WASHINGTON, 13 April 2003 — It’s a little embarrassing.
No one wants to profit from war; at least, no one wants to admit it.
But profits are flowing into General Motors Corp.’s Hummer Division, largely because its Hummer H2 sport-utility vehicles, at prices starting from $48,455, are selling faster than US, British and Kurdish forces are taking over Iraq.
Even sales of GM’s super-gargantuan Hummer H1 SUVs are up 21 percent for the calendar year; and those transports are priced from $105,160 to $116,483.
More striking is that sales of those big-money big-rigs are increasing while overall car and truck sales are declining in the United States.
Part of the reason is what some Hummer dealers around the country are calling “the CNN effect.’’ That’s CNN as in Cable News Network’s round-the-clock coverage of the war in Iraq, a fascinating bit of reality TV in which the military Humvee — the parent of the Hummer H1 and H2 — is the leading automotive character.
“Every time you turn on CNN, you’re looking at a Humvee rolling into some part of Iraq,’’ said Glen Cardelino, general sales manager of Capitol Hummer in Greenbelt, Md.
Cardelino said that sales of the less-expensive, more civilian-friendly H2 have been strong since GM introduced that sports utility vehicle in July. But the war coverage seems to have sustained that momentum at a time when other vehicle sales are falling, he said.
“Hummer H2 sales are incredibly off the charts,’’ said Cardelino, whose dealership has sold 300 H2 models at an average price of $55,000 with options.
Not only are consumers buying Hummers, they’re also Hummer T-shirts and coffee mugs and other Hummer paraphernalia. “And we’re getting more people who are asking us to put military trim (that means decorations in auto industry parlance) on their Hummers,’’ Cardelino said.
The same thing is happening at Winkel’s Rod Hall Hummer in Reno, Nev.
“We have sold every Hummer H2 we could get our hands on,’’ said Chad Hall, the general sales manager. “But we were selling every one we could get before the war. So it’s hard to say that the war coverage is having a positive effect on sales that are already going gangbusters.’’
But it hasn’t hurt, has it Chad? “No,’’ he said. “It doesn’t hurt at all to see those Humvees on television all day and night.’’
If you think this is a testosterone-laden guy thing, think again.
“Women are our biggest H2 buyers,’’ said Hall. “They are using them as their daily drivers. It’s a vehicle that’s intimidating on the outside; but it’s really comfortable and easy for them to handle. They like that.’’
Said Cardelino: “We have husbands coming in here to buy Hummer H2s for their wives. The guys think the H2 is a softer version of the H1. But we’ve had a few husbands who gave an H2 to their wives, then decided they liked it themselves, and came back and bought a second one.’’