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BY KEITH BENMAN
kbenman@nwitimes.com
219.933.3326 | Saturday, August 20, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline hit a new high-water mark of $2.60 per gallon in the greater Chicago area on Friday.
So what was Harold Rich, a Chevy Cavalier owner, doing?
"It's roomy, it's comfortable," he said, seated behind the wheel of a sparkling red Hummer H3 at Schepel Cadillac Hummer, in Merrillville. "You're sitting up high, and you can see things a lot better."
Rich was one of steady stream of customers, many of them women, coming into the Merrillville dealership's new Quonset-hut style showroom Friday to take a look at the newly introduced H3.
None of them seemed deterred by the vehicle's 16 miles-per-gallon city and 19 mpg highway rating.
Rich, a Mittal Steel employee, said he has plenty of friends who have large SUVs and they complain loudly about the price of gas. But he's definitely considering joining their ranks.
"It's just a man thing, I guess," he said taking a look into the back of the 4,700-pound H3.
Rich and other customers were briefly interrupted in their quest by a five-minute ceremony at 12:30 p.m., as dealership founder Rich Schepel conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opening the showroom.
The showroom is unlike any other he's opened in his 40 years in the car business, he said. The 6,000-square-foot building opened its doors two months ago to sell GM's newly introduced H3, the newest model in the Hummer line.
Schepel Cadillac Hummer has already sold about 60 H3s this summer.
Buyers nationwide snapped up 8,500 in the model's first two months on the market, according to Jeff Edwards, GM's Hummer sales director.
The H3 has a manufacturers suggested retail price range of $29,500 to $32,730. That compares to a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $53,855 to $58,095 for the H2, which was introduced three years ago.
The new dealership, with a 40-foot high arched ceiling framed by massive steel beams and ceiling fans that look like B-24 props whirling around, is part of a new wave in dealerships. At one end are showcases of "Hummer stuff," including hats, shirts and jackets for sale.
By fall, the dealership hopes to have its test track, or "capabilities demonstration area," ready for test drives out back. That track, already installed at some of the 170 Hummer dealerships nationwide, will feature water obstacles, climbing walls, and the steepest climbing hill drivers or vehicle can handle.
"It has to do with changing the image of car buying," said Tom Van Prooyen, dealership vice president. "In the past, buying a car was not considered a real enjoyable experience for most people."
Hummer has borrowed many of the ideas for its showrooms from motorcyle-maker Harley Davidson.
"They want people to feel better about themselves after visiting a Harley Davidson dealership," Van Prooyen said. "They may not have bought one, but they felt it was worth the experience. That's what Hummer is aiming for."
High gas prices do not seem to be hindering the market for Hummers, Van Prooyen said. Some studies show gas might have to hit $3.50 per gallon before car owners and buyers radically change their behaviors.
The miles-per-gallon rating on the new H3 also compares favorably with other SUVs, such as the Lincoln Navigator.
The new Hummer showroom at Schepel Cadillac Hummer represents a $1.3 million investment for the dealership, Van Prooyen said. It's a sign of faith in the new Hummer brand after only three years of mass production by GM.
"We are confident it will sell, and we are confident along with Hummer and General Motors that there will be a market for this product," Van Prooyen said.
GM expects to sell 6,000 H3s this month, according to Edwards, and eventually wants to sell about 70,000 per year.
"We have a niche for this product," Edwards said after the ribbon cutting. "We're now in the mid-size utility range. Still, we know it's not for everyone."
Sales of the H2 have also picked up since the introduction of the H3, according to Edwards. That vehicle sprang from the Hummer H1, a vehicle first produced in the early 1990s at AM General's military Humvee plant in Mishawaka.
GM bought the Hummer brand five years ago. Three years ago, AM General started producing the H2 for GM at a brand new plant in Mishawaka. The H3 is made in Louisiana.
Altogether, 2,375 people work at the plants and AM General's downtown South Bend headquarters.
Hummer slim down
General Motors introduced the Hummer H2, a 6,400-pound SUV based on the military Humvee, three years ago. This year, it introduced the smaller Hummer H3, a vehicle it says remains "fully-off road capable" and true to its heritage.
2006 Hummer H3
price: $29,500 - $32,730 (MSRP range)
engine: Vortec 3500, 5 cylinder
horsepower: 220
wheels: 16 inch, cast aluminum
drive train: traction control with single-wheel control capability
curb weight: 4,700 pounds
fuel capacity: 23 gallons
MPG: 16 city/19 highway*
2006 Hummer H2
price: $53,855 - $58,095 (MSRP range)
engine: Vortec 6000 V8
horsepower: 325
wheels: 17 inch, cast aluminum
drive train: traction control with single-wheel control capability
curb weight: 6,400 pounds
fuel capacity: 32 gallons
MPG: 11 city/13 highway*
* figures for MPG are provided by GM. EPA does not require mileage ratings for vehicles as big as H2.
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