If you think a Chevrolet Suburban or Ford Expedition amounts to a tank with cupholders, just wait: General Motors is putting its considerable marketing muscle behind the war-ready Hummer.
Within a few years, there is likely to be a family of the boxy all-terrain vehicles designed for military use.
“We think we can grow the brand,” said Rick Wagoner, GM’s chief executive. “Younger buyers have an absolute fascination with this look, this image–`militaristic’ is the word that comes to mind.”
GM bought the rights to the Hummer name last year from AM General, the military contractor in South Bend, Ind., which has long sold Humvee multipurpose vehicles to the government. The Hummer, a civilian version, was introduced in 1992. This year, GM renamed that three-ton-plus behemoth the H1, to set it apart from the new Hummers that are being conceived.
In January, GM showed off the H2, a design study for a slightly smaller, more domesticated, five-seat Hummer that will go on sale in mid-2002. H1 prices start about $70,000 and can rise to $108,000 or so, but the H2, built on the chassis of GM’s full-size pickups, should come in for less than $50,000.
(The Hummer’s best-known fan is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has had several; in a reference to his wife, Maria Shriver, H2 was developed with the code name Maria.)
GM is also considering a $20,000 version, nicknamed the Baby Hummer. There could be more iterations.
The Hummer’s appeal seems particularly strong among young people who were playing with Power Rangers not long ago. Wagoner said his teenage son, after seeing the bright yellow H2 at the Detroit Auto Show in January, announced: “Dad, now I can get a Hummer.”
Not until he gets a better summer job, apparently. “I said, `I think you’re a few thousand short,’ ” Wagoner recalled.
In recent years, teenage boys have not generally begged their parents to buy GM vehicles, so the Hummer could breathe new life into the company’s prosaic lineup.
