Drive a Hummer, Be a Patriot

Some Hummer drivers, inundated like the rest of America by war news, feel especially patriotic behind the wheel now.

“When I turn on the TV, I see wall-to-wall Humvees, and I’m proud,” said Sam Bernstein, a 51-year-old antiquities dealer who lives in Marin County, Calif., and drives a Hummer H2, an S.U.V. sibling of the military Humvee.

“They’re not out there in Audi A4’s,” he said of the troops. “I’m proud of my country, and I’m proud to be driving a product that is making a significant contribution.”

“If I could get an A1 Abrams, I would,” he added with a smile, referring to the tank, “but I don’t know if California would allow it.”

Are these people in their right minds? The New York Times’ In Their Hummers, Right Beside Uncle Sam sounds more like a Saturday Night Live skit than real human beings. Unfortunately, there are Americans who delude themselves into believing they can own a Hummer & still be an “environmentalist.”

In Their Hummers, Right Beside Uncle Sam
By DANNY HAKIM

DETROIT, April 4 — While the Humvees are lined up in the desert, their cousins, the Hummers, continue to be Detroit’s hottest seller.

Is it because of, or in spite of, the war? Sales of several other large sport utility vehicles, like the Chevrolet Suburban, are showing signs of weakness while overall sales remain strong for other S.U.V.’s.

But some Hummer drivers, inundated like the rest of America by war news, feel especially patriotic behind the wheel now.

“When I turn on the TV, I see wall-to-wall Humvees, and I’m proud,” said Sam Bernstein, a 51-year-old antiquities dealer who lives in Marin County, Calif., and drives a Hummer H2, an S.U.V. sibling of the military Humvee.

“They’re not out there in Audi A4’s,” he said of the troops. “I’m proud of my country, and I’m proud to be driving a product that is making a significant contribution.”

“If I could get an A1 Abrams, I would,” he added with a smile, referring to the tank, “but I don’t know if California would allow it.”

Earlier this week, General Motors, which markets the Hummer brand, rolled out its most expansive wave of zero percent financing offers yet, extending such deals even to Corvettes.

But not to the Hummer, which continues to be the only Detroit brand that sells without incentives. At a clip of more than 3,000 a month, the Hummer H2 is now the best-selling large luxury S.U.V., beating out the Lincoln Navigator and the Lexus LX470. It sells almost as many units as the smaller BMW X5, even though H2 starts at about $50,000 — $10,000 more than the BMW.

Hummer gear is also selling at a heady clip, from the $16 “Like Nothing Else” T-shirt to the $449 remote-control miniature Hummer equipped with spy camera and monitor to the $795 Hummer Tactical Mountain Bike.

Rick Schmidt, founder of I.H.O.G., the International Hummer Owners Group, said: “In my humble opinion, the H2 is an American icon. Not the military version by any means, but it’s a symbol of what we all hold so dearly above all else, the fact we have the freedom of choice, the freedom of happiness, the freedom of adventure and discovery, and the ultimate freedom of expression.”

“Those who deface a Hummer in words or deed,” he added, “deface the American flag and what it stands for.”

Hummer executives said there had been no change in their marketing strategy during the war. H2, the brand’s new signature vehicle, has been on sale about nine months, and advertising is in heavy rotation. The idiosyncratic TV spots range from Zen to mock-hostile, including one in which a beatific couple drives around Iceland and another in which a slender young woman confidently motors through urban streets.

And what about the war?

“It definitely helps,” said Clotaire Rapaille, a consumer research consultant for G.M. and other automakers. “I told them in Detroit, `Put four stars on the shoulder of the Hummer and it will sell better.’ The Hummer is a car in uniform. Right now we are in a time of uncertainty, and people like strong brands with basic emotions.”

Kevin Fieweger, general sales manager of Bergstrom Hummer in Milwaukee, said the appeal of Hummer was “testosterone,” but added, “I don’t have people coming in here in camouflage and a beret.”

Travis Patterson, 35, an Air Force veteran who lives in Arlington, Tex., said: “To me, the Hummer, the H1, is the most American vehicle on the planet. It oozes patriotism. You put some flags on the Hummer and drive down the road and everyone is honking and waving at you.”

Not every veteran appreciates them. Erik Gustafson, 31, drove Humvees a few times as a specialist in the gulf war, where he served as an engineer.

“It always bothers me whenever I see them,” said Mr. Gustafson, who has founded a group that opposes the war. “At a time when oil prices are already sky high and given how oil politics play into these conflicts, it strikes me as irresponsible.”

The Sierra Club is planning a campaign against the Hummer because of its gas consumption. Both the H1, which starts at $100,000 and is quite similar to the military Humvee, and the more baby-boomer-friendly H2, are so heavy they are not regulated by the same fuel economy rules that govern most cars and S.U.V.’s. They are also large enough to qualify for huge deductions for small business under loopholes in the tax code.

“At a time when our troops are at risk in part because of our oil dependence, it is the height of irresponsibility for General Motors to be pushing an 11-miles-per-gallon gas guzzler,” said Daniel Becker, a global warming expert at the Sierra Club.

Mike DiGiovanni, G.M.’s general manager for the Hummer, argued that the nation’s appetite for foreign oil had less to do with consumption levels than with foreign oil’s being cheaper to produce than domestic oil. He said G.M. was focusing on improving fuel economy in high-volume vehicles with new technologies.

Mr. Patterson, the Air Force veteran, sees the Hummer as a vehicle that can be used for responsible off-road driving. He is the founder of an outdoor adventure company and has a Hummer club with 65 members.

“It’s a dichotomy to say you own a Hummer and you’re an environmentalist, but we don’t run over little trees and we take care of what we have,” he said. “The fuel economy issue is touchy. Yes, they use more fuel than a lot of things, but not the Suburbans, the Tahoes.”

Mr. Bernstein of Marin County also says he is an environmentalist and called his H2 “the safest vehicle for exploring the places the Sierra Club talks about.”

G.M. executives are happy to have a brand that sells without interest-free loans. The company’s profits are slim compared with those of foreign competitors like Toyota and Honda. A pickup version of the H2 is coming next year and a smaller Hummer is being considered.

G.M. owns the marketing rights to the Hummer, but the vehicles are manufactured by AM General, a privately held Indiana company that makes Humvees. The company is for sale. This year, G.M. and AM General are on track to a goal of selling 40,000 H2’s.

On Friday, Rick Almandi, 54, was buying an H2 at Bergstrom Hummer in Milwaukee. He also owns a Dodge Viper and a Corvette.

“Seeing them on TV, you kind of identify with them,” said Mr. Almandi, a retired U.P.S. manager. “Whether other people don’t like it, I really don’t care. I really don’t want to hear it. I like to personalize vehicles. They make me feel good. They reflect myself.”