I can’t help thinking that the worst job in the world right now has got to be “Hummer dealer.” Not only are sales of the behemoth SUVs tanking, but GM is making loud noises about shedding the now-embarrassing division completely. Would anyone really buy Hummer right now?

 

When I drive past the local Hummer dealership I shake my head… A few short years ago, the local Cadillac dealership cleared away half of its valuable commercial property to build a bright, vast, stunning new Hummer showroom, a modern-day interpretation of a quonset hut with the huge Hummer logo beaming out across the city. For the first few years, I’m sure the trucks sold like hotcakes; GM even introduced a series of smaller, “fuel-efficient” Hummer models based on their Chevy/GM pickup and SUV architecture.

 

But today, none of that matters. The quonset hut is quiet, and GM is belatedly questioning the wisdom of selling huge, hard-to-drive, gas-gulping SUVs.

 

Now, if Hummer fades away, not many fleets will be affected. But you have to wonder who’s next. Are other brands and models in danger? Could Ford’s plans to produce a lightweight, fuel-efficient F-100 pickup truck eventually doom the F-150? If bread-and-butter brands and models start to disappear, how will your fleet’s purchasing plans be affected?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 9:56 am and is filed under Over the Barrel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.