Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, GMC, Hummer, Lincoln, Mercury, Pontiac, Saturn, Toyota

When General Motors put down several of its brands in recent years, it also let loose thousands of brand-loyal customers who will eventually need another car.

R.L. Polk Associates estimates there are more than 18 million cars from 16 discontinued makes on the road today. Those “orphan owners” have sales-hungry competitors seeing dollar signs. GM is offering Saturn owners $1,000 cash toward a Chevy Cruze, Caddillac CTS or a GMC Acadia. Ford is giving its Mercury lease customers a chance to get out of their contracts with no early-termination penalty and offering to waive six remaining payments if they drive off in a Ford or Lincoln.

Edmunds.com research shows the efforts are paying off somewhat for GM, with 39 percent of Pontiac owners, 37 percent of Hummer owners and 31 percent of Saturn owners taking delivery of another GM-branded vehicle. But that leaves as much as 69 percent of owners going elsewhere. Ford, Honda and Toyota seem to be attracting many former GM owners.

As Forbes points out, if you’re driving an orphaned nameplate, you just might be able to use that to your advantage when shopping for a new vehicle.

Automakers tussle over owners of ‘orphan’ makes originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Automakers tussle over owners of ‘orphan’ makes

Filed under: Etc., GM, Hummer, Design/Style

Architects Craig Hodges and HsinMing Fung joined forces in 1984 to create their agency HplusF. Since then, the pair have gone on to apply their stylistic skill to the UCLA library, Hollywood Bowl, Egyptian Theater and a number of other works of architectural art. HplusF also tackles unique installations and showpieces, one of which involves the now-departed Hummer brand.

What could easily be a luxury apartment in the video game Fallout 3 is in fact HplusF’s HummerHaus. Eight identical Hummer body shells wrap around a a steel skeleton to form a living space like no other.

Of course, this is merely a concept, but it’s a rather interesting one. Could old vehicles be rehabbed into affordable living spaces? Could the Hummer body have a new lease on life after it was cut from the General Motors family?

Check out the gallery below to see how HplusF lays out its HummerHaus.

Architects design home made entirely of Hummers originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Architects design home made entirely of Hummers

Filed under: Concept Cars, SUV, Videos, Hummer, Electric

The 2008 Hummer HX concept was supposed to be General Motors‘ answer to the Jeep Wrangler. To put it mildly, that failed to materialize. General Motors killed Hummer as part of its bankruptcy-induced limb severing in 2009, before the HX could be brought to fruition as the H4, as had been rumored.

For those of you who wish the HX had indeed surfaced, we have some excellent news: My Electric Vehicle, or MEV, has appropriated the HX concept, added an electric drivetrain and created the MEV Hummer HX. The MEV HX is a fully electric golf cart resort vehicle, licensed by GM and sporting Hummer wheels and skid plates.

We’re still trying to figure out if the MEV Hummer HX has any practical purpose, which could take some time. While we’re doing that, feel free to hop the jump to see a video of the $16,000 electric Hummer knockoff in action.

Continue reading MEV rocks up with electric mini Hummer HX

MEV rocks up with electric mini Hummer HX originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MEV rocks up with electric mini Hummer HX

Filed under: Concept Cars, SUV, Videos, Hummer, Electric

The 2008 Hummer HX concept was supposed to be General Motors‘ answer to the Jeep Wrangler. To put it mildly, that failed to materialize. General Motors killed Hummer as part of its bankruptcy-induced limb severing in 2009, before the HX could be brought to fruition as the H4, as had been rumored.

For those of you who wish the HX had indeed surfaced, we have some excellent news: My Electric Vehicle, or MEV, has appropriated the HX concept, added an electric drivetrain and created the MEV Hummer HX. The MEV HX is a fully electric golf cart resort vehicle, licensed by GM and sporting Hummer wheels and skid plates.

We’re still trying to figure out if the MEV Hummer HX has any practical purpose, which could take some time. While we’re doing that, feel free to hop the jump to see a video of the $16,000 electric Hummer knockoff in action.

Continue reading MEV rocks up with electric mini Hummer HX

MEV rocks up with electric mini Hummer HX originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MEV rocks up with electric mini Hummer HX

Filed under: SEMA Show, SUV, Hummer, Off-Road

Zero South, a company that popped up at SEMA in 2008, is back again with its Biodiesel Electric Hummer. The heavily modified H1 rides on tracks at all four corners – a necessary modification, since this Hummer is designed for an expedition to the South Pole.

The trip is going to be documented by Chris Paine, who’s best known for the film Who Killed the Electric Car? It was reported back in 2008 that the vehicle was going to be driven by Buzz Aldrin and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The film is called Drive Around the World and was shot in 3D. Drive Around the World is also the name of an organization that works to inspire an urge to explore while raising money for various charities. The H1 shown above is Zero South’s vehicle for participating in these expeditions.

The Zero South Biodiesel Electric Hummer was originally setup to run on B99 fuel, but Jay Leno joined the team and modified the powertrain so that a four-cylinder diesel Volkswagen engine would act as a generator to four electric motors. Each motor would then provide power to the individual track it’s coupled to. It’s one heck of a Hummer, and we invite you to check it out for yourself in the gallery below.

Photos copyright (C)2010 Drew Phillips / AOL

SEMA 2010: Zero South Biodiesel Electric Hummer shows its guts originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA 2010: Zero South Biodiesel Electric Hummer shows its guts