Hummer H3: Big Ambition, Small Price

Motoring Channel Staff - 12/Feb/2007

Brisbane, Australia — Australian customers can now order the new Hummer H3 model line-up, which will be officially imported and given dealer and service support by GM Holden's prestige outfit, which currently takes care of Saab.

You can put your $52,000 on the table, though the actual car won't arrive in your driveway until July 2007, and three models will be offered - the basic H3 model, the H3 Adventure and the H3 Luxury.

One of the reasons behind the Hummer's popularity in the United States was its military links, having been based on the HMMWV, or 'Humvee' as the American troops called it. Currently still in use in Iraq in other theatres of war, it's rugged credentials have made it a popular choice in America, and GM Holden believes that Australian buyers will warm to the large 4x4.

Holden has confirmed that the H3 will be available in either 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic depending on the model.

GM Holden chief, Denny Mooney, made the announcement on the Hummer’s Australian debut at the Brisbane International Motor Show.

"Hummer is a truly iconic automotive brand. Australian customers can’t wait to climb behind the wheel and our competitive pricing will really shake up the market," Mr Mooney said.

"The mid-size H3 is an ideal vehicle to launch the brand into Australia. Comparable in size to other mid-size SUVs, H3 is still true to the brand's extreme heritage, but is more economical and easier to drive in the city than the original H1 and H2.

"Affectionately known as the ‘Baby Hummer’, the H3 is able to achieve the perfect balance between on-road comfort and off-road capability," added Mr Mooney.

Engine and Performance

Holden has confirmed that just one engine type will offered initially, a 3.7-litre in-line 5-cylinder petrol engine. With this the H3 develops peak power of 180kW @ 5600rpm and peak torque of 328Nm @ 4600rpm. 

Called the Vortec 3700, the engine has dual overhead cams and variable valve timing, while official fuel consumption on regular unleaded petrol is 13.7 litres per 100km in manual form, which is comparable to similar mid-size SUVs says Holden.

Depending on specification, H3 has a kerb weight of between 2198kg for the manual H3 and 2303kg for the automatic Adventure, which is also in line with other vehicles in its segment.

Off-Road Capabilities

"Make no mistake – the H3 has the full off-road capability to live up to the HUMMER name," GM Holden boss, Denny Mooney, said.

"The H3 has been tested in some of the most extreme conditions imaginable, and most recently GM Holden engineers tested the vehicle locally and worked with GM South Africa to ensure the vehicle met the needs of our market," said Mooney.

Its compact size can improve the H3's maneuverability and ground clearance in off-road situations. In its home market, it is the only vehicle in its segment that can climb a 40cm vertical wall, scale a 60 per cent grade and traverse a 40 per cent slope. GM Holden explains the H3 can also ford 40cm of water at 32km/h and 61cm streams at 8km/h. It has a powertrain-integrated, two-speed, electronically controlled full-time four wheel drive system with a standard low range ratio of 2.64:1.

Safety Features

Standard active safety features on the H3 include StabiliTrak stability enhancement system, traction control, ABS and dynamic rear proportioning brakes, while passive safety equipment for the Australian model H3 includes dual front airbags (with passenger sensing system) and roof rail mounted side curtain bags standard across the H3 range, which ensures that both front and rear seat occupants are protected in the even of a collision.

Model range

Hummer Australia, a GM Holden subsidiary, has confirmed that it will launch the H3 in three models: 

H3
H3 Luxury 
H3 Adventure

In addition to the standard safety features, the $51,990 H3 base model offers cruise control, an electrochromatic rear view mirror, an eight point compass, power windows, fog lights and halogen headlamps, five 16-inch by 7.5-inch alloy wheels, remote entry with panic alarm, single in- dash CD stereo, cloth seats and 60/40 split rear seats.

In H3 Luxury specification, fetching $59,990, the vehicle gains the following features over the H3 model: automatic transmission as standard, leather-appointed interior, electric heated front seats with 8-way power adjustment, leather wrapped steering wheel, exterior chrome package including door handles, roof cross bars and mirror caps, 6-disc in-dash CD changer, a more powerful Monsoon sound system and a glass sunroof.

The H3 Adventure is available with a manual transmission for $57,990 and it includes the features of the H3 Luxury (excluding the sunroof) and takes the H3's off-road capability to the next level, adding a fully locking electronic rear differential, a more rugged off-road suspension package and a 2-speed transfer case with a low range ratio of 4.03:1.

GM Holden chief Denny Mooney also announced the formation of the GM Premium Channel to manage GM's premium Marques in Australia, which now includes Hummer and Saab: "I am pleased to announce the appointment of Parveen Batish as the director of the GM Premium Channel. Parveen will continue to report to Alan Batey, executive director, GM Holden Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, with responsibility for the operation of Hummer and Saab in Australia," Mr Mooney said.

The GM Premium Channel has appointed 20 Hummer dealers around Australia with representation in every state and territory, where the newly appointed network represents a selection of existing premium Saab, Holden and combined dealerships. All dealers will undergo a redevelopment to incorporate the Hummer brand into their facilities over the next 12 months.

The H3 is assembled in the General Motors Struandale Assembly Facility in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which produces left and right-hand drive models for Australia, South Africa and other countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Last year Hummer achieved global annual sales of around 82,800 vehicles, up more than 33 per cent year on year. H3 represented around 62,500 of these vehicle sales, up 74 per cent year on year.

Outside the United States nearly 8,500 H3s were sold last year, up more than 200 per cent.

Hummer History

Before there was Hummer - H1, H2, and H3 - there was HMMWV, or “Humvee” in the words of the American soldiers whose lives frequently depended on the capabilities of the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles produced by a very small and relatively unknown truck and former city bus builder, AM General.

The Jeep had carried GIs through World War II and Korea , as the Mutt – Military Utility Tactical Truck – had done through the Vietnam era. But the Pentagon knew a more modern vehicle, one capable of carrying troops and increasingly heavier payloads, versatile enough to serve as a remote communications station or a rolling rocket launcher, would be needed in future conflicts.

Specifications were written. Bids were accepted. Trials were conducted. Finally, after more than 600,000 miles of testing that simulated seemingly every possible scenario on the planet, the U.S. Army Tank Automotive & Armaments Command awarded a contract for 55,000 HMMWVs to a company that few knew, but that traced its heritage to 1903 and a college student’s ideas for a four-wheel motorcar that went into production as the now-famous Overland Runabout.

Two years later, New York auto dealer John North Willys took over the financially desperate Overland automaker. By 1912 and through 1918, only Henry Ford was building and selling more cars in the United States than Willys-Overland.

Like so many other companies, Willys-Overland was devastated by the Depression. Yet by 1940 it was healthy enough to win a contract to build a new quarter-ton, four-wheel-drive General Purpose vehicle for the U.S. Army. By the end of World War II, Willys-Overland had produced more than 350,000 “GPs.” After the war, the company retained the rights to begin civilian production of the Jeep.

Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser bought out Willys-Overland, which later was enfolded into the American Motors Corporation. Soon, the General Products Division of the Jeep Corp. was renamed AM General. In addition to building a variety of work trucks for the military, the South Bend, Indiana-based company produced some 5000 transit buses for cities across the country.

Like its ancestors, AM General suffered through repeated financial setbacks and was spun off again to new owners. Yet in January 1991, millions of Americans watched their televisions and saw the company’s work in action as Humvees rolled across the Kuwaiti desert.

About a year earlier, Arnold Schwarzenegger had seen a Humvee making its way down an Oregon road while he was filming the movie Kindergarten Cop. The big, rugged 4x4 met the Terminator’s expectations for transportation and he contacted AM General to see how soon he could buy one.

AM General’s CEO Jim Armour had long been thinking about a civilian version of the Humvee, and had a military HMMWV converted into civilian use for Schwarzenegger. With Schwarzenegger making an appearance to tell AM General ownership "you guys are nuts if you don’t do this," plans were approved for production of a civilian Hummer, a vehicle that at first was sold by mail order. AM General set up an 800 number that prospective customers could call. They were sent a videotape, a brochure that unfolded into a poster, and an order form. 

Eventually, several dealerships were organized. As many as 1,000 Hummers were sold in a single year.

Armour knew there would be an even larger market for a smaller and less expensive Hummer, but he also knew that AM General wasn’t in any position to produce one. That’s when AM General met General Motors.

In January 1999, the General Motors North American Strategy Board heard ideas from the company’s recently formed Market Intelligence Group about emerging automotive segments. Among the niches this group identified on the horizon was consumer demand for an incredibly capable sport utility vehicle with rugged, military design cues, perhaps even a full lineup of Hummer-like vehicles.

A small delegation was sent from Michigan to Indiana to present its market intelligence information to Jim Armour and his executive staff about the potential market for a “son of Hummer.” They found Armour displeased at the way the Jeep brand was touting its leadership in off-road capability. Armour knew that Hummers go where no other vehicle treads. He recognised that GM was ready to provide a way to prove it on a wider scale. 

GM and AM General agreed to work together on the development of what was known as the “son of Hummer,” a vehicle that AM General would build and that GM would sell by establishing a nationwide network of HUMMER dealerships.

Just as the original HMMWV had to meet certain criteria – travel at least 60 miles per hour, with a range of at least 300 miles, climb a 60 percent grade, traverse a 40 percent side slope, ford 30 inches of water, so too the new Hummer and all future models would have to have to meet some basic
requirements to maintain and extend the heritage.

By the early summer of 2002, the Hummer H2 was on sale, setting standards both for off-road capability and for on-road presence. A pickup bed version, the H2 SUT, followed in the spring of 2004. Under its agreement with AM General, GM owned the rights to design and build other Hummer vehicles. The first – but certainly not the last – is the HUMMER H3.

Related articles:
- Hummer H2 (2003)
- Mindfreak Hummer H2 (2006)
- Christmas Hummer H2 by GeigerCars (2006)