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

Unless a buyer for Hummer materializes in the next few months, General Motors will continue to wind-down its environmental group dart board. The slow death of Hummer has actually been in process since before The General announced that the sale of the brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery fell through, as the company’s Shreveport, LA facility stopped making H3 and H3T models in January.

But while Shreveport has been down for two months, it looks like the plant could dust off the H3 tooling to fill one more big order. Brandcentric site Hummerguy.net is reporting that GM is ramping up production of the H3 from April 12 to May 13 to fill a 849 unit order. The General reportedly didn’t announce the purchaser of the reported mega Hummer order, but the Detroit, MI-based automaker did say that the order was not related to the brand’s wind-down or sale.

We’re thinking this news won’t stop Hummer from off-roading into the sunset, but it does at least prove that there are still people that like Hummers. Now all GM needs is a Hummer lover with a spare $150 million laying around the compound to step up and buy the withering brand.

[Source: Hummer Guy]

Hummer plant coming back online to fill 849-unit order? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hummer plant coming back online to fill 849-unit order?

Filed under: SUV, Government/Legal, GM, Hummer, Off-Road

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, General Motors is taking a second look at two previous offers for Hummer after the deal to sell the ailing sports utility brand finally succumbed to a slow death yesterday.

The WSJ doesn’t divulge which companies are in the offing to purchase Hummer, only saying that GM had rejected offers from the two firms last year.

The original deal to offload the brand onto China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery for $150 million was apparently rejected by the Chinese government, although the reason for the rejection is still in question.

It’s hard not draw comparisons to the Saab saga that played out over the course of the last year, with GM finally selling the brand to Spyker after prolonged negotiations. Then again, we could have a Pontiac or Saturn situation on our hands, with Hummer set to go the way of the Dodo if a deal isn’t reached within the next few months.

[Source: Wall Street Journal - Sub. Req. | Image: Scott Olson/Getty]

Report: General Motors looking at two previous Hummer offers originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: General Motors looking at two previous Hummer offers

Filed under: Etc., Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, Jaguar, Jeep, Lexus, Mazda, Saturn, Suzuki

Lexus and Hummer took top honors in their respective categories in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Consumer Service Index (CSI) Study. Released this time each year, the CSI rankings (based on a 1,000-point scale) measure satisfaction among vehicle owners who visit a brand service department for maintenance or repair work during the first three years of ownership – that wonderful honeymoon phase when factory warranties are still in full effect. The study is designed to focus on five measurements: service quality, service initiation, service advisor, service facility and vehicle pick-up. The results are tabulated, and then presented in as a score on a 1,000-point scale. Unlike previous years, where all brands were lumped into one single category and only three made it to the podium, JDPA broke things into two segments: luxury brands and mass market brands.

Lexus, with a score of 837, was at the top of the luxury brands, again – the automaker won last year as well. It was followed by Cadillac (827), who showed a big improvement over the previous year, and Jaguar (822). If you recall, Jaguar was at the top of the list in 2008 and finished second in 2009 (this is more indicative of a bar that continues to be raised rather than a decrease in service). Hummer (815) was top dog among mass market brands, followed by the now-discontinued brand of Saturn (808) and Buick (805). General Motors holds six of the top seven spots on the mass market category. At the bottom of the list are Suzuki (693), Mazda (717) and Jeep (720).

Overall, the industry is showing improvement as customers have expressed satisfaction with the ease of driving in and out of dealership facilities, parking convenience, thoroughness of work performed, the speed of repairs and flexibility of accommodating schedules. While that sounds like great news, experts say it most of those improvements may be attributed to the lower volumes of service bay traffic as sales slump in the new car showroom. Full release after the jump.

[Source: J.D. Power and Associates]

Continue reading Lexus and Hummer top 2010 J.D. Power Customer Service Index Study

Lexus and Hummer top 2010 J.D. Power Customer Service Index Study originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lexus and Hummer top 2010 J.D. Power Customer Service Index Study

Filed under: China, Etc., Videos, Hummer, Humor

Hummer may be the most hated automotive brand in the history of the green movement, but even Al Gore has to admit that there are times when a big, hulking SUV is necessary. The snowed-in residents of Baltimore City are likely very happy there was at least one H2 nearby when one of their massive snow plows got stuck in a couple feet of the white stuff. We’re not talking a 20 year-old Super Duty with a blade here folks. Nope. We’re talking one of those massive International trucks with four full-sized doors and a plow bigger than your typical midsize sedan.

Hit the jump and watch as the H2 digs deep and rescues the much larger plow truck from the indomitable snow drift. That’s enough of a sign of force to make a Chinese company very proud. Or not.

[Source: WBAL TV]

Continue reading Video: Hummers still good for some things, like towing giant snowplows

Video: Hummers still good for some things, like towing giant snowplows originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Hummers still good for some things, like towing giant snowplows

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