The Hummer, which is exceedingly popular in the United Arab Emirates, is in trouble.It is reported that Hummer's owner, General Motors, is reviewing the future of the Hummer brand, due to a slump in demand for vehicles that consume vast quantities of fuel.
The vehicle was originally a civilian version of the US military's armoured Humvee. The Hummer has had a host of wealthy enthusiasts making the steep purchase, including California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. At one point, the former actor owned an entire fleet of Hummers before giving them up after his election.
David Hirsch, of Friends of the Earth in the US, described the Hummer as "the most anti-environmental vehicle in the history of the world".
Weighing in at 2.6 tonnes, a typical Hummer can only do between 10 and 15 miles on a gallon of fuel (roughly 15 litres per 100km).
With gas prices not as high in the Emirates it will be interesting to see whether the Hummer drops in sales and whether SUVs take a dive as they have in the US.
For more details on the declining sales in the US and the UK and the options that GM is pondering, follow this link:
Andrew Clark, ‘End of the road for Hummer after sales of 'world's most anti-environmental car' dive’, The Guardian, 4 June 2008.
Dr. Geoff Pound
Image: Hummer H3T model due for release in 2009; Arni with his yellow Hummer.
Extra:
The Hummer is not the most popular car/truck in the UAE. Check out which car make is the favourite in the post entitled, ‘Dream Car of the UAE’.
