Goodbye H1

See Ya

GM will stop production of the its iconic HUMMER H1 this year and the manufacturer, AM General, will convert the H1 assembly line to produce more military Humvees, which the company also produces. For many, the H1 became the symbol for petroleum excess: an overly large vehicle with overly large fuel consumption.

GM said it is moving away from very large, extremely low-volume vehicles to ones with broader appeal to a wider audience. Although a low-seller, the H1 established the HUMMER brand, which GM has expanded with a range of slightly smaller and higher-volume vehicles (the H2 and H3).

AM General and GM have sold around 12,000 of the H1 since its intoduction by AM General in 1992, and only 98 units during the first four months of this year; the H3 posted 16,582 units during those same four months.

Just last August, GM had up-powered its H1 to the H1 Alpha, using the Duramax 6600 6.6-liter turbodiesel as the powerplant. The 300 hp (223.5 kw), 705 Nm engine provided 46% more power than its predecessor in the H1.