Unwanted Hummer

Seems no car company is interested in picking up General Motors’ declining brand, Hummer. With sales dropping nearly 50% in the past quarters, no wonder there are not many holding companies that are willing to step up to the plate and save the brand.

Hummer has proven it’s strength in the new and up-coming Yuppie market, however increasing fuel prices caused a significant drop in it’s sales. GM using the Hummer name after the success of it’s H1 series, which has been used for decades as the flagship of it’s Army, built out the brand to offer more economical versions of it’s H1. The H2, H3 and H3 SUT were born.

Built on the same platform as the GMC Yukon, it shares a large number of components with the fairly popular SUV. The body and overall exterior styling offer the unique boxy look that distinguishes the brand.

As reported, Indian jeep manufacturer Mahindra has dropped out of the running for the brand, as has the Russian SUV manufacturer that was slightly interested in it.

The kicker came when even the Chinese cancelled negotiations on the brand. China Car News reports that Changfeng dropped out of negotiations for the brand, when they concluded that the average fuel consumption for the Hummer brand was too great for the Chinese market.

Changfeng in the meantime has changed it’s tune and announced it was never interested in the brand to begin with, however interest was clearly shown, as it’s management team visited the Hummer assembly plant.

Whomever picks up the brand will have access to widespread technologies available in Chevy’s truck line, such as it’s Vortec engine line, it’s OnStar system and it’s sophisticated dealer network.

To see other related automotive news log on to: www.GMForum.com

Hummer has decided to release it’s H3T model in September of this year. This comes in midst of rumors that General Motors is trying to unload it’s entire Hummer division. Important to note, this product segment has been plagued by high gas prices, plummeting residual values and a loss of consumer confidence.

The H3T is offering a great bargain for the careful shopper. Loaded with a 3.7L 5cyl engine, 4 doors, a truck bed and a 5 speed transmission, it tips the scale at $31,495. Upgrade to the Alpha to get the 5.3 V8, auto transmission, Monsoon Stereo and the chrome appearance package. The Alpha version is to retail for an MSRP of $36,760.

Who knows what the future holds for Hummer, but this is one cheap mean looking SUT I wouldn’t mind owning.

For more specs, check out www.h3thummer.com

Dagens Industri the Swedish business magazine reported today that Ford is in talks with an unnamed Chinese car company, whom is believed to be Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. to spin off it’s Volvo division.

What this will bring to the Volvo nameplate, noone knows. Naturally it will seem like it’s cheapening the brand if it gets sold to the Chinese. According to major publications, investor Kirk Kerkorian, would like to see Ford rid itself of Volvo, which it purchased in 1999.

It is said that CEO Mulally has began to consider selling Volvo about a year ago. Several companies have been contacted regarding the offer including BMW and Mazda.

Volvo instead of meeting their targets of selling 200,000 vehicles by 2010, are said to be closer to approaching 90,000 vehicles. Head office is in the midst of asking unprofitable dealers to leave the franchise, thereby cutting about 20% of it’s dealerships in the U.S.

Ford said to cut about 2,000 jobs across the board from the operations of Volvo in midst of it ending it’s quarter with a $151 million loss.