The Guardian: Coming to a street near you: 2.2 tonnes of Hummer (grenade gearstick optional)

[Up2Late]

Source: The Guardian

Coming to a street near you: 2.2 tonnes of Hummer (grenade gearstick optional)

· Right-hand drive version launches in the UK
· Dealer claims H3 is more carbon efficient than Prius

Martin Wainwright
Saturday March 31, 2007
The Guardian

Just when you thought the clumsy, fuel-hungry army of Chelsea tractors was reeling from higher taxes and social embarrassment, an even bigger monster is about to invade Britain's streets.

General Motors has decided to launch a right-hand drive version of the American military's favourite vehicle, the Hummer, targeting UK consumers who want something large, different or just well-armoured. The H3 model is priced at a relatively modest £25,000-£30,000. The first of an estimated 1,000 a year was flown under wraps to Amsterdam last week from South Africa, where the cars will be made under a tax-friendly deal. It was then trucked to Manchester, home to Britain's first authorised Hummer dealer....

(edit)

...The H3s will be dramatically cheaper - and more practical - than the older H2s and especially the H1, a massive vehicle which is little different from US military workhorses in Iraq. Mr Millett has sold some of the 40 to 50 currently registered in Britain and still expresses wonder at their width. "I'm a tall man but if I sit in the driver's seat and stretch out my left arm as far as possible, I still can't touch the front seat passenger," he said.

The H1 sells for around £120,000 when available and the H2, almost as big but a little more civilian-looking, for between £50,000 and £60,000.

(more at link)



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/cars/story/0,,2047004,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

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HUMMER H3s Made in SOUTH AFRICA!!!

Hey all you American Auto Workers out there! How's this for "out sourcing!?! I guess the GM must not have enough American Auto Workers available to build these Trucks here in AMERICA, Huh!?!)

Btw, to convert 30,000.00 UKP to US Dollars, its 30,000 x 1.96795 = $59,038.50
<http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/currency/11/12/default.stm>

[fshrink]

1. Not even phallic any longer. Plain excremental.

Technically, this is called a regression.

[Up2Late]

2. kick n/t

:kick:

[ducati588]

3. GM in S.A.

GM has been in South Africa for years, long before Apartied ended. This isn't an outsourcing thing, its building a vehicle near the market for it. All of Africa uses 4WD vehicles, almost exclusively.

[MadHound]

4. Umm, no, this is indeed outsourcing

Before the bottom line became everything to multinational car companies, we would have built that Hummer in Detroit and exported it to England. Instead the work is outsourced to SA, and then shipped to England. It is due to shit like this that our balance of trade deficit is so deeply in the toilet, not a good thing.

[Up2Late]

6. Do you have any idea where South Africa is or how far it is from England?!?

It nearly twice as far!

And Yes, Detroit, Michigan IS a U.S. Shipping Port.

It's not the distance, it's Tax breaks and international tariffs, two things that our Federal Government is responsible for the negotiation of.

It's very hard to find websites that even list this info, but here's what I found.

The distance between Detroit, Michigan, United States and London, England, United Kingdom, as the crow flies:

3762 miles (6054 km) (3269 nautical miles) <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_distance_from_Detroit_Michigan_to_London_England>

London, England to Durban, South Africa = 5911 miles (9513 km)

<http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/cursortrail.html>

[symbolman]

5. Oh, these will be a BIG hit in England

I know, I was there in 1973, and drove a Mini Cooper, WHY? Because ANY SINGLE AMERICAN CAR would NOT FIT on the roads that travel through any villages.. an american car was called a 'Yank Tank' and was as WIDE as the Streets themselves..

I can only laugh and imagine these Evil POS scraping BOTH SIDES of the streets, tearing houses apart, better have a lot of insurance, not to mention those people DO shoot back.. I have one come after me with a shot gun for running over his fence by mistake.

Good old USA, the UGLY AMERICAN Once again.. :)