Good Night, Sweet Hummer
Hummer, after a failed attempted salvation at the hands of the Chinese, begins its shutdown. It has been a long, difficult haul for General Motors since 2008 – when the Big Three were put to trial, and Americans fell out of love with their over-sized steroid SUV’s. In that time, Hummer struggled to remain a staple in the GM line-up, which has now been downsized to only include their “Four Core Brands” – Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac.
At one point there was believed to be a savior – Tengzhong. A Chinese automobile maker and truck producer. They wanted to share in the Chinese obsession with American made cars. And most importantly, they wanted to keep making Hummer vehicles – even newer models were proposed like the H4 and H5 concepts.
But as many instances in life you cannot predict what will come next: The turn of opinions, financial deals, especially with big business. Tengzhong’s deal fell threw, twice, and Hummer saw no rainbow at the end of their cloudy weather.
GM has yet to decide the fate of some 3600 Hummer employees throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States. As for the 2000 Hummer vehicles still available on dealership lots – you can get a sweet deal with up to $6000 off 2010 models. In the end, for Hummer, it’s like the song goes: “It’s over and done with…”
And really, has a bit of Americana died along with Hummer? Sure, people saw it as a symbol of excess, douche-baggery and what not. Nevertheless, a Hummer rolling down suburban streets stood for something that no other country had. It was full of pride, apple pie…lots and lots of apple pies (because they’re so big, get it?) – In a way, we lost a bit of what it means to be American when we dump a vehicle like Hummer. So to you I say good night, sweet prince. See you on the other side.
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