A Hummer Trilogy: The Pink Bull in the Green China Shop

I’ll start off my first entry by briefly discussing the Hummer and how it’s one of the most illustrative examples of unsustainable design.

The gas guzzling vehicle is an extreme manifestation of the US auto manufacturer’s broken business model of focusing on energy inefficient vehicles. The Hummer, which was originally an army tank, is a fuel-inefficient model, subject to shifts in energy prices and too dependent on non renewable resources. GM, the manufacturer of the Hummer (and SUVs), with their short-term focus on profit, assumed a continuing supply of cheap oil, and by not taking into account the long term sustainable view, missed the boat on shifting trends.

In contrast, Toyota took the long-term view and designed a sustainable solution in the Prius, taking into consideration multiple sustainability drivers such as changing consumer demands and the volatility of energy prices and the approaching government regulations on carbon emissions. In this way, the US auto makers lost market share to companies like Toyota which incorporated sustainable design into their business strategy to build for themselves a competitive advantage.

Currently, GM as part of its restructuring plans is in the process of selling its Hummer line to a Chinese manufacturing firm. Aware of the new reality of global emissions restrictions and volatile fuel economies, the new Chinese owners are thinking of manufacturing new fuel-efficient models as part of their long strategy for the Hummer. A senior executive was quoted as saying “SUVs would go extinct if you didn’t address efficiency whether in the Chinese or U.S. market”. This is the new reality. Sustainability is now a factor for even a behemoth like the Hummer.