Hummer's Heyday Could Be Out Of Gas

GM Announces It Is Closing Four U.S. Truck And SUV Plants; May Discontinue Hummer

(AP)  Surging fuel prices have prompted General Motors to close four truck and SUV plants in the United States, and the automaker may discontinue the iconic Hummer brand in a dramatic focus on smaller vehicles.

CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker's annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be closed are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico.

Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a new small Chevrolet car at a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in mid-2010 and the Chevy Volt electric vehicle in Detroit.

Wagoner announced the moves in response to slumping sales of pickups and SUVs brought on by high oil prices. He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent.

GM shares rose 36 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $17.80 in premarket trading.

The cuts will affect about 2,500 workers at each of the four facilities, although Wagoner did not know exact numbers. Many will be able to take openings created when 19,000 more U.S. hourly workers leave later this year through early retirement and buyout offers.

He said the company has no plans to allocate products to the four plants in the future.

"We really would not foresee the likely prospect of new products in the plants that we're announcing today that we'll cease production in," he told a Moraine, Ohio, city official who asked a question in a telephone conference call.

The moves will save the company $1 billion per year starting in 2010. Combined with previous efforts, GM will have cut costs by $15 billion a year, Wagoner said.

Wagoner said GM's board approved the production schedule of the Chevrolet Volt, and the company plans to bring the plug-in electric car to showrooms by the end of 2010. The Volt runs on an electric motor and has a small engine to recharge its batteries.

He said the change in the U.S. market to smaller vehicles likely is permanent. "We at GM don't think this is a spike or a temporary shift," Wagoner said.

The Detroit-based automaker also has just emerged from a spate of labor problems, with two local union strikes at key factories and a nearly three-month strike at key parts maker American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc.

GM said in a recent regulatory filing the strikes will cost it a total of $2 billion before taxes in the second quarter.

Detroit's automakers have been making the shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, but not at the pace that matches consumers' drive to hybrids and high mileage models made overseas. Gas prices have accelerated the retreat from trucks and sport utility vehicles, leaving the Big Three at their most critical crossroads in 30 years.

The U.S. market is difficult for every automaker, with consumer confidence weak and 2008 sales expected to be the lowest in more than a decade. But it's most difficult for the Detroit Three, who have relied more heavily on sales of trucks and SUVs than their foreign counterparts. Trucks make up 70 percent of Chrysler LLC's U.S. sales, for example, compared to 41 percent at Toyota Motor Corp.

[j_flood]

...tick...tick...tick...ALARM!!!

Well GM might finally have got it.

[benwah55]

way to go America keep buying all them imports,sooner or later you''ll be looking for ajob too.

[quetzalcrist]

About time..........
but too little too late in my opinion,
not ever going to buy American again,
no need to when the Japanese make superior products.

[megamanx1-2009]

FINALLY. GET THOSE ROAD HOGGING, DOUBLE PARKING SPACE HAVING PIECES OF CRRAP OFF OF THE ROAD HAHAHAHA!!!

OH MAN, WHAT A GREAT DAY TODAY IS. OBAMA WINS AND SUV PLANTS CLOSE!!!!!!!!

[missingamerica]

At the dawning of the United Socialist States of America, it is appropriate that GM, Ford and Chrysler discontinue producing American dreams for American driveways and highways.

Enter: The OBAMAWAGEN! A ''''volks'''' mobile we can afford.
800 pounds, 4-cylinder, 80 hp, 50 mph top speed, and 42 mpg by OBAMAWORKS, Detroit, Michigan.

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!

Posted by tuffone3 at 11:06 AM : Jun 03, 2008

Are you arguing that Obama, rather than the market, is the force controlling Detroit''s production and marketing decisions?

Wow.

Perhaps a better question would be: You smoke much dope?

[timdgrim]

Hummer-Bummer...this could be it''s last Summer..
To buy one today..you couldn''t get Dumber..
And they were looking forward to the 2009 GW Bush RepubliHummerican Limited Edition (Available only through January 2009) bigger, wider, taller, just like his lies. And, the McCainHummer, built to withstand a "Hundred Year War"....with extra room in the back for Granpa Naps...

[wdrussell1]

Looks like all the small guys will have to buy Escalades.

[afmca]

If people want to buy them that was their choice .. the issue I had was that the tax code actually gave people breaks for buying them. That really burned me up that we were subsidizing those gas and road hogs. Another example of Corporate welfare.

[louklou51]

I guess Ahnold is going to be upset because he won''t be able to buy Hummers anymore. Too bad!

[afmca]

As to American car manufacturers finally getting the message .. don''t count on it. The ignorance at the top of American auto manufacturers know no bounds. They used their political influence to keep mileage rules low so they could continue to build the gas hogs while the Japanese CEOs were more attuned to the reality of the marketplace and have good, high mileage cars throughout their product lines. Once again American corporate leadership focused more on their bonus than on the long term and the American worker and consumer is paying for it.

[macusweil]

Gas guzzeling Hummers sporting cheap yelow ribbon magnets opidomize the GOP''s lasting majority.

bughhh-bye ta both!! Don''t let the door hit ya on the way out!!

[deacon20081]

Good time to buy a new truck for a business. Ford keeps calling trying to give them away. Who cares about the Hummer, lousy mileage, no seating and they are just ugly. Heck send them to Iraq Dubya!

[edward1975-2009]

More jobs will be lost, as our ineffective government stands by and takes no action. They could easily prevent all this and won''t.

[blackyowe]

Bravo! Send them all for scrap or donate them to Iraq. They have oil.

[photogeezer]

We Americans are the ultimate posers. We drive something that makes us look outdoorsy or like Rambo. The Hummer is a poser military truck. The engine and drive train are nothing like the military version. In California, the mildest climate in the world, we want 4WD safari trucks to go to the mall. With gas at $4 and rising, you pose, you pay.

[olebd]

I for one never did understand the attration of those vehicles unless maybe you were a big Arnold Schwartneger(sp) fan or had other "shortcomings" They served there purpose in the military but that''s where they should have stayed.

Those things will make some ugly lawn ornaments.

[hangelle]

Duh!

GM All Hummed Out! Life is good.

[edward1975-2009]

If I heard correctly, I thought they had said that GM lost 3.3 billion in the first quarter. They are the most over priced of the American manufacturers. And are not high on quality.

[bobnjersey]

[Wagoner announced ... He said a market shift to smaller vehicles is permanent. ]

make him sign this in blood ... and back it with all his current assets, his multiple houses, pension/retirment package, and his current comp package.

only then should he be believed.

[incog-nito]

Not a minute too soon. Hummers are the stupidest looking vehicles on the road.

[doc_cuddles]

What is sad is they the Car Companies have the knowledge to make ALL cars get better gas mileage, but they refuse to.....gee I wonder who they are working with......one of these days, they will be forced to hopefully it won;t be too late.

[jaykay3141]

Oh, what a horrible awful terrible shame! Now all those "real men" out there won''t be able to have their faux military assault vehicles that say "Viagra didn''t work for me so I had to get a different kind of Hummer."

The end can''t come too soon for these road-hogging, gas-guzzling mobile monuments to overconsumption.

[djberson]

Now is the perfect time to start supporting US industry, and the move toward more environmentally friendly vehicles at the same time. By purchasing US made economy cars as they are introduced (meaning fuel econiomy), we can support the ideals of conservation by sending a message to Detroit that these are in fact the cars we want to buy. Just telling GM to make fuel-efficient vehicles, then failing to support their production by buying a foriegn make instead will not promote the American companies from embracing "green" practices. We must support American industry and its labor force, and duelly support the production of the cars we want when they introduce them!!

[actornaught]

Not the Hummer a man wants, anyway...

[edward1975-2009]

It''s one of the reasons Toyota and Honda are selling so well. They provide economically priced vehicles that give quality and mileage. American manufacturers better wake up. Toyota is already the #2 selling car in America, and don''t be surprised if they replace GM as #1.

[edeluca--2008]

Everytime I think I''ve got a handle on how stupid people can be, I see comments implying that buying a car with better gas mileage equates with "hating America."

News flash folks... NOTHING that is a natural resource is INFINITE. So... would you rather live in denial and keep driving your oversized, superfluous V-8s and Jetskis or plan for the future? It''s not JUST about "treehugging" and god forbid, taking care of the planet for our kids and their kids. It''s very much about "what are you going to do when it''s gone?" Both Democrats AND Republicans need transportation. As well as air to breathe, water to drink etc.

This sort of thing shouldn''t be a partisan issue, but sadly, stupidity seemingly demands that it continue to be so. And I''m assuming it will CONTINUE to be until it''s waaaay too late to reverse it or possibly even slow it down.

[newsjunky5]

There is a website devoted to photos of people "flipping off" other folks driving in hummers. It''s hilarious. They have comments by the photos about what happened, such as "they flipped me off too" or, "he just laughed" etc. Some drivers even got out to chase the flipping photographers. I don''t have the address right here, but should be easy to find.

[s1ckd09]

Oh, what a horrible awful terrible shame! Now all those "real men" out there won''''t be able to have their faux military assault vehicles that say "Viagra didn''''t work for me so I had to get a different kind of Hummer."

The end can''''t come too soon for these road-hogging, gas-guzzling mobile monuments to overconsumption.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by JayKay3141 at 12:16 PM : Jun 03, 2008

How typical... if these jobs were lost because they were closing Prius manufacturing plants, you''d all be complaining about how bad the economy is. Just more examples of liberals being happy when the freedom of choice in this country is limited to only the choices THEY like.

Heeeeeeerrrrrr cooooommmmmeess the OBAMAWAGON!
800 pounds, 4-cylinder, 80 horsepower, 50 miles per hour maximum speed, and 42 miles per gallon for all of you who hate American cars and America in general.

THE OBAMAWAGON 2009! $9,500 each MSRP.

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!

Posted by tuffone3 at 11:52 AM : Jun 03, 2008

Pretty sick.
Also, you must have missed the fact that a Pruis can go over 100 mph: http://www.nbc11.com/technology/13941126/detail.html

[newsjunky5]

"Everytime I think I''''ve got a handle on how stupid people can be, I see comments implying that buying a car with better gas mileage equates with ''hating America.''"
---------------------------------

Worse mileage means using more oil. More oil use means more grunts and jarheads will be killed or rendered infertile or unable to attract a mate. What could be better for lifting the US population up a notch? So those "stupid people" are the lemmings who are actually doing something about it. Let them go. Ride a bike, walk, or take the train, and live the good life yourself.

[incog-nito]

djberson: Sorry to disappoint you, but U.S. manufacturers don''t make economy cars, at least not very good ones. And they are the ones who ship jobs abroad, while Japanese makers are building plants in the U.S. Ford has moved a lot of plants to Mexico, GM to China. It''s the suckers who think they are buying American.

[bobnjersey]

[Just more examples of liberals being happy when the freedom of choice in this country is limited to only the choices THEY like.]
[Posted by S1CKD09 at 12:30 PM : Jun 03, 2008]

your post is a classic example of how some can seemingly tie anything they don''t like, agree with, or approve of as being due to ''liberals''.

[bogusbones]

this thing should never have been adopted for street use to begin with. i won''t get into all the psychologicals as to why people by them, but in a resort community near here, the first hummer owner in town was flipped the bird numerous times prompting her to call the authorities. what is apparent is that corporate greed, appealing to a very small % of buyers and not caring about the environment has caused gm to lay off thousands of workers, when all the time they could have, and with all their brains and business acumen, should have been designing smaller more efficient vehicles. they will stay in business, but they hardly have earned the right.

[gkc99]

About time. The Gen X yuppie scum will have to get out of their penismobiles. Enough of the Republican Road Hippos!

[incog-nito]

The smallest, most efficient car GM makes is the tiny Chevrolet Aveo, and it gets 24 MPG in the city. The Toyota Yaris gets 29 city, the Honda Fit 28, and even the bigger Honda Civic gets 26.

So no, U.S. manufacturers don''t make very good or efficient economy cars.

[stevenimp421]

Ok people what are you all idiots i drive a h2 and i love it and if any one ever flipped me off it''s cause there jelous. you all talk about gas but you go and fill up anyway so if the price was 7.00 a gallon you dumb ***** will still have no choice to fill up your cars.
now you go out and spend 50 thousand on a hybird that will never pay itself off cause you arent gonna own this car for 20 years so a 20 thousand dollar car that takes gas you spend 50 thousand for a hybird thats a 30 thousand dollar diffrence and lmao your still putting gas in it
so you all talk about us driving hummers with a 32 gallon gas tank hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
seems to me your all jelous cause we could afford it i got a truck i like and it doesnt matter what the gas price is cause regardless you have to pay for it.
why dont you all *** about the insurance premiums you pay you pay thousands of dollars a year for a car lets say you get into no accident with. so wheres all your insurance money go.
i''ll tell you it goes to the drunk drivers to pay of the child death they just caused so you are paying to kill kids and families. one day it may be a h2 that kills yours with a drunk driver in it and you not only paid for the gas to move the truck but paid the insurance for a death and you all say nothing.

[actornaught]

As someone that''s been called a "liberal" here many times (by the brain-damaged), i don''t see anything wrong with the Hummer, if somebody wants to pay for it. These cars, as a group, don''t make any impact on the real problems we have here.

But, as an American, i''m disappointed we don''t have more choices for small vehicles. I bought a Chevy Colorado recently, but i would''ve rather had something like the compact Ford pickup that''s sold in Australia.

Oh well...

[actornaught]

Posted by incog-nito at 01:00 PM : Jun 03, 2008

Where''s the Aveo made...?

[roger_inkart]

the days of cindy sheehan''ish types of liberals who drives thier suv''s TO PROTEST the war on oil IS DONE..

Posted by libsluv2spit at 12:43 PM : Jun 03, 2008

Any liberal who chooses to drive a large SUV is a hypocrite. I know many liberals, and none of them do. I walk to public transport almost every day to get to work.

That said, I believe you''ll find most of the morons driving large SUVs and Hummers to not be liberals. Many of them, I would imagine, are not political at all. However, I would also imagine the majority of people who drive large trucks and SUVs are actually conservatives and Republicans.

But I''m sure that won''t stop you right wing loonies from getting upset and blaming liberals. You need to feed your crack-like addiction to indignation, after all.

[roger_inkart]

Ok people what are you all idiots i drive a h2

Posted by STEVENIMP421 at 01:03 PM : Jun 03, 2008

You wish! I''m not jealous at all. You''re just a total moron, who obviously needs to compensate for his own personal and physical shortcomings.

[buttonjockey]

Remember just a couple years ago when we were trying to get mandates for higher fuel economy in place and the U.S. auto companies complained about how unreasonable such expectations were? Looks like they are fully capable and willing NOW to get us higher mileage standards!

[junogoose]

"Wow, Rick Wagoner is such a visionary. Maybe in 10 years he''''ll figure out that people want fuel efficient cars because gas prices are skyrocketing."
Posted by avoice

Couple that with Bob Lutz''s global warming "is a total crock of sh*t comment" and you have an out-of-touch dream team.

[newsjunky5]

"THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY NEVER LEARNS.."
---------------------------------

They made the Hummer because there were enough fools who wanted one. They made a bunch of money by selling them. Pretty smart on their part. Now that gas is expensive and people will buy efficient cars, they''ll make those. I blame 1)the idiots that buy hummers (I''ve never paid for a hummer, haha), and
2)There was a tax break pushed for by the White House for SUVs purchased by businesses. Blame these two factors. The car companies are in it for profit and will build anything they think will sell, as they should.

[stevenimp421]

TO BUTTON JOCKEY NO I COMPANSATE FOR NOTHING I CAN AFFORD IT AND ITS WHAT I LIKE TO DRIVE LIKE I SAID IF GAS WAS 7.00 A GALLON WHAT YOU WILL BE THE ONLY IDIOT PUTTING 7 DOLLARS IN YOUR CAR HOPING THE PRICE WILL DROP
AND ANYWAY I WORK FOR THE GAS INDUSTRY AND DONT PAY FOR GAS

[bobnjersey]

[now you go out and spend 50 thousand on a hybird that will never pay itself off cause you arent gonna own this car for 20 years so a 20 thousand dollar car that takes gas you spend 50 thousand for a hybird thats a 30 thousand dollar diffrence and lmao your still putting gas in it ]
[Posted by STEVENIMP421 at 01:03 PM : Jun 03, 2008]

huh? you making these numbers up? what hybrid costs $50k?

[amazedd]

I already switched to GD''s Stryker, w/airbags.

[jerr11]

Hey that''s bad news!

I was planning to buy a hummer when I get my $600 Stimulus check.

[stevenimp421]

AFTER FINANCE CHARGES AND EVERYTHING YOU PUT 50 THOUSAND INTO THAT CAR AND IF YOU DONT GET A WARRANTY AND THE BATTERIES FAIL OMG WHAT AN EXPENSE CMON YOU REALL MEAN TO TELL ME CARS MUST RUN ON GAS IT''S ALL ABOUT MONEY JUST LIKE CIGARETES DONT YOU THINK IT''S FUNNY THAT DRUGS ARE BECOMING THE CHEAPEST THING IN THE US AND THE GOVERMENT STILL WONT MAKE THEM LEGAL AS FOR GAS.
THE ONLY WAY TO STOP IT IS IF EVERY ONE IN THE US STOPS FUELING I MEAN COMPLETELY STOPS FOR A WEEK AND KILLS THE BUISNESS YOU THINK IT''S GOOD TO KEEP GAS IN THE GROUND FOR A WEEK WITH NO FLOW.
or even a month u all want the gas prices to lower and you still fuel up stop filling up and it will lower.
you see the gas price go up so you get scared it may go up again so you fuel up. the gas industriy see''s more sales at a higher price so they inch it up a few more cents and you all do it again next thing you know it''s a few more dollars.
it''s going up cause of all you

[shoebox119]

There should be no sympathy either for the big three U.S. automakers for making these monster vehicles or the selfish U.S. consumers who fueled the demand for them. The writing was on the wall more than 30 years ago that higher fuel prices were inevitable and that smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles were the way to go (like the rest of the world).

Once again, America shows its arrogance and indifference to world trends, claiming that somehow Americans deserve more.