#15. Hummer H3 – When Size is Your Trademark, Go Small…
Source: Wikimedia
The Hummer fad was one that passed quickly. The vehicles were impractical for the roads. Their appeal came from their ridiculously huge size and their association with the US Army. Hummer wanted to try to expand more into the mainstream. Making one popular vehicle just isn’t enough for a company.
What Hummer Was Thinking
The Hummer brand had admittedly had a lot of success. Their overlarge vehicles were almost a counter-culture to the constant shouts for the economy and environmental protection. They sold pretty well, but they were still a bit of a novelty. Hummer was working to increase their sales by becoming more mainstream. Hummer put out several concepts and some of them were actually pretty good. The Hummer HX concept, in particular, was an interesting take on things. Take Hummer looks and turn it into something more the size of a Jeep Wrangler.
However, Hummer chose the safer route. They simply made a smaller version of what they had already made. This lack of evolution may have been a large part of the downfall of the Hummer brand. Hummer didn’t want to stray too far from what had made them interesting. However as any band will tell you, they need to evolve.
Source: Shutterstock
What the Public Thought
The fact that Hummer doesn’t exist anymore should be a pretty clear indication of what the public thought of the H3. It’s not that the car was hated, it was just boring. Hummers were supposed to be bold monstrosities that could drive over other cars in the event of a zombie apocalypse. The H3 was just there.
The most interesting thing you could say for the Hummer was that it looked a lot like a Jeep Cherokee. People who wanted to buy a Hummer chose to buy a different model instead. Years later they were still sitting on lots waiting to be sold.
