Gm to discountinue the H1 Hummer.

Jay

the fool on the hill
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May 12 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. is scrapping the Hummer H1, its five-ton military-style truck that sells for as much as $140,000 and has been a target of environmentalists because it travels fewer than 10 miles per gallon of fuel.

Production will end in June because low sales don't justify the cost of a redesign, spokesman Nick Richards said today. U.S. sales this year through April fell to 98 from 104 a year ago. Annual sales peaked at 875 in 2000, the first year Detroit-based GM sold the H1, its biggest and most expensive model.

GM, the world's largest automaker, expanded the Hummer brand with the smaller, less-expensive H2 and H3 sport-utility vehicles. The H3, the first Hummer that GM builds itself instead of getting from military-vehicle maker AM General LLC, debuted last year and helped the brand's sales almost double in 2005 and nearly triple this year through April.

``I think every dealer you talk to will say GM made a very good decision because the H1 is big, it's expensive and it doesn't sell very well,'' said Carl Sewell, a Dallas-based GM dealer who has three Hummer outlets in Texas. ``The H1, we'll sell three or four a year.''

GM said fuel costs weren't a reason for the decision. The H1 uses diesel fuel, and the average U.S. retail price rose 30 percent in the past year to $2.90 a gallon, according to federal government figures. At that price, filling the H1's 27-gallon main tank and 24.5-gallon auxiliary tank costs almost $150.

U.S. sales of the H1 totaled 374 last year.

`Niche-Market Vehicle'

``It's a low-volume, exotic niche-market vehicle that because of its volume doesn't justify investment in new updates,'' Richards said. ``We'd rather invest in the marketing and development of future products that will continue to grow the brand.''

Jeff Edwards, sales director for Hummer, said GM is considering ways to further expand the brand. He said one possibility is pickup-truck versions. Hummer is GM's second- smallest brand, ahead of Saab.

GM later this year plans to add a more expensive version of the H3, which has a starting price of $29,500 and accounted for 16,582 of the 22,397 Hummers sold in the U.S. this year. The company builds the H3 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and in Russia and expects to start producing it in South Africa during this year's fourth quarter.

The H3 is the smallest Hummer, at 5,850 pounds, and is rated by the U.S. government at 16 miles per gallon in city driving and 20 mpg on the highway.

Too Heavy for Fuel Standards

The H1, at a gross weight of 10,300 pounds, and the H2, at 8,600 pounds, are too heavy to come under U.S. fuel-economy standards. The H2 will be covered by revised rules announced in March. GM estimates the H2 averages about 13 miles per gallon.

AM General builds the H1 and H2 for GM and also makes the Humvee, the military vehicle on which H1 is based. AM General is based in South Bend, Indiana, and produces the H1 and H2 in Mishawaka, Indiana. GM bought marketing rights for the Hummer name in 1999 from AM General.

``The H1 has never been a high-volume vehicle, but for those people who really love the off-road experience in a big rugged way, it was perfect,'' Sewell said.

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Not a big surprise considering the H2 and H3 exist. It'll only disadvantage those who actually think - "Hmmm, the H3 isn't as big as the H1".
 
Un-Dee said:
the only hummer with some coolness.... and they kill it

It was not selling. Since the H1 was been introduced the price has gone up over $50,000.
 
The saddest thing is that it's followed by

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:thumbsup:
 
zenkidori said:
lol, word. the only good hummer and there it goes.

H2 and H3 are just wealsauce suburbans with body kits. lame.
the H3 is a weaksauce Colorado.
are those weights off? i know the H2 doesnt weigh 8600 lbs, and there is no way that the H3 weighs 5800lbs
 
bartboy9891 said:
zenkidori said:
lol, word. the only good hummer and there it goes.

H2 and H3 are just wealsauce suburbans with body kits. lame.
the H3 is a weaksauce Colorado.
are those weights off? i know the H2 doesnt weigh 8600 lbs, and there is no way that the H3 weighs 5800lbs
Those are their gross weights. Their curb weights are 6400 lbs and 4700 lbs, respectively.

What I want to know is why don't they just keep making the H1? They said it wasn't worth spending money on a redesign, so why don't they just leave it as it is and keep it as a niche vehicle?
 
The H3 is actually fairly good offroad.
 
Pfft, just about time the H1 finally was dropped - though it would've been hilarious if they would've developed a hybrid version of it to make it more ecologically...
 
Actually the US Army was testing a hybrid HMMWV a couple years ago, but I don't know what happened to it. The Dendrophiles were pleased as punch about it but they didn't realise that there was a different reason for developing a diesel-electric HMMWV: logistics.

The old military saying is that amateurs study tactics, experts study logistics The standard HMMWV carries 25 gallons of diesel and can travel 350 miles on the highway before going dry. If a hybrid version can stretch that fuel then no only are you reducing fuel needed per mile for that vehicle, but you are also reducing the number of diesel tankers - as your supply lines lengthen you need to use more fuel to get supplies (like fuel) to the troops at the front. Your fuel usage is nearly exponential, as you now have to add tankers to fuel the tankers carrying the fuel to the fighting vehicles. This puts more men and equipment in danger of ambushes as well.

The other reason for a hybrid vehicle is tactics. The hybrid HMMWV was to be outfitted with a manual control to turn off the motor and run just on battieries. This would allow the vehicle to run silent to sneak up on enemy positions. They were even working on a super low-profile stealthy tank with a hybrid drive for this very purpose.

I think the hybrid HMMWV program was scrapped once they realized how vulnerable the HMMWV is to small arms and IEDs. The armor kits add alot of weight and reduce the amount the vehicle can carry - but that had not stopped troops from loading them up with extra equipment. Motor pools are having to rebuild HMMWV suspensions all the time from overloading due to the extra armor.

Here is one possibility to replace the HMMWV: http://gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/ultra-ap.htm

bigvehicleone4aw.jpg

ultra-onr3_sm.jpg
ultra-onr50_sm.jpg
ultra-onr11_sm.jpg


And a more conventional design:
Eagle_Armoured_Vehicle_Artillery_Observation_Swiss_11.jpg


Personally, I would like to see the first design go to production, the "blast bucket" design would provide superrior protection from IEDs and the 4-facing-out seating would make it easier to secure the vehicle while remaining protected within. I would like to see plans for a fully enclosed machine gun turret or one that is remote-operated from inside the vehicle. the HMMVW was just an evolved Jeep that took over some of the light cargo duties from the Duce-and-a-half, we need something that is totally new to meet a totally new challenge. The HMMVW is still rooted in the early days of the industrial revolution.
 
I heard about GM discontinuing production on their H1 models on the news. Its so sad, the H1 was THE SUV... side by side no other SUV that could match its looks. It was BIG BOLD AND BAD. It only had one purpose and that was to take you places that no other vehicle could take. And now theyre kiling it, primary due to the raising oil prices causing only few to afford it.

I think the H1 an amazing vehicle and its sad that such a good SUV is now gone.
 
id rather see the H2 and H3 get disscontinuted. the H1 was this huge thing that got better gas mileage then the H2 ! either which way id never buy one.
 
Blind_Io said:
The armor kits add alot of weight and reduce the amount the vehicle can carry - but that had not stopped troops from loading them up with extra equipment. Motor pools are having to rebuild HMMWV suspensions all the time from overloading due to the extra armor.

Sorry, but my brother says you're quite ill informed in regaurds to the suspension (well, he didn't use those words exactly). The only thing is that the up-armored HMMWV's use the larger 6.5 turbo-diesel. Just incase you're wondering he's a diesel mechanic in the Army (3rd I.D., 92nd Engineers).

He says that you might be talking about the 998's that squat a bit with the up-armor on, but there haven't been any suspension issues. The only issue is that the 6.2 is underpowered for use with the armor (and the operators abuse the hell out of the HMMWV's from what he tells me).

Sad to hear the H1 is being discontinued. It's like the Ferrari of off-roaders. A supercar in the mud if you will. Maybe GM isn't use to low-volume production. Oh well, DMOR, here I come...
 
SoxXpupPeT said:
id rather see the H2 and H3 get disscontinuted. the H1 was this huge thing that got better gas mileage then the H2 ! either which way id never buy one.
think logically man! the number of H2's and H3's sold in one year is much more than the number of H1's sold since its birth
 
YF19pilot said:
Blind_Io said:
The armor kits add alot of weight and reduce the amount the vehicle can carry - but that had not stopped troops from loading them up with extra equipment. Motor pools are having to rebuild HMMWV suspensions all the time from overloading due to the extra armor.

Sorry, but my brother says you're quite ill informed in regaurds to the suspension (well, he didn't use those words exactly). The only thing is that the up-armored HMMWV's use the larger 6.5 turbo-diesel. Just incase you're wondering he's a diesel mechanic in the Army (3rd I.D., 92nd Engineers).

He says that you might be talking about the 998's that squat a bit with the up-armor on, but there haven't been any suspension issues. The only issue is that the 6.2 is underpowered for use with the armor (and the operators abuse the hell out of the HMMWV's from what he tells me).

Sad to hear the H1 is being discontinued. It's like the Ferrari of off-roaders. A supercar in the mud if you will. Maybe GM isn't use to low-volume production. Oh well, DMOR, here I come...

Well, that's good to know that the HMMVWs are holding up under the extra weight. I remember reading an article about problems related to overloading the suspensions on StrategyPage.com - usually a very reliable source for military news. In this case I am glad to be proven wrong.
 
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