No. 103 - Hummer

I learned today that the previously announced sale of GM's Hummer brand to a Chinese company fell through and now GM plans to wind-down the operations. Unless someone comes along to buy it, the Hummer trucks will no longer be made.

The first civilian version of the military's Hum-Vee, called the H1, was sold in 1992. It lasted until 2006 when it was discontinued. The H2 came out in 2003 followed by the H3 in 2005. The H3 was certainly the most successful of the vehicles outselling the H2 by more than 3 to 1 over the last four years. However sales of the H3 have dropped every year since its debut model year. More than 54,000 vehicles were sold in 2006, decreasing in the subsequent years to 43,000 (2007), 21,000 (2008) and 5,500 (2009). The H2 sold only 1,500 units in 2009.

I have always thought that the Hummer and Jeep brands should be reunited. These brands were born, or raised, in AM General Corporation, which is why both use the 7 slotted grill on the front. Jeep could shed a few of its not-so-Jeep-like models, add the Hummer brand, and focus exclusively on the adventurous, outdoor-loving, freedom-minded segment. I suppose one could argue that Jeep already does that successfully and they don't need Hummer. And perhaps they'd be right.

My daughter wants a Jeep Wrangler when she grows up so, for the time being, she still might be able to get one.