The rise and fall of the Hummer

In a world becoming increasingly aware of its carbon footprint, the popular Hummer once sold itself as a gratuitous symbol of excess, the 4x4 to end all 4x4s, a petrol guzzler that indicated its owner had the money to forgo rising fuel costs. Famously driven by celebrities, movie stars and even California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Hummer is still experiencing a downturn in current worldwide sales.

So what went wrong?

Aside from the Hummer’s intimidating presence as ‘the world’s best 4x4’, the core brand promise signifies exactly what got money and fuel-hungry countries such as the United States into trouble in the first place. Owners who wish to put their Hummer up for sale have a saturated market to deal with, as hundreds of other owners who can’t afford to fill up their vehicles or justify insurance costs do just the same.

Even though Hummer has an outstanding off-road production class racing history, and is even the backbone of charitable causes such as HOPE (Hummer Owners Prepared for Emergencies), the brand today is struggling to realign the perception that it is not in fact an excessive gas guzzler. Even though there are cars available with higher fuel consumption and insurance rates, this seems to be a hill that the Hummer just can’t climb.