The Hummer was first developed as military vehicle for the American military by AM General Corporation. The vehicle was than called an HMMWV or Humvee and was a very important part of the US military due to its cross country capabilities. AM General Corporation started the work of creating civil version of the humvee during the 80s. One of the main points in the development was to keep the qualities that made the car so good for the military in the civil version just adding extra comfort.
There was for a long time no dealers that sold this car that costed 50 000$ at the time and those who wanted to buy one had to go to the factory to do so. The first Hummer sold to a civilian was sold in 1991 to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger which only helped to improve the cars macho image. The civilian model of the Hummer caught the attention of the world and the American consumers during the adventure tour were two Hummers drove from London to Beijing through the rough roads of Russia and the former soviet union.
General motors later started selling hummers and eventually ended up buying the brand name Hummer. The later models of Hummers like the H2 and H3 are developed by GM for civilian consumers and have never needed to live up to the standards that were needed for the first model in the military service. This does not mean that they are bad cars just that things like comfort have had a larger influence on the development. The latest model is in fact developed to be a suitable family car and to work well as a city car. The latest model also has more high tech features and more safety features designed for families.
Hummers have a high ground clearance, double of a standard SUV, to allow them to traverse rough terrain. This means that a hummer can go almost anywhere. They can go up and down steep hills and can easily climb a 16 inch vertical rock. Hummer cars also have a very high tolerance for water and can traverse relatively deep streams. Hummer also features a long row of different functions to allow the driver supreme control regardless of the terrain. An example on one such features is the Central Tire Inflation System which allows the driver to control the pressure in all 4 tires individually from the driver seat.
Hummers are today sold with a large number of accessories and can be customized according to the individual customers need. Examples on such customizations are bullet proof hummers and the today relatively well know hummer.
What is a Life Cycle Analysis?
A life cycle analysis (LCA) is a method to categorize manmade products according to how much energy is involved in their production, as well as any other potential environmental impacts. The LCA is made up of four parts:
1. Raw material acquisition
2. Materials manufacture
3. Production
4. Use/reuse/maintenance
5. Waste management
This is often called a "cradle to grave" approach, since a product is evaluated from the time its material is removed from the earth until it is returned.
Raw material acquisition includes the total amount of energy to extract the material from its virgin state. Materials manufacture refers to the phase of the product's creation where its materials are created. The third step, Production, refers to the assembly of the materials into the form of the product. The next step includes all of the energy and potential impacts of the product's use, reuse and maintenance. Finally, what happens to the material that is discarded during the creation of the product, as well as what happens to the product itself at the end of its use.
Why is an LCA important?
It is growing in popularity today because of the expanded awareness of harmful environmental impacts that are a side effect of many products, and the increased market demand for "green" products. Green products strive to limit such effects. Because an LCA totals the incremental use of energy at each product step, this total energy use can be used to tell how much Greenhouse Gas (GHG) was emitted during its creation. This is becoming a very valuable tool, especially with expectation of a new carbon market in the near future.
An LCA allows companies to move beyond compliance, while allowing consumers to make better purchasing decisions by making the product's environmental impact more transparent.
Examples and Case Studies
Recently, there was a really interesting LCA of a Toyota Prius vs. Hummer H2 and H3. It was interesting not just because the analysis concluded that the Hummer was a "greener" car than the electric hybrid Prius, but also because it became very clear what sort of assumptions were made and how these assumptions directly influenced the result of the LCA.
Hummer was a division on GM which sold trucks and large SUVs. GM purchased the company in 1998, in hopes that it would appeal to younger buyers who wanted a strong-looking, large SUV. However, the brand never took off because of many drawbacks and GM started to look for a buyer. It seemed like they had found one in 2009 in Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, but the deal fell through in the last minute. This left GM with no other choice but to stop production of the brand.
The Downfall of Hummer
The Hummer was never a big seller for GM, and in its later years they tried to freshen the brand up by introducing a new model, the H3. However, sales fell flat on both the H3 and the older H2. The SUVs were large, in fact they were much larger than other vehicles marketed as large SUVs. This made them harder to park, drive and fit in buyer's garages. Their extremely large size also posed a serious threat to smaller vehicles if involved in a collision. Fuel economy of the Hummer models was horrendous as well. The H2 averaged around 12 miles per gallon, and that was if the driver was taking it easy on the throttle and not hauling anything around.
The H2 weighs more than 6,000 pounds, making it illegal to drive on many roads in the United States, though this law was rarely inforced. The Hummer is also not a very safe vehicle, due largely do that all models are classified as a Class 3 truck. This makes them exempt from many of the strict safety regulations that the DOT places on cars. The early H1 model also lacks basic safety features such as side air bags, stability control and child safety locks. All three models also have extremely large blind spots which can easily cause accidents when parking, backing up or changing lanes. All of these attributed to the Hummer having extremely weak sales numbers, even when they were discounted during sales.
GM's Attempted Sale
By 2008, GM was near bankruptcy and was looking to trim back on brands. Hummer was one of the first brand put up on the chopping block due to its poor sales. GM started to look for a buyer as it was clear that with rising gas prices, having such a large SUV did not make sense for most people. It seemed as if Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian automaker, was going to buy part of Hummer in late 2008, but the deal fell through. In 2009, GM continued to look for buyers but were still building Hummers, even though hardly any were selling. Societe de Participation Financiere Eidos Canada Inc. put in an offer to buy Hummer in 2009, but they also backed out after talks broke down. Finally, GM tried one last time to sell Hummer, but talks broke down once again. By this time GM had filed for bankruptcy and had no choice but shut Hummer down for good.
