More Hummer Models Needed, Lutz Declares

GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has never been one to hold his tongue. The outspoken exec, who is the automakeris global product planning guru, is usually especially quoteworthy around auto show time, and this yearis Paris show appears to be no exception.

Speaking at the opening of a Hummer dealership in Paris this week, Lutz declared that the brand needs to double its product lineup, which will stand at two, the H2 and H3, after the previously planned cancellation of the H1, the iconic, $100,000-plus military-derived first Hummer.

Lutz indicated that producing a Hummer-branded pickup truck with ample passenger seating was an option. A dune-buggy/removable-top style vehicle has also been the subject of speculation in the press.

Earlier this year, GM investor and noted activist shareholder Kirk Kerkorian suggested the company spin off Hummer as well as Saab as part of a larger cost-cutting strategy to aid the ailing automaker. But GM executives have held fast and can point to Hummer sales that are up almost 50 percent in the first eight months of this year on the strength of the smaller, more fuel-efficient H3, which accounts for the bulk of Hummer sales.

Hummer, purchased by GM in 1999, has been a lightning rod for critics of Americais dependence on foreign oil, but GM execs insist the brand is central to their future product strategy.