Word: hummers
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...does Tengzhong, a private company based in China's southwestern Sichuan province, hope to revive Hummer? The company has offered few details. It manufactures heavy machinery, road and bridge construction equipment, and special-use vehicles like dump trucks and cement mixers. With fuel prices remaining high, Tengzhong may restrict Hummer to some type of specialized application, rather than position the vehicle as a toy for wealthy consumers, says John Bonnell, director of Asia Pacific forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates. "I think the future is something outside a normal passenger vehicle for the Hummer," says Bonnell...
...Hummer, which was based on the humvee vehicle produced for the U.S. military by AM General, was first sold as a civilian vehicle in 1992. GM bought the line in 1999 and later introduced the smaller H2 and H3 models. After the SUVs became a rolling symbol of hip-hop bling and celebrity excess, Hummer in 2006 registered peak sales of 71,524 for all models. But with higher gas prices and the onset of recession, sales plunged...
...China, Hummers are rare among the compact and midsize vehicles that jam city streets. Last year, just over 500 were sold on the mainland. As in the U.S., in China large SUVs have a certain cache, but with high taxes on imports, there is little demand. "To drive a Hummer, for rich people it fulfills a certain dream," says Yale Zhang, a Shanghai-based analyst with CSM Worldwide, an auto-industry consulting firm. "In China, it's a niche market for sure. It's too big; it consumes too much gasoline. The price is very high, and very few people...
...SUVs that did sell well in China last year were only popular in sizes not much larger than ordinary sedans. That may influence the design of future Hummers. "I expect that after the deal, Hummer would be much better tailored to the Chinese market," says Liu. "If anything, its price might be much lower and more acceptable to the Chinese consumer...
...Tengzhong CEO Yang's comments about fuel efficiency are a recognition that the Hummer has to change its image if it wants a future in the U.S., where the public has soured on gas guzzlers, and in China, where gas-mileage standards are high and are expected to increase. "They see that great weakness in the vehicle and the movement in China toward more fuel efficiency," says Bonnell. "We know they have to address that if they want people...