Hummer

Hummer was a brand of sport utility vehicle (SUV) owned by GM. The Original Hummer (now referred to as the H1) was based on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee) base model. Originally manufactured for military use by AM General, civilian interest grew after televised use in Desert Storm showed how well the vehicles could handle off-road terrain and how safe they were. Responding to public interest, AM General began producing civilian models in 1992 under the brand name Hummer. AM General sold the brand name to GM in 1998, but still produced the vehicles in their plant in Mishawaka, Indiana.

The first mainstream civilian model, the H2, was released in 2003, and gained notoriety for being extremely large, thirsty, and expensive. For 2005, a pickup model, called the SUT, became available for purchase. The area that would have been the third row seat was deleted in favor of a short pickup bed. A year later, Hummer released the smaller H3, which was on the same platform as the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon twins. This smaller Hummer was panned for the same reasons as the H2, but the H3 didn't have the "brawn" associated with its older brother. Finally, in 2009, an SUT H3 became available, but it was not available for very long, mainly due to GM's bankruptcy. Along with Saturn and Pontiac, Hummer was phased out permanently, resulting in the sudden deaths of the H2, H3, and their truck counterparts.

In 2010, right when Hummer was about to close down, General Motors tried selling the brand to a Chinese company, but this venture failed, ultimately resulting in the flop of Hummer.