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<DIV class=masthead>EXCLUSIVE REPORTS</DIV> <DIV class=timestamp>From the November 19, 2004 print edition</DIV> <H1 class=headline>Dealerships are humming along</H1> <DIV class=subhead>Three new Hummer stores on tap in '05</DIV> <DIV class=byline>David Giddens</DIV> <DIV class=bylineinfo>Staff Writer</DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times,Serif" color=#000000 size=3> With three new stand-alone Hummer dealerships coming online in the Dallas-Fort Worth area next year, dealers are gambling that 2004's steady diet of high gasoline prices won't dampen the driving public's appetite for General Motor's largest sport utility vehicle. </P> They're also betting that Hummer's newest offering, the smaller, less costly and more fuel-efficient H3, will help expand the brand to a new class of customers. The H3, built on the GMC Canyon platform and expected to deliver a combined 20 mpg combined city/highway driving, should be available late next spring as a 2006 model. GM required dealers that wanted to stock it to provide a stand-alone dealership for the Hummer brand. </P> Wendy Kent Churchill says her new Hummer dealership in west Fort Worth, which broke ground at 3535 W. Loop 820 South earlier this month, should be open in the spring of 2005. Carl Sewell says he will open two Hummer dealerships around the same time -- one near Love Field in Dallas and in Plano, just south of the Shops at Willow Bend. </P> All three will sport the same look -- a distinctive showroom featuring a sharply curved stainless steel roof reminiscent of a military style Quonset hut, mixing exposed steel, concrete and glass. </P> Locally, 789 Hummers have been sold in 2004, according to Gayle Freeman, publisher of the Freeman Auto Report, which tracks new car sales. </P> <H3 class=subhead>Slowing sales </H3> Churchill said Hummer sales out of her Frank Kent Motor Co. next door to the new,10,400-square-foot Hummer dealership now under construction, took off at the first of the year, but have slowed recently. </P> "We haven't exactly set the world on fire, but we've done a good job of holding our own," she said. "I'm more excited about what will happen with the H3." </P> Churchill said her dealership has sold 418 H2s, which typically retail for $50,000 and get between nine and 14 miles per gallon, since acquiring the line in July 2002. A year ago, gasoline prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area averaged $1.38 per gallon vs. $1.50 nationally, according to the American Automobile Association. This week, the average per gallon price locally was at $1.85 vs. a national average of $1.95. </P> "I think anybody would be a little concerned with gas prices where they are -- they'd be foolish not to be," she said. "But we'll have a much more fuel-efficient vehicle to offer now, and at around $30,000, it will open up the Hummer market to a whole different group of consumers." </P> <H3 class=subhead>More alternations </H3> Sewell, whose two new dealerships will each feature 33,000 square feet of showroom and service space, echoed Churchill's analysis, and alluded that GM will eventually offer more alternatives in addition to the H3. </P> "GM's plan is to offer smaller, less expensive vehicles as well as broader series of entries into other market segments, so we are anticipating a very broad offering from Hummer over the next five years," he said. "We felt we needed to build dealerships of a size to adequately represent what we anticipate will be a rather large franchise." </P> Sewell said his H2 sales, which he began in 2002, have averaged about 50 vehicles per month. </P> "Why buy a Hummer? The answer is 'fun,' " he said. "It's a Harley-Davidson with better air-conditioning, more comfortable seating and no bugs in your teeth." </P></FONT></Table> |
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<DIV class=masthead>EXCLUSIVE REPORTS</DIV> <DIV class=timestamp>From the November 19, 2004 print edition</DIV> <H1 class=headline>Dealerships are humming along</H1> <DIV class=subhead>Three new Hummer stores on tap in '05</DIV> <DIV class=byline>David Giddens</DIV> <DIV class=bylineinfo>Staff Writer</DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times,Serif" color=#000000 size=3> With three new stand-alone Hummer dealerships coming online in the Dallas-Fort Worth area next year, dealers are gambling that 2004's steady diet of high gasoline prices won't dampen the driving public's appetite for General Motor's largest sport utility vehicle. </P> They're also betting that Hummer's newest offering, the smaller, less costly and more fuel-efficient H3, will help expand the brand to a new class of customers. The H3, built on the GMC Canyon platform and expected to deliver a combined 20 mpg combined city/highway driving, should be available late next spring as a 2006 model. GM required dealers that wanted to stock it to provide a stand-alone dealership for the Hummer brand. </P> Wendy Kent Churchill says her new Hummer dealership in west Fort Worth, which broke ground at 3535 W. Loop 820 South earlier this month, should be open in the spring of 2005. Carl Sewell says he will open two Hummer dealerships around the same time -- one near Love Field in Dallas and in Plano, just south of the Shops at Willow Bend. </P> All three will sport the same look -- a distinctive showroom featuring a sharply curved stainless steel roof reminiscent of a military style Quonset hut, mixing exposed steel, concrete and glass. </P> Locally, 789 Hummers have been sold in 2004, according to Gayle Freeman, publisher of the Freeman Auto Report, which tracks new car sales. </P> <H3 class=subhead>Slowing sales </H3> Churchill said Hummer sales out of her Frank Kent Motor Co. next door to the new,10,400-square-foot Hummer dealership now under construction, took off at the first of the year, but have slowed recently. </P> "We haven't exactly set the world on fire, but we've done a good job of holding our own," she said. "I'm more excited about what will happen with the H3." </P> Churchill said her dealership has sold 418 H2s, which typically retail for $50,000 and get between nine and 14 miles per gallon, since acquiring the line in July 2002. A year ago, gasoline prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area averaged $1.38 per gallon vs. $1.50 nationally, according to the American Automobile Association. This week, the average per gallon price locally was at $1.85 vs. a national average of $1.95. </P> "I think anybody would be a little concerned with gas prices where they are -- they'd be foolish not to be," she said. "But we'll have a much more fuel-efficient vehicle to offer now, and at around $30,000, it will open up the Hummer market to a whole different group of consumers." </P> <H3 class=subhead>More alternations </H3> Sewell, whose two new dealerships will each feature 33,000 square feet of showroom and service space, echoed Churchill's analysis, and alluded that GM will eventually offer more alternatives in addition to the H3. </P> "GM's plan is to offer smaller, less expensive vehicles as well as broader series of entries into other market segments, so we are anticipating a very broad offering from Hummer over the next five years," he said. "We felt we needed to build dealerships of a size to adequately represent what we anticipate will be a rather large franchise." </P> Sewell said his H2 sales, which he began in 2002, have averaged about 50 vehicles per month. </P> "Why buy a Hummer? The answer is 'fun,' " he said. "It's a Harley-Davidson with better air-conditioning, more comfortable seating and no bugs in your teeth." </P></FONT></Table> |
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<DIV class=masthead>EXCLUSIVE REPORTS</DIV> <DIV class=timestamp>From the November 19, 2004 print edition</DIV> <H1 class=headline>Dealerships are humming along</H1> <DIV class=subhead>Three new Hummer stores on tap in '05</DIV> <DIV class=byline>David Giddens</DIV> <DIV class=bylineinfo>Staff Writer</DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman,Times,Serif" color=#000000 size=3> With three new stand-alone Hummer dealerships coming online in the Dallas-Fort Worth area next year, dealers are gambling that 2004's steady diet of high gasoline prices won't dampen the driving public's appetite for General Motor's largest sport utility vehicle. </P> They're also betting that Hummer's newest offering, the smaller, less costly and more fuel-efficient H3, will help expand the brand to a new class of customers. The H3, built on the GMC Canyon platform and expected to deliver a combined 20 mpg combined city/highway driving, should be available late next spring as a 2006 model. GM required dealers that wanted to stock it to provide a stand-alone dealership for the Hummer brand. </P> Wendy Kent Churchill says her new Hummer dealership in west Fort Worth, which broke ground at 3535 W. Loop 820 South earlier this month, should be open in the spring of 2005. Carl Sewell says he will open two Hummer dealerships around the same time -- one near Love Field in Dallas and in Plano, just south of the Shops at Willow Bend. </P> All three will sport the same look -- a distinctive showroom featuring a sharply curved stainless steel roof reminiscent of a military style Quonset hut, mixing exposed steel, concrete and glass. </P> Locally, 789 Hummers have been sold in 2004, according to Gayle Freeman, publisher of the Freeman Auto Report, which tracks new car sales. </P> <H3 class=subhead>Slowing sales </H3> Churchill said Hummer sales out of her Frank Kent Motor Co. next door to the new,10,400-square-foot Hummer dealership now under construction, took off at the first of the year, but have slowed recently. </P> "We haven't exactly set the world on fire, but we've done a good job of holding our own," she said. "I'm more excited about what will happen with the H3." </P> Churchill said her dealership has sold 418 H2s, which typically retail for $50,000 and get between nine and 14 miles per gallon, since acquiring the line in July 2002. A year ago, gasoline prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area averaged $1.38 per gallon vs. $1.50 nationally, according to the American Automobile Association. This week, the average per gallon price locally was at $1.85 vs. a national average of $1.95. </P> "I think anybody would be a little concerned with gas prices where they are -- they'd be foolish not to be," she said. "But we'll have a much more fuel-efficient vehicle to offer now, and at around $30,000, it will open up the Hummer market to a whole different group of consumers." </P> <H3 class=subhead>More alternations </H3> Sewell, whose two new dealerships will each feature 33,000 square feet of showroom and service space, echoed Churchill's analysis, and alluded that GM will eventually offer more alternatives in addition to the H3. </P> "GM's plan is to offer smaller, less expensive vehicles as well as broader series of entries into other market segments, so we are anticipating a very broad offering from Hummer over the next five years," he said. "We felt we needed to build dealerships of a size to adequately represent what we anticipate will be a rather large franchise." </P> Sewell said his H2 sales, which he began in 2002, have averaged about 50 vehicles per month. </P> "Why buy a Hummer? The answer is 'fun,' " he said. "It's a Harley-Davidson with better air-conditioning, more comfortable seating and no bugs in your teeth." </P></FONT></Table> |
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