KenP
10-29-2006, 04:36 AM
Article from Autoweek
General Motors? future product plan includes a back-to-basics, go-anywhere Hummer H4?a rough-and-tough competitor for the Jeep Wrangler. The fourth Hummer could be on sale by 2008 or 2009.
A GM source confirms the company is looking for ways of making a small Hummer on its various sport/utility vehicle and pickup platforms. GM engineers and designers are working on the project, but a chassis for the vehicle has yet to be selected. One possibility is a two-seater, focused on the most rugged off-roading possible, similar to the Hummer dune buggy we illustrated earlier this year (?A Hummer Buggy,? May 9).
?It?s a matter of finding the right combination of rugged components and how we can package them into a vehicle smaller than the H3,? says the source. ?The main design factor is that any vehicle with a Hummer badge has to be the most capable off-road, period.?
One possibility is to use a shortened version of GM?s small pickup platform, which underpins the new H3.
GM product czar Bob Lutz is believed to be a big supporter of the H4, and as a former boss of Jeep he knows the competition intimately.
Hummer is also unlikely to launch a second range of soft-roaders, a move that Jeep is taking to exploit sales with owners who don?t need its ?Trail Tested? off-road abilities.
?It?s not the right time to be rounding off the corners of the Hummer range yet,? our source says.
General Motors? future product plan includes a back-to-basics, go-anywhere Hummer H4?a rough-and-tough competitor for the Jeep Wrangler. The fourth Hummer could be on sale by 2008 or 2009.
A GM source confirms the company is looking for ways of making a small Hummer on its various sport/utility vehicle and pickup platforms. GM engineers and designers are working on the project, but a chassis for the vehicle has yet to be selected. One possibility is a two-seater, focused on the most rugged off-roading possible, similar to the Hummer dune buggy we illustrated earlier this year (?A Hummer Buggy,? May 9).
?It?s a matter of finding the right combination of rugged components and how we can package them into a vehicle smaller than the H3,? says the source. ?The main design factor is that any vehicle with a Hummer badge has to be the most capable off-road, period.?
One possibility is to use a shortened version of GM?s small pickup platform, which underpins the new H3.
GM product czar Bob Lutz is believed to be a big supporter of the H4, and as a former boss of Jeep he knows the competition intimately.
Hummer is also unlikely to launch a second range of soft-roaders, a move that Jeep is taking to exploit sales with owners who don?t need its ?Trail Tested? off-road abilities.
?It?s not the right time to be rounding off the corners of the Hummer range yet,? our source says.