to one of the fastest growing trends in the American lifestyle and business world today. Many retail stores tout their use of recycled materials and low emissions – Wal-Mart even announced yesterday they’re donating $1.5 million to research ‘green retailing.’ But as an individual, what can YOU do to live more green? According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, it isn’t the Hummer that you make your daily commute in that is the problem – it’s what you’re eating. PETA has started an advertising campaign based on the findings of the United Nations report from last November which reports that the “animals raised for food generate more greenhouse gases than all cars and trucks combined” Here is PETA’s latest print ad:

“Environmentalists are still pointing their fingers at Hummers and S.U.V.’s when they should be pointing at the dinner plate,” says Matt A. Prescott, who manages all vegan ad campaigns for PETA. Their target in the ad, Al Gore, was chosen because of his strong stance on global warming. PETA believes if he feels so strongly about the issue, he should take up and promote a vegetarian lifestyle – since that is, according the PETA, the single most effective way for an individual combat greenhouse gasses. “You just cannot be a meat-eating environmentalist,” says Prescott.

Perhaps the most interesting way of getting this message across will be a Hummer with the same “Too Chicken to Go Vegetarian?” slogan displayed largely on its side, being driven by someone in a Chicken suit. With Hummer being the notorious whipping boy of the automotive world when it comes to green issues, we were certainly surprised to see one being used in a campaign suggesting many environmental groups aren’t being green enough!

PETA isn’t the only one speaking up – the more conservative Humane Society of the United States is also running similar ads that focus more on personal choices rather than political attacks. They too cite the UN study, but also research out of the University of Chicago that suggests “switching to a plant-based diet does more to curb global warming than switching from an SUV to a Camry.”

As can be expected, the ad campaigns have their critics like Hank Stuart of Green Team Advertising who calls the global warming connection to vegetarianism ‘opportunistic.”

It will be interesting to see if this push will get mainstream traction. We don’t expect to see a rush on Hummer orders, but we wouldn’t be surprised if in the following year becoming vegetarian just as ‘green trendy’ as driving a Prius is now. But for most, it’s probably easier to give up an SUV than it is to give up steak for the rest of their life.

Source: New York Times

General Motors recently announced production cuts at 6 plants that produce trucks and SUVs, citing increased fuel prices and stiff competition. Affected plants are in Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Mexico, and Ontario. However, the Hummer H2 plant in Mishawaka, IN and the Hummer H3 facility in Shreveport, LA will continue production as scheduled. This summer, Toyota’s full-size Tundra had $5000 in incentives, making it hard for GM to compete with their new price structure which narrows the gap between dealer cost and MSRP. GM increased incentives, but it may have been too late – they could announce more production changes after August’s sales numbers are released on the 4th of September.

Continuing their support of the Rubicon Trail, Hummer is contributing $5000 to the Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR), a volunteer group which maintains the world famous off-road destination. With Hummer’s first contribution in 2006, they became the first and only vehicle manufacturer to support the FOTR.

“The Rubicon Trail is extremely important to HUMMER. Our owners use it for recreation, while HUMMER engineers use the trail to test the capabilities of our products,” says Martin Walsh, HUMMER General Manager. “It is our responsibility to ensure the future of off-roading remains a viable hobby for off-road enthusiasts around the globe.”

Friends of the Rubicon isn’t the only organization of its type Hummer supports, they also donated $100,000 to Tread Lightly!, a group dedicated to responsible off-road behavior.

Source: GM via Truck Trend

So you’ve decided to buy a Hummer (or already have) – and you’re wondering what your Hummer’s color says about you. The following results are mostly based on Leatrice Eiseman’s book called “The Color Answer Book,” and little of our own, very (un) scientific data from meeting a ton of Hummer owners. Here we go:

Factory Hummer Colors:

White: Fastidious

Red: Sexy, speedy, high-energy and dynamic

Dark Blue: credible, confident, dependable

Black: Empowered, not easily manipulated, loves elegance, appreciates classics

Boulder Gray: Sober, corporate, practical, pragmatic

Dark Green: traditional, trustworthy, well-balanced

Yellow: Sunny disposition, joyful, young at heart

Orange: Fun loving, talkative, fickle and trendy

Slate Blue: Cool, calm, faithful, quiet

Custom Hummer Colors:

White Diamond: Extravagant, artistic, stylish

Pink: Young at heart, spirited, little crazy

Silver: Elegant, loves futuristic looks, cool

Camouflage: Always trying to fit in

Lamborghini orange, blue, or green: Opposite of Camouflage.

Of all American-made vehicles, Hummer tops the list for ‘highest retained value,’ according to J.D. Power and Associates and AutoRemarketing.com. However, when you figure in foreign brands, Hummer ranks #8 – still an impressive feat, with Hummer edging out BMW, Land Rover, and Infiniti. Scion, Honda, and Mini took the top three positions. Hummer also made the list for ‘most retained-value improvement,’ which analysts say is evidence of continuous improvement. Not bad!

It is nearly impossible to describe the almost magical draw that Hummers and their owners have to water. When they see on the weather forecast a possibility of roads being flooded, they’re actually excited to experience the following day’s commute. Maybe it’s because owners know their vehicles are capable to ‘wade’ into 24inchs of water with no problem, and rarely get the chance to push that limit! Whatever the reason, this video shows the true spirit of Hummer ownership. This H1 has at least 30 inches of water fording capability – check out the white SUV at the top who stops to check out the action!

Unfortunately, we don’t see any Hummer model, current or future, putting up sales numbers comparable the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. So what direction does GM’s portfolio need to move? According to Fortune columnist Alex Taylor III, General Motor’s needs to master the art of the small, profitable car, just as their foreign counterparts have.

With the recent announcement in Automotive News, and GM’s Vice Chairman Bob Lutz’s comments last September, we are certain that future models in Hummer’s lineup will be smaller. Critics of the shift say that compacting Hummer into smaller models will destroy what the brand is about. However, the brand has never been about size, but rather having iconic design, and unparalleled off-road ability.

We thought Hummer forgot about the latter with their advertising. How could we forget the nine commercials staring that bizarre magician that was dispelling myths about the H3. This was an interesting brand management technique, focusing more on what the H3 was not, rather than what it is. Although the ads were amusing, the overall effect on public perception was probably limited. Luckily, the newest Hummer H3 ads focus on its class-leading off-road abilities. “New Math” showcases H3’s vital stats (60% grade, 40% side slope, 24 inches of water) while “Sand” even shows an H3 getting air-born(For the record, we’ve found the Hummers perform best with at least one wheel on the ground!). Hummer realized they needed to have some ads focusing on off-road abilities, but so did Land Rover. New ads show the Land Rover LR3 traversing through flooded areas, on rocky slopes around a washed out road, etc. While searching for a link to the video, we found Land Rover was actually traveling to real disaster areas for filming, and received a lot of negative press for ‘exploiting disaster areas.’

Creative advertising is only one piece of the profitability puzzle. A company can have the most creative ads in the world, but without product quality and efficient and capable production, it’s relatively worthless. Luckily, Hummer as two of the above: Advertising and product quality. Let’s face it, with one factory in Indiana producing the H2, and one Louisiana factory producing the H3 along with several other GM trucks, the means to produce 400,000 Hummers doesn’t exist. But this is by design — Hummer is meant to be a niche vehicle line. Yes, the Hummer brand is ‘growing’ smaller and gaining wider appeal, but it won’t be the vehicle line that saves General Motors single handedly. Instead, GM will be relying heavily on vehicles like the redesigned 2008 Chevy Malibu and even the 2008 Cadillac CTS to increase profitability.

“If you want to drive a Hummer, go to Iraq,” was what Gareth Groves heard from one critic of his new ride. The message hit a little closer to home when his Hummer H2 was vandalized last month by eco-vandals. Fortunately, Groves is also receiving positive support from other Hummer enthusiasts and area residents speaking out against the violence. A group of Hummer owners met for support in nearby Bethesda, MD restaurant. The group was originally going to throw Groves a BBQ on his block, but the venue was changed – probably a good idea for the participants and their rigs! One supporter, a Ford owner, says, “Last time I looked my Ford Expedition was getting 14 miles to the gallon. If that is what he wants who are we to say he can’t have that?” Fair enough! I also like how the FBI took over the investigation, since it appeared to be eco-terrorism.

The 2008 Hummer H2 receives the biggest facelift in the model’s history, and we recently got the opportunity to take one for a spin and check out all the upgraded features. From the outside, the vehicle is largely similar to previous H2s. Most notable of the exterior changes are the silver painted bumpers which were previously black. In order to get more air flow to the new, 6.2 liter, 393 HP engine, the seven grille slots have been widened, and the Hummer letters have been moved to the mini-grille just below. Also, roof rails and side steps are no longer standard on the Luxury package, and are not a factory option. We think they removed some items from the Luxury package to soften the blow of the package’s price increase from 07 to 08.

But enough about the outside – how about that new interior? In short, we liked it. The overall appearance is much smoother and less cluttered looking than previous models. Accent pieces use a similar finish to the ‘nisha’ finish in the H3, which is a brushed-aluminum looking plastic that is scratch and fingerprint resistant. The H2 version is a little darker, which we like – mainly because it helps set of the increased number of chrome interior pieces like the shifter, cup holder rings, door handles (which are in a much more appropriate location now), etc. Lets break down the rest of the interior:

The window/lock controls – Smoother, softer, rubber-like controls replace bulky plastic controls. Also, the fold-in mirrors are now controlled by their own two buttons, rather than having to decipher hieroglyphics and button combinations like previous models.

Steering wheel controls – these took some getting used to, since there are more options than ever. We’d still like to see a ‘mute’ button to quickly kill the volume when a phone call comes in. Also, the extra bulkiness sometimes made it hard to see the gauges if the wheel was turned – but wasn’t a big deal.

Center control panel – The HVAC system uses less knobs and more buttons, and still has dual climate control. The opposite is true for the transfer case settings, which went from multiple buttons to a single knob. The switching is almost silent, unlike previous models which you could hear a very audible change. When you didn’t hear that audible change, you would want to be careful – since once you hit about 5mph, you’d get the audible change, often accompanied by a very physical jolt! We assume with the new power train systems in place in the 08, the silence is by design and not fault.

The clock – The chrome surround does seem a bit cheesy, but the look of the glow of clock at night was pretty cool!

Navigation – The 2008 Hummer H2 navigation system is a new generation that is much smoother and faster to process than earlier models. The one thing we didn’t like is requirement to agree to the terms and conditions of the nav system every time the vehicle is started. We’ve seen this in multiple other vehicles, but hoped it wouldn’t catch on with the Hummer’s nav. Ah well – at least the lawyers like it.

The seats – the new leather and seat design is very smooth looking and more comfortable! Although very few people ever used it, we enjoyed having the driver’s seat folding right armrest. The increased size of the center console should suffice for the few who will miss it. The addition of another ‘jump seat’ in the back makes a full third row, but is still most likely only suitable for the young and nimble.

Rear air conditioning – Before now, those in the third row would have to rely on a few vents on the front half of the vehicle. Now, the middle row of seats has a separate controls for temperature and fan speed. Vents have been installed in the roof for the back two rows, and the difference in sound in the driver’s seat is evident.

Remote start – Very cool option in the Texas heat. Waiting in the grocery store line, I was able to start the engine and start blasting out some of that 120 degree air – nice range! Growing up in the snow belt, without a garage, I can appreciate its winter applications as well.

Some folks who saw the interior didn’t like it, saying it was ‘just like an Escalade’ on the inside. These people need to take another look at why the Hummer H2 was made, which was to produce a luxury vehicle that had unparalleled off-road ability and iconic design. Cadillac has the luxury part down, so it only makes sense for the H2 to borrow some of their interior design, especially since both vehicles are produced by parent company General Motors.

The 2008’s new 6.2 Liter V8 puts out a total of 393 horsepower, 68 more than its 2007 counterpart. Also new is a 6-speed transmission that replaces a 4-speed. Although the 0-60 time increased from 10 seconds to 8, we didn’t notice much in the speed and power of the truck. We did notice the difference in the smoothness of shifting and driving in general. Shifting which used to be relatively abrupt is now extremely smooth, and very noticeable.

We’re excited to see all the changes, since this is the first time any Hummer owner since 2003 has had a reason to upgrade due to the similarity in design. Which may or may not be a good thing – the very few exterior changes have made every model year look relatively similar, and kept values high for older model years. We’re on edge to see what exterior design changes come in the future, which we don’t think is too far away.

In May, Las Vegas Hummer Dealer Dan Towbin was ordered to remove the American flag that waves above his dealership. Neighbors had complained about the flapping noise and the ‘aesthetic effect’ when wind blows the 100 ft pole, and the Las Vegas City Council gave him 60 days to remove the flag. Now that his 60 days are up, Towbin has one thing to say: “The American flag stays.” Towbin sued the city, and the issue was sent back to the City Council, where the judge ruled it was Mr. Towbin’s right to have an attorney represent him. A lawyer for Towbin says the case is still open, and that “”we’re going to do whatever we can to keep the American flag flying.” Towbin even went so far as to set up noise sensors in the surrounding area, and no evidence has surfaced to support the noise complaints. “If I was convinced I was truly disturbing people, I would have taken it down a long time ago,” he said.