Diesel, beefier engine are in works for H3

[Klaus]

Diesel, beefier engine are in works for H3

By Jamie LaReau
Automotive News / October 24, 2005


DETROIT -- General Motors has big plans for the smallest truck in its Hummer lineup.

GM intends to offer V-8 and diesel versions of the mid-sized H3 SUV.

Two sources inside GM say the automaker is in the early stages of preparing to offer an H3 with a 5.3-liter V-8.

"It's another couple of years out," said one source at GM, who asked to not be named.

Hummer will add a diesel engine to the H3 later, the source said.

The SUV comes with GM's Vortec 3500 3.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine, which delivers 220 hp. The automaker also will build a special-edition H2.

At the Dealer Business Conference in Las Vegas last week, GM executives told Hummer dealers that 150 special editions of the full-sized H2 will be built in the first quarter of next year. Those vehicles will offer more "bling" factor than the regular H2s, said Jacques Moore, of Moore Cadillac-Hummer-Saab-Subaru in Richmond, Va.

The special editions will feature at least two new colors: Pacific Blue and Fusion Orange, Moore said.