The Auto Writer

At this year’s NAIAS in Detroit, MI I had the opportunity to see up close and personal the Hummer HX concept, a jeep-like vehicle that would compete against the Wrangler if it were brought to market. I admired its style and I enjoyed my interview with David Rojas, the 24 year-old designer who was part of a three person team behind the vehicle’s design.

Edgy and sporty, the HX alone could set the tone for a new Hummer, one featuring smaller but still very capable off-road vehicles that might appeal to a whole new generation of Hummer fans.

Well, as we all know gasoline prices have just about sunk Hummer with July sales down by almost 62% over July 2007. Clearly lacking a single model even remotely fuel efficient, Hummer seems like a throw back to the big barges of the 1960s and 1970s. GM knows this and has put the company up for sale.

When GM first hinted a few months ago that Hummer might be sold, many wondered just who would buy the brand and why. Overseas, Hummer has sold rather well as it is just the type of vehicle some people need for where roads are virtually non-existent or where vast stretches of open land beckon. A Jeep or Land Rover might do, but then nothing matches the Hummer’s high road (or trail) clearance, an advantage that serves some buyers just right. Truly, the brand’s “like nothing else” motto is appropriate especially for what Hummer can do off-road.

Until recently, GM has been mum on who might purchase Hummer if a buyer could be found in the first place. With sales way down and gas prices likely to stay high, the brand’s long term appeal would seem minimal especially in America. But, we now know that there has been some interest expressed by a pair of Gulf Arab investors, the names of whom GM isn’t revealing. Hummer is considered to be a status symbol in some countries and is remembered as the close cousin of the Humvee, the star of the first Gulf War.

Besides its status appeal, Hummer could thrive in places where gas prices are low as it is in some Arabic nations. Then again, with billions of oil money to burn, Hummer might survive to serve those for whom gas prices aren’t a concern.

Will people miss Hummer? Some might, but I see the brand as an experiment that lost its appeal when gas prices surged. I doubt that GM will fetch anywhere near a decent offer for the brand, but simply unloading Hummer for a rock bottom price is a lot cheaper than buying out dealers as the company learned with Oldsmobile.