Is General Motors Ditching the Hummer?
General Motors has announced the closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, affecting 10,000 workers, as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.
On the Hummer, General Motors CEO, Rick Wagoner said GM is:
undertaking a strategic review of the Hummer brand, to determine its fit with GM's evolving product portfolio" in light of changing market conditions. [my emphasis]
The Hummer has been the symbol of North America's overconsumption for years, and the GM brand has been flagging behind the likes of Toyota and their environmentally friendlier Prius hybrid brand.
Shall we all enjoy a "Bye, Bye, Hummer" party?
The over-the-top, juvenile chauvinism inherent in this vehicle is demonstrated in this photo at a GM dealership in Vancouver: http://bp2.blogger.com/_yNxuaFYeuXs/SAUzcn99rAI/AAAAAAAAEqc/YadSat0t5fc/s1600-h/P1000231_edited.JPG. Not only should there be a "Bye, Bye Hummer" party, there should be a "Humbled Hummer" image to contrast with the above one.
We have knuckleheads driving [or not driving] these in the UK, where gasoline is currently 9.95 USD per gal US.
The resale value must have plummeted!
Some time ago, one of the H2s was reviewed on TV and it achieved one MPG when driven exuberently. Whether that's in gals US or IMP, I don't know. But either way, it would get expensive!
I look forward to even more expensive gasoline, if only to force these morons off the road.
www.stopurban4x4s.org.uk
See Greenpeace's film asking 4x4 drivers 'what does your car say about you?'
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/gasguzzler/downloads.html
Methanex (Vancouver, BC) sells straight-run, anhyd. methanol for $1.50/US Gal. Racing cars use methanol, and they go like stink!
FlexFuel cars could use this fuel with some modification.
There are several problems with the use of methanol as fuel. Firstly, the vapor and liquid are poisonious so special procedures would have to be develop for general use.
Secondly, methanol has low volatility and this would preclude use in cold climates. However, addition of dimethyl ether would lower the flash point to about -41 deg C. In gasoline butane is added to lower the flash point to this same value.
Thirdly, methanol is a powerful solvent and this would require materials resistant to it.
Fourthly, metnaol has less energy than gasoline, so more would be required to travel the same distance but this is compensated for by its low price.
One advantage of methanol is that it would burn much cleaner than gasoline, thus reducing air pollution.
Use of methanol as a fuel is a no brainer. It is manufactured from nat gas and Canada has lots of.
Canada's natural gas is a finite resource, as is its oil.
"The 1999 report and the 2003 report on energy futures for Canada each show two "scenarios" for future gas production, and all four of these scenarios show a peak and subsequent decline in output of conventional gas from the basin. The major difference lies in the timing of the peak and the output at peak. In the 1999 report, the peak date is seen as being a decade away, but in the 2003 report, the peak is seen as having already passed in 2001."
http://canada.theoildrum.com/node/2157
The market made us sell these rolling idols to consumption!
Hummer is merely a brand name.
Other than the H1, Hummer vehicles are just reskinned GMCs.
Hummer is not the problem...the whole mindset behind Hummer is the problem...
A solution to the world's urban transportation problems could lie in two wheels not four, according to executives for General Motors and Segway.
The firms announced this week who properties are making an effort together to develop a two-wheeled, two-seat electric vehicle designed to be a fast, safe, low cost and clean alternative to traditional cars and trucks for cities across the world. http://www.unclepayday.ca - payday loan canada
Any male who wants or drives a huge 4X4 like a Hummer must be suffering from Very Tiny Penis Syndrome.
Basically, no-one needs one of these!
On BBC Top Gear's motoring programme, the drivers demonstrated in the programme's £1500 Two Wheel Drive African Cross-Country Car Challenge
that it wasn't necessary to have a 4X4 to drive on slightly less than perfect tarmac or offroad. They crossed the Makgadikgadi, a large salt pan in Northern Botswana (Africa). The Makgadikgadi are as wide as Portugal ~110 km / ~70 miles. Apparently the Makgadikgadi had not previously been crossed by any car, let alone knackered old cars.
Yet they managed it!
Who needs a 4X4? Clearly, very few! Most 4X4 drivers would chicken-out.
The first part of six is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwiTlqv0PR4
The rest are also available on YouTube.
If anyone else is foolhardy enough to try, perhaps they will get feed the Hyenas and the vultures.
Being said that the General Motors are cutting back the number of their employees and that they are going to close some of their SUV and truck plants, it is a clear reason that the market economy is suffering. The General motors in known to be the most prominent name when it comes to car making, but now their place has been taken by Toyota, a Japanese car-maker company. There have been 11 percent of drop sales made by GM for 2008. EBay's sales dropped an incredible 31 percent as consumer spending took a nosedive. Another company, Intel is also in trouble and is shutting down three facilities and will likely cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs. To read more economy news, visit your payday loan source.