H1 is history...

[hmcoleap]

GM to End Production of Hummer H1

By DAVID RUNK
The Associated Press
Friday, May 12, 2006; 2:27 PM

DETROIT -- The 2006 model year will be the last for the Hummer H1, the hulking, gas-guzzling status symbol that has attracted celebrities and off-road enthusiasts but has drawn the ire of environmentalists.

AP article here

[lvs]

It's a sad day!

[H3HUMVEE]

Originally Posted by lvs

It's a sad day!

x2 ...

[MovinH2]

Originally Posted by H3HUMVEE

x2 ...

X3

[31_bandits]

it just seems so silly. they just re-designed to the Alpha (duramax, etc., so on), so they just invested some $$$ and continuing production on a vehicle that they don't spend a dime marketing and which is mostly produced on a line that already exists for another purpose, and which is sold at perhaps the most preposterous markup in the truck world... can't possibly lose them all that much, or perhaps one could say that you couldn't possibly fail to make some money on the H1 at those prices...

So there has to be another reason. The H2 is the star of most of the off-roading personal movies you see here and there, alot of H2 owners on this forum don't seem to think they're losing much of anything to the H1 drivers, so maybe they thought taht the ongoing existence of the H1 was detracting from the H2 being a "real hummer".

theory 2: social/environmental image thing. lets remove the "worst one" to bolster our image. the irony of that being behind this would be that its the H2 that's the poster-boy for enviro's everywhere, not the H1.

Theory 3: i need a shower and can't come up with additional theories at this time.

So i suspect the logic was somethign along the lines of my first theory above...? Pave the way for the H2 to be the king of trucks, maybe for an "H2 alpha".

what would it take? air susp front and rear (more clearance, even better ride), front lockers, make the interior world class, maybe offer the diesel as an option, shave some pounds where this is feasible & give it a five-speed auto and...

[hmcoleap]

Most reports suggest it is purely a business decision... paying to recertify an H2 that sells over 20,000 units per year is an easy decision because the costs can be recovered, but paying to recertify an H1 that sells less than 300 per year doesn't make good business sense for GM.

I do expect they will need a new flagship truck now, though - so an H2 alpha or something of the sort would make sense. Either that, or an altogether new flagship vehicle.

Originally Posted by 31_bandits

it just seems so silly. they just re-designed to the Alpha (duramax, etc., so on), so they just invested some $$$ and continuing production on a vehicle that they don't spend a dime marketing and which is mostly produced on a line that already exists for another purpose, and which is sold at perhaps the most preposterous markup in the truck world... can't possibly lose them all that much, or perhaps one could say that you couldn't possibly fail to make some money on the H1 at those prices...

So there has to be another reason. The H2 is the star of most of the off-roading personal movies you see here and there, alot of H2 owners on this forum don't seem to think they're losing much of anything to the H1 drivers, so maybe they thought taht the ongoing existence of the H1 was detracting from the H2 being a "real hummer".

theory 2: social/environmental image thing. lets remove the "worst one" to bolster our image. the irony of that being behind this would be that its the H2 that's the poster-boy for enviro's everywhere, not the H1.

Theory 3: i need a shower and can't come up with additional theories at this time.

So i suspect the logic was somethign along the lines of my first theory above...? Pave the way for the H2 to be the king of trucks, maybe for an "H2 alpha".

what would it take? air susp front and rear (more clearance, even better ride), front lockers, make the interior world class, maybe offer the diesel as an option, shave some pounds where this is feasible & give it a five-speed auto and...

[ckhagman]

Originally Posted by hmcoleap

Most reports suggest it is purely a business decision... paying to recertify an H2 that sells over 20,000 units per year is an easy decision because the costs can be recovered, but paying to recertify an H1 that sells less than 300 per year doesn't make good business sense for GM.

I do expect they will need a new flagship truck now, though - so an H2 alpha or something of the sort would make sense. Either that, or an altogether new flagship vehicle.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do what MB did with the GL class (of whatever it is called)

[31_bandits]

Originally Posted by ckhagman

I wouldn't be surprised if they do what MB did with the GL class (of whatever it is called)

what do you mean? bring it back after teasing people by taking it off the market?

You might be right, hmcoleap, of course, but just for fun i'll offer one more theory:

-the humvees combat career (i have no idea if this is true, but it was stated to be the case in a conversation earlier today) may be in its twilight. And perhaps its not as great of a flagship if it its deemed obselete for armed forces use.

[ckhagman]

What I meant was the vehicle we know today as the H1 will not be what the H1 will be in a couple of years. MB's orginal idea was to kill the galendewagen and have a replacement G500. They later just made a new vehicle name of GL since people complained because some really liked the G500.

[hmcoleap]

Not sure how this is "another theory" - but I don't think there is any doubt that the HMMWV is nearing its "twilight years"... it is based on technology that is over 25 years old.

Originally Posted by 31_bandits

...You might be right, hmcoleap, of course, but just for fun i'll offer one more theory:

-the humvees combat career (i have no idea if this is true, but it was stated to be the case in a conversation earlier today) may be in its twilight. And perhaps its not as great of a flagship if it its deemed obselete for armed forces use.