Rejoice, The Hummer Is Dead</span> It might be the end of the world's most phalically sad SUV. But has the damage been done? <span style="color:#444488">by Mark Morford, SF Gate columnist Wednesday, May 23, 2007 "See, sales of this particular model -- perhaps the most idiotic consumer vehicle ever produced in your lifetime -- are down. Way down, a full 27 percent from last year alone, which was already way down 22 percent from the year prior, with sales continuing to plummet as fast as gas prices are rising and Bush's war is raging and Americans are generally snapping awake to the fact that dumping well over 100 bucks to fill the tank of this monster abomination every other day might not be the best way to waste their kid's college fund."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RobertG @ May 23 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]448469[/snapback]</div> No, but it *is* a great way to squander their inheritence.
the guy has an amusing writing style. interesting indeed. i agree that all of a sudden the "SUV" title is disappearing... and now it's "crossover" instead... and the same product with new label is all the rage. again. [smacks hand against forehead] when is america gonna quit falling for advertising's bull?
I do have to disagree with one thing the article said. He said the H2 is " the most idiotic consumer vehicle ever produced in your lifetime." He's wrong - that would be the H1. But the H2 does admittedly come a close second.
His op/ed is amusing, but does it seem to others his writing style exemplifies the same sort of self-important arrogance he accuses SUV owners of having? He relies pretty heavily on the fallacy of appeal to ridicule, but I suspect that's what his readership wants.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 23 2007, 04:21 PM) [snapback]448488[/snapback]</div> I agree...every time I ride in a 'crossover' vehicle, I find myself wondering why this car is so heavy and tall.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ May 23 2007, 04:35 PM) [snapback]448496[/snapback]</div> To be fair, the H1 was never really designed for the consumer market. I would argue that the H2 is significantly more idiotic since it was specifically designed for the "soccer mom" market.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 23 2007, 02:21 PM) [snapback]448488[/snapback]</div> Ha! Advertising doesn't work. Just ask any consumer. They make up their OWN mind, thankyouverymuch. And the car makers will tell you that they only build the cars that consumers ask for. Just ignore the fact that the auto industry finds it practical to spend BILLIONS to try and sell us what we apparently already want.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ May 23 2007, 02:50 PM) [snapback]448508[/snapback]</div> Oh. Does crossover mean fall over? Admittedly, I have no idea where the center of gravity in on an H2, but I guess SUVs do have a reputation for doing rollovers. Dave M.
Yeah, but the H3 is still around. The "Hummer" will never die. They'll make a mini-hummer before they'll give up.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ May 23 2007, 05:27 PM) [snapback]448534[/snapback]</div> Only when driven outside of their performance limits. Drive a Corvette or a Mustang like a truck--no problem. Drive a SUV like a sports car and sooner or later you will die in it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ May 23 2007, 02:35 PM) [snapback]448496[/snapback]</div> What about the Ford Expedition? Excursion? One, if not both, of those seem larger to me than an H2...
Well advertising doesn't work on me, to some extent. Sometimes it does help to know what is out there, like movies and such. Cars on the other hand. First thing I did when I was looking for a new car, Google search. Looked for the car with the best MPG, and aside from the Insight, which was impossible to find and had manual tranny, it was the Prius. I had other options, but I'd had to have imported them and that's just too much of a hassle IMO. I think the idea of the SUV in general was a stupid idea. Hey we have a mini-van and a truck, let's combine both and see what we get. A great big behemoth that doesn't get FE, but can haul a lot of stuff, however no one hauls anything other than themselves, or maybe a passenger. We should give that guy the award for biggest newb of the year.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kimgh @ May 23 2007, 07:27 PM) [snapback]448669[/snapback]</div> At least the Expedition and Excursion are built to do something more than look like a civilian version of a military vehicle. My biggest beef with the Hummer is that it does NOTHING that can't be done better in another, more practical vehilce. The Hummer is 100% image.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 23 2007, 06:48 PM) [snapback]448619[/snapback]</div> Actually the H3 Hybrid, is already on the drawing board to hit the streets in 2009, will get 3 mpg more than the non-hybrid model..... NOT (hopefully). But that's just how obsurd and out-of-touch with reality American car makers are.
Sorry I have to disagree with the premise of this thread. I believe in the free market and weather you choose a Prius or a Hummer, I support anyone's freedom of choice to buy what they want to drive. As there are many anti-SUV people out there for what ever reason, we could also go to the other side of the spectrum and cheer the end of ATV's, motorcycles, & Prius's as being inherently dangerous given their size and operating speeds. I'm an owner of a '97 full sized cargo van. I love this vehicle, it can haul, it can tow, it rides high for visibility,has an exceptionally large windshield, and has very comfortable ride. It is a bit noisy though and it's 11 mpg fuel consumption has driven me to buy a Prius, which I also love to drive. My beloved Chevy Van sits in semi-retirement in the driveway while my Prius is now driven by me everywhere. Personally, I just got tired of spending such a large portion of my paycheck on gas, supporting mooslums who want to kill us and rich oil companies who want to extort us. If you have the money to buy a vehicle that uses $75+ of gas a fill up, more power to ya. IMHO I think it's time the middle east starts repaying the USA the billions of dollars we've pumped into their countries from both the first Iraq war where the Iraqi's raped and pillaged neighboring Kuwait to the 2nd Iraq war where we are still spending billions to rebuild their country after Saddumb Insane destroyed it. After all we've done to help these people we should be paying 25 cents a gallon not 3 - 4 dollars a gallon.
I have to be honest. I could care less if someone wants to buy a Hummer. It is their choice. They can spend their money as they wish. I really don't have a problem with it. To me, it is a personal choice. I was sick of paying so much for gas, hence the purchase of the Prius. It wasn't that I couldn't afford it, but rather that I looked at the opportunity cost of driving an SUV and decided that there were better things I could do with my money than spending it on gasoline.
