A sad day for Freedom of Choice
End of the road for the hulking Hummer H1
Washington Post
Saturday, May 13, 2006
The Hummer H1 -- the biggest, toughest sport utility vehicle on the road -- has run out of gas.
Cheering just about every other driver on the road, General Motors Corp. said Friday that it is ditching the H1 by June.
The vehicle, which delivered a shot of in-your-face masculinity, has a price tag of $140,000, weighs 5 tons and gets less than 10 miles to the gallon.
But sales have slowed to a trickle. GM has sold fewer than 100 this year.
Many see the H1 as a symbol of personal excess and American overconsumption.
The H1 has been the target of attacks by radical environmentalists.
"It's the ultimate statement of outrageous excess," says San Diego automotive consultant Daniel Gorrell.
"It's the statement of 'I will run over you and crush you like a bug.' "
GM has steadily expanded the Hummer line but shrunk the models' size. In 2002, it introduced the H2, a medium-size version, and last spring it brought out the even-smaller H3.
Still, the entire Hummer group has been outsold this year by the Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid.
sfgate.com
There is always the Mercedes Unimog.
eurotruck-importers.com |
