Filed under: SUV, Plants/Manufacturing, Crossover, GM, Hummer, Saturn, Off-Road

Even though both the Saturn and Hummer brands are being phased out, General Motors has reportedly revived production of both the Outlook crossover and H3 SUV to meet consumer demands.

Last month, GM assembled 1,037 Outlooks at its Lansing, Michigan facility, which is where the crossover’s Lamda platform stablemates (Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia) are built. A spokesperson for GM states that production was reinstated to utilize the rest of the Saturn-specific material at the facility, and that the automaker will continue to assemble the Outlook for a few more weeks.

Hummer, on the other hand, will produce 849 H3 and H3Ts to fulfill an order placed by a fleet company. GM’s Shreveport, Louisiana plant will commence production of these vehicles on April 12, and the automaker says that this order will be completed no later than May 13. After that, the Shreveport plant will continue to only produce the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, though the fate of those vehicles is rather shaky, as well.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Report: GM temporarily restarts Saturn Outlook, Hummer H3 production originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: GM temporarily restarts Saturn Outlook, Hummer H3 production

Filed under: Hummer, Toyota

Those of you who are still following our ongoing coverage of the Toyota recall saga already know that the Japanese automaker has taken a direct blow to the chin when it comes to consumer perception. But just how low has Toyota sunk? Naturally, that depends on who you ask and on how much weight that person choose to put behind these massive recalls, but at least some of you seem to think the automaker has descended all the way to rock bottom.

According to YouGov BrandIndex – which we were admittedly not familiar with until running across this interesting little nugget – Toyota’s -17.1 rating on February 3rd put the automaker below more traditional bottom-feeders like Hummer, which scored a -10.7 on the very same day. Just two weeks ago, the very same poll had Toyota up near the top with a positive perception rating of 28. It may not be the most meaningful statistic you’ll run across today, but it’s an interesting sidebar nonetheless.

Tired of Toyota recall news? Try out the recall-free version of Autoblog.

[Source: PRWeek US]

Has Toyota’s brand perception eroded below that of Hummer? At least one survey thinks so originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has Toyota’s brand perception eroded below that of Hummer? At least one survey thinks so

Filed under: Concept Cars, SUV, Hummer, Design/Style, Off-Road

With Hummer’s future seemingly in the hands of China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd, questions naturally turn to the automaker’s barren product cupboard. How will Tengzhong replace Hummer’s current crop of SUVs? With the news that the Chinese automaker would like to focus on more environmentally friendly models, a Romanian designer by the name of Andrus Ciprian envisions something along the lines of the compact HB concept you see above.

A Hummer wouldn’t be a Hummer without significant off-road capability, and Ciprian suggests that the HB would retain a body-on-frame design in lieu of a lighter unibody, though hewn from aluminum and carbon fiber instead of steel. Under the comely concept’s hood sits a biofuel-capable V6 engine. But those aren’t the most interesting bits of the concept, the stance and general proportions of which would look perfect on the front of a Traxxas RTR box.

Ciprian included two separate windshield designs, one of which sees the screen sectioned into thirds with a slew of cameras relaying additional information to the pilot. We’d go with the more production-likely single-piece glass. In any case, see the stunning high-res renderings in our gallery below and let us know what you think.

[Source: Diseno Art via Carscoop]

Rendered Speculation: Hummer HB compact off-roader originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rendered Speculation: Hummer HB compact off-roader