REPORTER: Jeff Ferrell
Soaring gas prices are not hurting local sales of the new Hummer H3, so far. That's great news for General Motors and its $250 million gamble at its Shreveport plant.
There's no denying the fun factor when it comes to a Hummer, like the H3. Taking a test drive with Salesman Walter Downey of Orr Hmmer, he lets me scale a 14-inch high concrete obstacle, with no problem at all. Yes, that was fun.
But, the people who buy Hummers don't want them to become too popular. Orr Hummer Sales Manager Rick Chance told us, "they (customers) don't want to be everybody in the crowd. They want to step outside a little bit and so, and be noticed."
But the reality is many people are buying them. Chance says they've already sold nearly 50 Hummer H3's, outselling their popular Cadillac models by a ratio of 2-to-1. And, it's not just the guys anymore, according to Chance. "Actually, we're having mothers pick these vehicles out over other utility vehicles."
With gas prices going through the roof, the catch phrase these days is 'gas mileage.' The H3 gets 19-miles per gallon on the highway, seven better than the Hummer H2. Downey, our salesman, tells us, "most people are very impressed with the fact that it's getting around almost twenty miles to the gallon on the interstate. A lot of people are accustomed to the ten to fifteen range with their suv's."
To achieve the higher mileage, the H3 is smaller. It is 7-inches slimmer, 16 inches shorter and weighs 17-hundred pounds less than the H2. Even Downey admits at least some surprise at the level of H3's popularity right now. "You would think with the gas prices that our sales would be down. They're not. They're the exact opposite, including the larger Hummer, the H2." REPORTER: "Why?"
DOWNEY: "I couldn't begin to tell ya."
So, with 15 H3's at the Orr Hummer dealership, along with another 40 expected to be delivered through the end of the year, expect to see more Hummers in a driving lane near you.
