hummer could be done, the dinosaurs will not survive

They never learn. I lived through the fuel crunch of 1973 and the recession and oil price rise of the early '80s, and in both instances, just like today, the automakers were slow to recognize impending collapse of the demand for big vehicles. And young buyers were reluctant to listen to us older guys who warned them that those fancy big impressive pickups would someday be a dime a dozen when the gas gets scarce because we're burning it so fast and its prices get stupid. Chrysler nearly died in one of those fiascos, with its factory lots jammed with brand-new Newports and New Yorkers, cars they kept building. The US government bailed them out, meaning that taxpayers once again paid for the mistakes of a bunch of wealthy industrialists. Nothing new about that, either. What is this? Oil's been rising for a long, long time now, and yet the automakers kept building the big toys even as there were signs that people were starting to flock to smaller vehicles. Once again, the imports will take over another big share of the market. The used- vehicle papers and websites are jammed with thousands of big pickups and Hummers and SUVs and motorhomes and travel trailers. One dealer I read about said that a year-old Volvo SUV would bring only half of its new price on his lot. I wonder what the owner got for it on the trade- in? After ONE year. A dime a dozen.

Dan

Well I certainly hope that the Hummer is done, like a dinner. I hope too that GM is done. It looks like your economy is done too - oh well that's karma for you.

Another of Detroit's problems, which is related, is that Detroit seems to have a longer lead time in getting new models to markets, compared to Asian mfgs. Thus they cannot respond as quickly to things like a rise in oil prices.

Not true. The government guaranteed loans for Chrysler. Chrysler fully paid back the loans in less time than allowed.

I'm hearing a lot of stories around here of dealers refusing to take the big vehicles on trade. Claim they can't sell them on the lot and no one will buy them in the auctions. Diesel pickups and the giant SUV's seem to be the most affected.

Steve B.

What's interesting is that the original Hummer was actually a useful vehicle, and a lot of folks who had a serious business need for a large off-road vehicle bought them. It was a good replacement for the old Land Rovers and Internationals, with higher clearance if considerably higher maintenance costs from the increased complexity.

But the original Hummer was discontinued because it wasn't making enough profit, and it was effectively replaced with the H2 which was a cheesy toy not suitable for actual offroad use. The market in general would rather have style than substance.

--scott

The people buying the Dino's are likely the same ones driving up the price of energy in the first place thru oil futures speculation.. From what I hear there is no shortage of oil.... Diddly

I stand corrected. But if they hadn't managed to pay those loans off...

Dan