gavriil

Bred in Mishawaka, caught in Topeka.
by Brenda Priddy

Everyone is downsizing these days – even Hummer. But this downsizing may actually increase Hummer sales by up to an estimated 100,000 units annually.

This smaller and less expensive Hummer is actually a derivative of the upcoming Chevrolet Colorado / GMC Canyon mid-size trucks, but in SUV guise and with aggressive and macho Hummer styling.

The 2005 H3 will be powered by a straight six, and will be priced nearly $75,000 less than the H1, and $15,000-$20,000 less than the $50,000 H2. The Shreveport, La.-built H3 should be a bargain at the $30,000-$35,000 range when it arrives at dealerships in late 2004.

Sarlacc

Bargain my ass. Its a tarnish on the hummer nameplate. The only hummers made should be the original for military use. The others are status cars that are too big for the road and driven by idiots. This baby hummer is just retarded.

But alas it will most likely sell...

Zoot

wait I JUST read an article that said the car was JUST approved for development......and they ALREADY have prototypes? And they share Toyota trailors? Something makes me think that the trucks pictured are actually Toyota SUV's...just a hunch

ItalianStallion

i bet theyre comparing it to the 4runner.

heyitsme

ditto, looks like the 4runner is the benchmark, don't think toyota has much room left for another suv. if this h3 looks as good as the h2 its going to be one hot selling suv. it does look like a canyon with flares/cap glued on so far.

gavriil

News: GM May Be Close to OK'ing Hummer H3





USA TODAY - June 17, 2003

General Motors is nearing a final go-ahead on the Hummer H3, a smaller, lower-price Hummer sport-utility model that GM figures would expand the brand's sales dramatically.

The H3 would be based on GM's 2004 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups. Those go on sale early next year as larger, more-powerful replacements for the Chevy S10 and GMC Sonoma compact pickups.

H3 prices could start at less than $30,000.

To keep costs down, H3 could use the five- and six-cylinder engines from the Colorado/Canyon pickups. Launch timing is uncertain.

GM bought the Hummer name from military-vehicle maker AM General in 1999 and has enjoyed significant profits from surprisingly strong sales of the $49,000 Hummer H2 SUV that went on sale July 2002. H2 is a modified Chevrolet Suburban underneath with rugged Hummer styling outside.

GM also sells the even bigger H1, starting at $106,000. It's based on the military Humvee that's still manufactured by AM General.

H3 ''is not an approved product program,'' and there's no deadline for a decision, says Hummer spokeswoman Heather Hall.

Unauthorized photos of what appear to be prototype H3s on a trailer in Topeka show that GM is well along in H3 development.

Expanding the Hummer line is important:

It draws non-GM buyers to showrooms where they get good treatment, because GM only allows its best dealers to sell Hummers.

It gives GM another SUV that uses hardware already in production, avoiding the expense of start-from-scratch development.

Despite criticism of SUVs as too big and too thirsty, they are the sales bright spot: up 21.6% last month vs. the previous May, according to Autodata, and up 7.2% through May, while overall new vehicle sales are down 5.8%.

(c) Copyright 2003 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Red Nj-s

Those look like crap, but a Hummer for 30k???? That thing will sell lot hot cakes. EASILY.

gavriil

I see this as huge competition to the Jeep Wrangler.

ItalianStallion

the wrangler? probly more like the cherokee, the wrangler is too low in price and classic. also this looks much larger than the wrangler and more comparable in size to the cherokee.

Black CL-S 4-Life

Great! Just what we all need another boring SUV.:thumbsdn:

Chaptorial

It looks like a first generation Pathfinder. Kind of a slap in the face to Arnold and Gary Coleman. The H2 should have been the last stop on the downsizing of the Hummer. :thumbsdn:

soopa

what the fuck??

your right... thats a first gen pathfinder!!!!

disgraceful!

SiGGy

I'm excited it has a inline six! good engine choice

gavriil

Spy Shots: ’05 Hummer H3
The baby Hummer begins to take shape.
by TCC Team (2003-11-10)

A sharp-eyed TCC reader took note of an unusual vehicle spotted recently - a vehicle that's an early precursor to what will become the 2005 Hummer H3. And here's what reader Mack King got from the unidentified driver of the prototype:

"According to the transport driver, the subject vehicle is a '06 Hummer. Upon observation the platform used is the '04 Chevy Colorado long-wheelbase pickup. Hummer cues include heavy rectangular boxed front and rear bumpers, a ramp-style front skidplate, a tailgate-mounted spare tire and short departure angle. The thermo-formed plastic fenders are disguise, as is the front plastic grille cover, which hides a blacked-out Colorado grille. I imagine a seven-bar vertical grille will be the production motif. The vertical taillights may be arbitrary or possible production intent in theme.

"The mule uses Colorado A-pillars and front doors. From the B-pillar to C-pillar abbreviated short rear doors. Between the C- and D-pillars are short rectangular rear side windows. The greenhouse has more tumblehome than the Hummer H2 as it aligns with the Colorado A-pillar and cowl. The IP is production Colorado. The rest of the interior was cobbled except for the front bucket seats. The powertrain features the GM 3500 DOHC in-line five, with a four-speed automatic and four-wheel drive. I could not determine if there were locking diffs.

By other accounts, the new H3 is due late in 2004 as a 2005 model.

ItalianStallion

not terrible. actually looks like itll be better lookin than the H2. the H2 is just awkward looking because of its thin and tall look.

gavriil

DISRUPTV

Nooooooo!!!!!


NOT ANOTHER CAR FOR THE SUBURBAN SOCIALITE YUPPIES!!!!!!

chungkopi

H2 is a pimp, but this thing is a sh!t..

gdubb

ohhh hell no. Nice ass

1killercls

yep...more JUNK for Soccer Moms and people who just cant think for themselves.

proaudio22

What the fuck? That doesn't look a damn thing like a Hummer. The H2 was stretching it, this is silly. I guess GM is just going after what sells, but come on...

The original Hummer was know for it's sheer ablilites. It was a massive utility vehicle that did exactly what it was supposed to. Neither the H2 or this new H3 could do really any of the stuff the original can do except drive on the road...

chummy5

Hummer Gets Smaller With H3T
Hummer looks for next hit with "environmentally responsible" concept; analysts, environmentalists skeptical.

The Hummer brand may be getting a bit nicer - at least that's the message General Motors Corp., which owns the rights to develop and sell Hummer consumer vehicles, will be sending next month as it unveils its next Hummer concept, a small pickup dubbed H3T, at the 2004 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show.


The show opens to media on January 2 in Los Angeles and General Motors will use the show to present its heftiest brand's future direction, as seen through the lens of a scaled-down concept. Although just a concept, Ed Welburn, General Motors North American vice president of design, says the H3T represents a "youthful, smaller, more affordable" direction than today's Hummer.


Clay Dean, design director for Hummer, describes the brand's next step even more aggressively, saying the H3T is "a little more environmentally responsible" than what the brand is known for. Unlike Hummer's current vehicle lineup, which includes the Hummer H1 originally built for the military, and its smaller counterpart H2, the H3T - unveiled to media Tuesday - is built on a compact pickup-truck frame, is drastically smaller, sports an in-line-five turbocharged engine with 350 hp and, as a result, could get upwards of 22 miles per gallon, according to General Motors officials.


A vehicle similar to the H3T, called simply H3, is expected to be available from General Motors in 2005 and, although Dean is unwilling to say whether it will be pickup or sport-utility-vehicle, it will be "obviously a HUMMER in its appearance and capabilities."


Uncertain future?


Analysts, however, aren't so sure that GM will have a hit on its hands simply by slapping a Hummer nameplate on a vehicle's grille. "It's all about prestige," says Marty Bernstein, a marketing consultant and principal of Marty Bernstein, Inc. in Troy, Mich. He says the key to Hummer's recent success is the exclusivity that comes along with owning an expensive and oversized vehicle. "There comes a point when a vehicle is too affordable. Look at Mercedes-Benz after it started offering a car for under $30,000 in the U.S. market. It lost market share in the luxury sector in the end. It's like Tiffany's selling cubic zirconium. It just doesn't work."


Dean counters, saying that the H3T and the vehicle that will eventually spawn from the concept will continue to be top line in amenities and off-road functionality, even if it is smaller and more affordable. In addition to an exterior strikingly like the H2, Dean points to features like satin aluminum trimmed interior components, an inclinometer and altimeter embedded in the instrument panel, and a DVD camera placed in the hood to record driving experiences, saying such things will "telegraph a new philosophy of elegance that will becomes an icon."


Another iconic trait of the Hummer brand in recent years has been the onslaught of environmental criticism that has followed its rise in the United States since the introduction of the H2 in 2001. Although the turbodiesel H1 can achieve a respectable 17 mpg on the highway, the H2 claims a top fuel number of 12 mpg and much lower numbers in everyday driving, and that has made that vehicle a prime target for SUV critics.


Brendan Bell, the global warming conservation assistant for the Sierra Club, a California-based environmental lobby, says that General Motors will have to do a lot more than simply saying the next HUMMER will be "not as bad as the H1 or H2."


"General Motors is traditionally behind," he says, referring to making serious gains in fuel economy. "I don't think Americans would believe that a Hummer is a more efficient vehicle," regardless of the improvement. Bell says that Ford Motor Co. has proven it can get between 35 and 40 mpg out of conventional powertrain Ranger pickups and criticizes General Motors for not bringing similar technology to market in a concept it touts as more environmentally friendly. For now, he says, "GM suggesting that a HUMMER is good for the environment is like suggesting milkshakes help people lose weight."

Chaptorial

That doesn't look to bad actually. I wonder how small the bed is however? Not like it will ever be used.

heyitsme

i kinda like it. reminds me of dodges concept.

heyitsme

soopa

that looks REALLY nice. i would rock that. for sure

soopa

has to be a pickup tho. i wouldnt want a SUV that small

proaudio22

That actually doesn't look bad, this coming from a person that DOESN'T like the H2.

It'd be 10x better if they lost all that cheap looking shit up front tho. Regardless of what it's made off, it looks like plastic.

heyitsme

amisconception

for 35, not bad. (the pickup i mean)

gavriil

GM Confirms H3 Details, "Alpha" Hummers - - Source: The Car Connection


The Hummer brand gets a new mid-size SUV based on the Chevrolet Colorado architecture in the 2006 model year, GM confirmed on Tuesday. Though no pictures were released, GM says the new Hummer will appear in the first half of next year and will sport a 3.5-liter five-cylinder engine of undisclosed power, manual or automatic gearboxes, electronically controlled four-wheel drive, traction control and stability control. GM also announced during its annual model-year media preview that Hummer would also get an "Alpha" performance lineup based on current vehicles, beginning with the 2006 H1 Alpha. The H1 Alpha gets a 6.6-liter Duramax turbodiesel engine with more power, improved emissions performance, and better fuel economy than today's H1, GM says.

cusdaddy

They should have at leats put in the 4.2L from the Envoy instead of the 5-cylinder

Zoot

I have a feeling that the Hummer brand is going to be so diluted that it will fail in the future.

heyitsme

The 4.2 probably doesn't fit since its the colorado which uses a 3.5/220hp. I kinda agree, GM is milking the brand for everything its worth in the short term. These things clearly aren't superior offroad vehicles, they aren't even superior on road vehicle.

Rod

Most people don't buy them because of their offroad capabilities, they buy them because they're Hummers. GM should take full advantage of the SUV/Hummer craze while they can. Not that I see the fad going away soon, but they might as well make as much money off the name right now. If the fad ever dies out, they can just drop these models and go back to their roots.

heyitsme

What GM roots, cars? Thats a laugh. Theres nothing wrong with making money off Hummer, but GM is making money and killing the brand on the way. H2 sales are already plummeting.

Rod

Well I didn't mean GM going back to its roots, I meant Hummer...as in the original Hummer, instead of these :ghey: vehicles.

zeroday

heyitsme

Think those are early testing shots

heyitsme