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Subaru to Buy Hummer

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was going to say, does Subaru have a death wish. While certainly not at the forefront of alternative fuels; (in fact I've never read anywhere regarding Subaru pursuing hybrid technology) Subaru is perceived by many to be a 'green' car company. That image would be destroyed by the purchase of Hummer.

I don't think of Subaru as a green company..most of their vehicles including my Impreza get pretty mediocre gas mileage...maybe outdoorsy..
 

Glenn

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Diesel prices started creeping up before the low sulfer stuff was mandated by the gub'ment. Worldwide demand for diesel picked up when the economies of China and India took off.

I think diesels make more sense than hybrids. You can get better mileage in a "normal" car. The Insight and the Prius are nothing more than jazzed up sub compacts. Hey, if you want to drop $20k on a Yaris with a "hybrid" badge on it, so be it. Even when gas prices were around $4 a gallon, the payoff to break even with a hybrid was years. (extra cost paid vs a traditional car). I can't even what it was when gas was hovering at $2.

To be fair, diesels still have a bit of a payoff time as well. The premium you pay for a Jetta TDi vs a gasoline Jetta will take a few years to recoupe in fuel savings.

And a random FYI for the non forum gear heads...or people who haven't fallen asleep yet reading my ramblings. 99.9% of the Hummers are basically a GM truck chasis with a Hummer body. IIRC, the H3 is built on the Colorado chasis, the H2 on the full size Chevy truck chasis. The H1 is the military version with has nothing in common with the H3 or H2.
 

koreshot

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All this talk about hybrid this and diesel that... all these technologies are just duct tape. The root of the problem is huge cars and performance cars -- and huge performance cars :) ..

20 years ago we had Honda Civics getting 45mpg - no hybrid technology and no fancy diesel. Light weight, small profile, small engine.

The Prius gets 45mpg on the highway...oh and when cruising it doesn't use its hybrid drive. It gets that mileage because it has a slipery design and a tiny/efficient gas engine.

Buy small!
 

koreshot

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I don't think of Subaru as a green company..most of their vehicles including my Impreza get pretty mediocre gas mileage...maybe outdoorsy..

I think that they are seen by some as green because they are much more efficient in their R&D and manufacturing process than most companies. R&D and manufacturing usually makes up half the total energy footpring.

For example, I think I remember reading that their main factory in Japan is a zero landfill operation and it uses a bunch of renewable energy for power.
 

wa-loaf

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For example, I think I remember reading that their main factory in Japan is a zero landfill operation and it uses a bunch of renewable energy for power.

I think that's actually (or also) the factory they have down south (Tennessee maybe?).
 

campgottagopee

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I don't think of Subaru as a green company..most of their vehicles including my Impreza get pretty mediocre gas mileage...maybe outdoorsy..

They are hugely green---there manufacturing plants create zero landfill waste and their cars are "PZEV" (parially zero emmission)

We will see dielsel in the U.S., and sooner than later. two years ago there was talk of bringing Hybrid tech to the U.S. but now that plan has been put away. From what research they've done they feel diesel is the way to go.
 

Geoff

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That makes even more sense, thanks.

How is the 'off road' diesel sale regulated? I assume it's for use in construction equipment, groomers, etc.., but how do they stop it from being used in cars and trucks?

Different dye color. If you get bagged running 'off road' diesel on the road, there's a substantial fine. Of course, anybody who works at a boat yard drives a diesel pickup and runs marine diesel. I'm sure the same is true of any farm diesel pickup. If you live in a rural place farming rocks, I doubt anybody is going to hassle you.

My dad had a Mercedes diesel during the 1970's gas crisis. If he couldn't get fuel, he'd pump home heating oil into it from the tank in the basement. You can't do that in the dead of winter since it would have big jell issues but it works just fine as long as the temperature stays moderate.
 
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If the waste doesn't go in a landfill, where does it go??? So you're saying that the Suburu plant doesn't have dumpsters???
 

bvibert

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My dad had a Mercedes diesel during the 1970's gas crisis. If he couldn't get fuel, he'd pump home heating oil into it from the tank in the basement. You can't do that in the dead of winter since it would have big jell issues but it works just fine as long as the temperature stays moderate.

Back in the day I heard of guys that drive diesel trucks for work going home and topping off their home heating oil with the company paid diesel in their trucks.
 

ski_resort_observer

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Have you heard what the reasoning behind that is? Is the military still using them or are they looking to get into the middle east auto market.

Hummer was just bought by a a big Chinese company which makes heavy industrial parts, I can't pronounce or spell the name of the company. You can Google it

There is confusion between the Hummer and the Humvee. The Hummer is a GM brand copied from the Humvee for rich guys with little wee-wees. Humvee is the military vehicle now built by Oshkosh Trucking up there is cheeseland. The heavy armor is put on by another military contractor.
 

bvibert

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Hummer was just bought by a a big Chinese company which makes heavy industrial parts, I can't pronounce or spell the name of the company. You can Google it

There is confusion between the Hummer and the Humvee. The Hummer is a GM brand copied from the Humvee for rich guys with little wee-wees. Humvee is the military vehicle now built by Oshkosh Trucking up there is cheeseland. The heavy armor is put on by another military contractor.

The Hummer H1 is a civilianized version of the Humvee and was produced on the same assembly line as the military version, by AM General. It was produced from 1992 to 2006. In 1999 GM entered into a joint venture with AM General and acquired the Hummer brand name as part of the agreement. From what I can tell AM General also builds the H2, though it is made up of some parts from GM.
 

ski_resort_observer

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The Hummer H1 is a civilianized version of the Humvee and was produced on the same assembly line as the military version, by AM General. It was produced from 1992 to 2006. In 1999 GM entered into a joint venture with AM General and acquired the Hummer brand name as part of the agreement. From what I can tell AM General also builds the H2, though it is made up of some parts from GM.

I believe OshGosh got the contract from AM General a couple of years ago. I get some links.
 

ski_resort_observer

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That may be, I couldn't find that out with a quick search. My point was that the H1 wasn't a GM copy of the original.

I didn't say the H! was a copy but it was based on the Humvee used in Desert Storm to much media acclaim. Wasn't Gov musclebound a big proponent of someone building a consumer version of the Humvee right after?

It turns out my info was old regarding the manufacturer. OshKosh looked like it would be building the new version of a vehicle to replace the Humvee
http://www.wrn.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=17EC8761-CAC9-BD6D-20B9FC0E902D4E3C
at the moment AM General/General Dynamics builds the Humvee but I think it's days are numbered.

Anyways, back to the OP. The new Chinese owner of the brand Hummer does not plan to sell them in the US from what little I have heard about the deal on CNBC today.
 
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bvibert

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I didn't say the H! was a copy but it was based on the Humvee used in Desert Storm to much media acclaim. Wasn't Gov musclebound a big proponent of someone building a consumer version of the Humvee right after?

You made a broad statement, which I clarified:

The Hummer is a GM brand copied from the Humvee for rich guys with little wee-wees.

That statement, to me, encompasses all the Hummer's, including the H1.

Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned for the civilian version.
 

bigbog

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...GM is/was made up of many different people..

Much of the approved product design process at GM had to have, for years, taken place out on the golf course...whatd'ya all think...;-)
 
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