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: Government/Legal, Hummer, Military, Specialty, Off-Road

The military-spec High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee) has had a long and honorable lifespan, for sure. But there’s no arguing that American troops in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else the U.S. military is active need a new vehicle that’s been designed and built to counter modern warfare tactics.

This being the case, it’s not terribly surprising to hear that the final 2,620 Humvees have been ordered from Mishawaka, Indiana-based AM General by the U.S. Army. In total, AM General has produced 240,000 Humvees since 1985.

Just as the Humvee replaced the original military Jeep some 25 years ago, today’s replacement is seen as a response to a revised set of needs in the battlefield, not the least of which is adequate protection from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. More than 1,700 U.S. troops have died in Iraq alone from IEDs as of last month, and the military is responding by switching to Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and the M-ATV from Oshkosh.

The Humvee story isn’t yet over, however, as the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force still have many of them in service. What’s more, the Army’s latest budget includes nearly a billion dollars to maintain its existing fleet of Humvees. Also keep in mind that the Humvees used for military purposes are not the same as those sold under the civilian Hummer brand, which General Motors is still working to sell to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery of China. For more Humvee goodness, check out the high-res gallery below. All photos are courtesy U.S. Army.

[Source: The Canadian Press via Google | Image: U.S. Army]

U.S. Army to give long-serving Humvee honorable discharge? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. Army to give long-serving Humvee honorable discharge?

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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Filed under: SUV, Truck, China, Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Hummer, UAW/Unions

Cedric Glover, the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, went to Washington, D.C. to plead his case for the sale of Hummer to Tengzhong. The only thing is, we’re not sure why he went. To be more precise, we do know that he wants to protect jobs at GM’s Shreveport plant that builds Hummers. The plant has about 800 workers who build some of The General’s pickup trucks and Hummer models, and the loss of The Big H would undoubtedly put people out of work.

What we’re not sure of is what he thinks Washington has to do with it. He did ask that a couple of D.C. muckety-mucks “consider reaching out to the Chinese government to urge immediate approval of the Hummer deal,” but Washington hasn’t expressed any opposition to the deal and probably couldn’t get the deal concluded on the Chinese side any sooner — never mind the fact that Hummer is the least of Washington’s concerns as far as China goes.

We’ve been told by one source at Hummer that although nothing is final until it’s signed, they feel good about the deal, and Tengzhong must have known what it was doing when it made the bid in the first place. Yet beyond all that, as it stands today the Shreveport plant has three years to live at most: the facility wasn’t part of the Hummer sale, and GM said it would shutter the place by 2012 at the latest. Mayor Glover wants to save jobs in his town, which is great, but unless GM starts going gangbusters (and soon) then Glover could be playing the Deck Chair and Sinking Ship game.

[Source: HummerGuy]

Shreveport, LA mayor lobbies D.C. to close the HUMMER deal, already originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shreveport, LA mayor lobbies D.C. to close the HUMMER deal, already