HUMMER JAPAN

You may've already heard about General Motors decision to send Hummer on a fast ship to Japan. Yes, Japan.

Japan is not the country where the Ford F-series outsells everything and the ever-growing Camry is the best-selling car. No, folks, Japan is the country where the Honda Fit is attempting to wrest the best-selling crown from the Toyota Corolla. Japan is not the country where legislators are trying to... er, legislate 35mpg standards while others moan and complain and try to negotiate with OPEC. No, Japan is the country where citizens receive tax breaks for driving very small cars with very small engines. You know the kind - 0.8L engines. 800cc's.

That sounds like the perfect market for Hummer. Sure, it'll be the H3, the brand's smallest member. Cadillac/Saab dealers will host their brutish affiliate.

"This looks like Hummer country, don't it Bob?".... "I believe it is, Mr. Wagoner, I believe it is."

And I have a feeling. I think I see the method to their madness. Japan's population is in decline. Attempts at incentivizing multi-child families haven't taken hold quite yet. So.... Hummer's plan? As the humans disappear and the land opens up, the remaining few will want bigger vehicles. They'll want to climb Mt. Fuji and safely deal with the snows of Hokkaido - where the depopulation is greatest - and a Honda Fit or Mitsubishi i won't cut the mustard.

Smart folks; those GM product planners. Smart folks.

BEST WINTER CARS PART II

BusinessWeek's automotive section recently showcased winter's best automobiles. Along with the vehicles brandished ↓ and in Part I, BusinessWeek provided some interesting statistics.


SUBARU OUTBACK: BW says: "The Outback has as much ground clearance as the taller Tribeca SUV (which is based on the same platform), and like all Subarus, the Outback has permanent all-wheel drive as standard equipment." TGCG says: "The Outback is an obvious choice and obviously good."


VOLVO XC70: BW says: "Ground clearance is almost three inches higher than the V70 wagon, and only a fraction of an inch less than the more imposing Volvo XC90 SUV." TGCG says: "The previous XC70 was the most comfortable vehicle I've ever spent a weekend in, a weekend with snow and sun. I expect nothing less from the new Cross Country."

AUDI A6 AVANT: BW says: "Besides Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system, the A6 Avant has headlight washers. Standard equipment includes heated front seats and heated exterior mirrors. A cold-weather package of options ($600) includes heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, and a removable ski sack to keep melted snow from dripping in the rear cargo area." TGCG says: "Much as I love the headlight washers, I stick to the imposing appearance and impressive capabilities as reasons for making wintry use of an A6 wagon."

TOYOTA SIENNA: BW says: "The Sienna is rare among minivans in that it has all-wheel drive in its highest trim and equipment levels." TGCG says: "You and your's and their's and their stuff will fit comfortably and possibly unaware of the peril outside."

HONDA RIDGELINE: BW says: "The oddly styled Honda Ridgeline gets good marks for off-road performance in slippery conditions, with a driver-friendly combination of all-wheel drive, traction control, antilock brakes, stability control, and a five-speed automatic transmission that helps take care of most slippery situations automatically." TGCG says: "It may look funny, but the Ridgeline is capability personified."

TOYOTA FJ CRUISER: BW says: "Toyota says the FJ Cruiser is the most capable off-road SUV in the Toyota lineup." TGCG says: "That lineup is freakin' full of SUV's, too. Put a plow on the front and take care of every driveway in the neighbourhood. So cool."

HUMMER H2: BW says: "Features aimed more specifically at Old Man Winter include heated front and rear seats, heated outside mirrors, and remote starting." TGCG says: "Read my review."

RANGE ROVER: BW says: "With a single knob, the driver can select one of five modes, depending on the road (or off-road) surface: general, for everyday pavement; grass/gravel/snow, for slippery conditions; sand; mud and ruts; and "rock crawl." The system governs throttle response, automatic transmission operation, electronic differentials, antilock brakes, the air suspension, traction control, and hill descent control." TGCG says: "It may be the world's most impressive all-around vehicle... the Queen seems to think so."

SATURN VUE: BW says: "The front-drive version, with a four-cylinder engine sitting over the driving wheels, probably provides enough winter traction for most people, coupled with antilock brakes, traction control, and electronic stability control, all standard—plus winter tires, which cost extra." TGCG says: "The Vue is almost cool now, but not if the badge lacks the V6 and AWD alphanumerics."

TOYOTA TUNDRA: BW says: "Something called the Tundra better be able to go (and stop) in the snow, and with optional all-wheel drive this pickup certainly has the right equipment, subject to proper tires." TGCG says: "The Tundra is fast, and will accelerate almost as quickly in slippery conditions when badged 4x4. But be careful, you've many thousands of pounds to slow down."

THE DETROIT THREE OFFERS TOO MANY TRUCKS? BY THE NUMBERS

Wall Street insiders attempting to predict the demise of the Detroit Three (GM/Ford/Chrysler) blame most of the domestic auto manufacturing difficulties on the rise and fall of the SUV. They believe that General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler LLC (mostly under the management of Daimler-Benz) didn't have the foresight to build high quality cars when money was pouring in from easy-profit vehicles like the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Dodge Ram. On the surface, these insiders appear to be correct. 

Take American luxury cars, for instance. In the early part of this millenium, the only prominent vehicles at Cadillac and Lincoln were their jumbo SUVs, the Escalade and Navigator. Mainstream brands like Chevrolet and Ford were offering an abomination called the Malibu and an ancient design called the Taurus. The few takers snapped them up at rock bottom prices.

For a deeper look at the gravity of the situation in numerical terms, check this Numbers post from a few days ago with figures supplied by TIME. For perspective on the issue, read The Good Car Guy's question from yesterday. For facts about automaker offerings in the U.S. domestic market in 2009, keep reading. Oh, and by the way, to attempt to sway the argument in favour of cars instead of trucks, models like the F-150, F-250, and F-350 were lumped together. It didn't help. Also, TSV means anything that isn't a car: trucks, SUVs, and vans.

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TOTAL CARS @ GENERAL MOTORS: 21

TOTAL TSVs @ GENERAL MOTORS: 26

TOTAL CARS @ FORD MOTOR CO.: 10

TOTAL TSVs @ FORD MOTOR CO.: 14

TOTAL CARS @ CHRYSLER LLC: 8

TOTAL TSVs @ CHRYSLER LLC: 16

Buick cars/TSVs: 2 to 1

Cadillac cars/TSVs: 4 to 3

Chevrolet cars/TSVs: 6 to 9

GMC cars/TSVs: 0 to 8

Hummer cars/TSVs: 0 to 2

Pontiac cars/TSVs: 6 to 1

Saturn cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Ford cars/TSVs: 4 to 10

Lincoln cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Mercury cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Chrysler cars/TSVs: 3 to 2

Dodge cars/TSVs: 5 to 7

Jeep cars/TSVs: 0 to 7

2 VEHICLES - 1 good, 1 bad

Though the title of this site is worded strongly, proclaiming a vehicle "bad" is rare. The Good Car Guy would rather focus on the good anyway. Good cars provide plenty more fun. The Hummer H3 pickup will be seen at dealers - for consumer purchase - late in 2008. Expect the five-cylinder and the V8 to be available in crew cab format. If you want a pickup, spend your money on a new Silverado or F150. (Read The Good Car Guy's review of the H2 here.) If you need a Hummer, take the relatively lightweight H3 or, better yet, buy a practical and usable vehicle. Don't buy the H3 pickup.


Is there any potential of the Five Axis Yaris Club being built? It's unlikely, to say the least. But it would certainly bring some spice to your local Toyota showroom, something GoodCarBadCar just posted as a Toyota necessity today. Five Axis supercharged the small four-cylinder and chopped off anything that sat above the waistline; chopping a bit too much, perhaps. Toyota is about the last automaker you could ever expect to build something like this aftermarket-chopped Yaris.



It would take a pseudo-Renault or Citroenish mindset to pull this off. Toyota did say, however, that this Yaris Club pays homage to "Toyota's racing heritage harkening back to the late '60s when Toyota challenged for the Group 7 category of Can-Am racing with the Toyota 7."

Hummer H2 Driven

Having just stepped out of a Ford Excursion, I had an eery feeling. A been-there-before-deja-vu-all-over-again moment. Something was familiar, and it wasn't just the Excursion. No, I went back in time about a month. Ah yes, I've got it. I basically drove the Hummer H2 today, except without the nice and cozy interior.

Read about the Excursion and GoodCarBadCar relationship here

Oh, I sound so positive. I don't mean to. The Excursion is a must-have. It tows a massive trailer and hauls up to nine fishermen. The Hummer? Nice and cozy interior? "Excuse me Good Car Guy - you sound off your rocker", say you. Well, the H2 does indeed feature one of the most stylish and rugged interiors amongst the cars I drove at General Motors Milford Proving Grounds in September. Too bad I couldn't see what was going on outside due to the gun-slit windows. I understand that's part of the design. After all, the H2 is basically a Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban-based replica of the military original. (Keep in mind, the H1 remains available on special order.)


Which begs the question: why do customers wish to appear as though they're driving through the streets of Baghdad? Albeit, the roads Hummer H2's are typically driven on are far smoother than what you might find in the disaster zone of Iraq. By my unofficial count, most H2's are riding on 22" chrome wheels sprayed with some rubber. These things aren't going off-road. They just look like they're going off-Iraq. And that's not cool.

Which begs the question (actually, it begs other different questions, but I thought I'd continue the theme): if it's not off-roading, what's the use? I don't know. Seat a few of your friends uncomfortably, don't take their luggage, and ask for gas money before you take the weekend trip. You'll pay $90 bucks to fill the H2 in Brooklyn today, up to $111 in LA, and about $115 in Toronto.

And you'll do so often. The H2 weighs 6400 pounds, way above the maximum curb weight where official fuel economy figures are mandated. Outside sources average between 9-11 mpg, indicating that the H2 requires a fill-up every 350 miles - if you're lucky and if you stretch it.

GoodCarBadCar won't be complimentary. Earth has moved on. We use CFL's in our lamps and walk to the convenience store if we can and expect a large vehicle to accomplish something for us if it's going to abuse our wallets. The H2 accomplishes little; next to nothing. Even in the driver's seat I felt cramped, not cozy. Certainly not cuddly. Five miles around GM's own proving grounds was regrettable, to say the least. I wish I'd simply steered the H2 around the Black Lake and given myself time to drive the H3. I didn't. I'm sorry. For myself.

Read other articles from The Good Car Guy's trip to Milford

Hummer's first 'mainstream' vehicle starts a chunk over $50,000 in the USA and gives you plenty of power and torque. Plenty, that is, if the engine is in a vehicle weighing less than 5000 pounds. 365 lb-ft of torque is useful. The H2 does, after all, pull away from the line cleanly and smoothly and provides a distant rumble. Suiting.

The H1 Alpha uses an even torquier 6.6L diesel. I could suggest to GM that this diesel be installed in the H2, but for what reason? Limited fuel savings, not even enough to compensate for the extra cost? A nicer feeling in the environmental section of my brain when I drive the obese brute? That feeling wouldn't last long.

The H2 is cumbersome. It is one of only a few vehicles I've ever driven that made me wish I wasn't driving. I've often felt like I shouldn't drive because of fatigue or sickness. But the H2 and Tahoe Hybrid made me wish someone; something, would take over. Just robotize the thing. The driver is totally disconnected from the process anyway.

There is good news. The Hummer has more cargo capacity than the GCBC-crowned Hyundai Santa Fe, 8.4 cubic feet extra in fact. True, the H2 is 19.5 inches longer, 11.3 inches taller, and 6.8 inches wider on a wheelbase 16 inches longer. Who cares? More space than a GoodCarBadCar Top 5 winner - Hummer'll take that anyday.

MY 2003 HUMMER H2 RECALLED FOR WINDSHIELD WIPER PROBLEMS

NHTSA says 13,358 of the first built-for-civilians Hummer will be recalled because of water that can leak into the windshield wiper motor module and render the wipers ineffective.

The Hummer H2, a vehicle reviewed by The Good Car Guy after a drive at GM's proving grounds, is a large vehicle with already limited visibility. Were snow to smother your view, you'd be in trouble. Although this Recall affects the '03 Hummer H2, it is ironic that another wiper-related recall is also in effect for the '06-'08 Hummer H2. Fortunately that's not as serious as the issue that Hummer H1 customers had to deal with in a recent recall.

Notices should be out by November. For more info check gm.com/recall.

857,735 VEHICLES FROM 13 DIFFERENT GENERAL MOTORS NAMEPLATES RECALLED FOR OVERHEATING WASHER FLUID

Pay close attention, because this is about to get really deep. The list of recent General Motors vehicles affected by this Recall is below. For some of them, this is the second recall currently affecting their model. For instance, the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook were just sent to the principal's office for other windshield wiper problems.

This time 857,735 GM vehicles built sometime between 2006 and 2008 with heated windshield wiper systems will be recalled, but NHTSA isn't yet sure just when. "A short circuit on the printed circuit board for the washer fluid heater may overheat the control-circuit ground wire." This could lead other electrical systems to malfunction. Dealers will be installing a wire harness with an in-line fuse to take care of the problem. More information is perhaps available at GM's recall page. Add up the vehicle sales from other countries and your total hits 944,000 GM vehicles.

The vehicles affected are as follows:

2008 Buick Enclave

2006-2008 Buick Lucerne

2006-2008 Cadillac DTS

2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, Escalde EXT, Escalade ESV

2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche

2007-2008 Chevrolet Silverado

2007-2008 Chevrolet Suburban

2007-2008 Chevrolet Tahoe

2007-2008 GMC Acadia

2007-2008 GMC Sierra

2007-2008 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL

2006-2008 Hummer H2

2007-2008 Saturn Outlook

THE REAL DEAL HUMMER H1 ALPHA FALLS UNDER RECALL

Apparently somebody still cares that the Hummer H1 existed. We all know Donald Rumsfeld didn't care to fix problematic Hummers. NHTSA wants 684 H1 Alphas (the ones from 2006 equipped with 300-bhp, 520 lb-ft of torqye 6.6L Duramax diesel) recalled because the fuel tank could come in contact with the rear prop shaft. Problem.

Obviously this rubbing could eventually cause a leak, which, beside an ignition source would be seriously damaging. The fuel tank will be completely replaced with a new design when GM begins this Hummer Recall in November.

ODD LOGIC - Hummer, Jeep, Mazda, smart

Jeep and Hummer versus Mazda and smart. That kind of comparison sounds complicated, complex, convoluted even. Get this - we're not talking about the rumoured (in history) of the smart formore, nor are we discussing Jeep's baby Compass.

Nope. Not in the least. The purpose of the post is to see how great the contrast is between a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Hummer H3, Mazda's 3 and the smart fortwo. Granted, we will talk about the Grand Cherokee diesel, the smart fortwo diesel, and the gasoline-powered editions of both the Mazda and Hummer.

Environmentalists would lead you to believe that SUV's are bringing down the planet. (They happen to be ignoring the airplanes they use to fly around the country so that they can tell you about the bad SUV's, but that's another story.) Meanwhile, there is no dearth of justifiers for sport-utes on the planet. Farmers, boat-towers, horse owners and many others will tell you that all the smart's and Prius' and hi-po Lexus limo hybrids will never save the world from its fever.

Isn't there some room in between the extremists? What about applying some bare-bones mathematics in order to answer the questions that arise. There are a number of issues that come to my mind; long after viewing the Energuide statistics or the EuroUnion CO2 figures. Here's a few of them:

• People mpg, or people litres/100km in the case of this post
• Combined effect on humanity. Ya can't blame one Hummer owner for creating the poor air quality my part of the world will suffer through today
• Quantifiable life-long usage facts

Driven in typical circumstances by an average driver in a normal climate, the Hummer H3 will use about 13.6 litres of fuel every time it drives 100 kilometers. Jeep's Grand Cherokee, when equipped with a diesel engine, will drink 10.5 litres of diesel fuel every time the vehicle travels 100 kilometres. A Mazda3? 7.3L/100km. smart's fortwo diesel will sip just 4.2L/100km.

Put another way, it would take about three smarts to use as much fuel as the Hummer. You could almost afford to fuel two Mazda3's for the cost of fueling your Hummer. Beyond that, diesel fuel is about 11 cents cheaper than regular gasoline in my city. The 600 km round trip I recently took to Prince Edward Island would have cost $64.89 CDN in the Grand Cherokee CRD. The Hummer H3 would have cost $92.20. Oh, my Mastercard would have been charged with a total of $25.96 in the smart fortwo. Ouch.

But there's more to it than that. If you think of peoplelitres/100km and filled the smart with two people, you're sipping at just 2.1PL/100km. The Hummer would fare much better if considered as a passenger-filled sport utility - per passenger the Hummer would use just 2.72 litres each. The Jeep would be the smart's equivalent and the Mazda would be even better, at just 1.46 litres each.

Does this mean the Sierra Group and the Green Party should love Hummers ? Maybe no. But full Hummer H3's are actually an efficient means of traveling. There's no denying that five people in a Hummer arrive at any destination in a more efficient manner than one person in his smart fortwo.

However, a Hummer which has never met its owners wife and kids is an awfully ineffective means of transportation.

Skew the debate to the smart's side, and things get ugly. Take five smart fortwo owners who love carpooling. They drive their buddies to work every day. The five Mazda 3 owners across the street can't stand the thought of someone else drinking coffee in their zoom-zoom machine, hence they travel alone. The roundtrip commute is 30 kilometres. All the smart's combined use just 6.3 litres to make the journey. The five Mazda's suck up 10.95 litres. The smart, remember, was being used as a carpooling machine, and therefore each person uses just .63 litres per day. Each single-passenger Mazda uses 2.19 litres each day.

This has little to do with real life, but it does show how quickly efficiency/economy/effectiveness can be altered by extra passengers. It also proves the depth of difference thousands of tiny cars can make when purchased instead of a regular small car.

That's enlightening. Now go check my math.

WHO BUILDS THEM TOUGH? SMALL, THIRSTY, SUVs

Simply put, "truck-based" SUVs are generally perceived to be less economical at the fuel pumps. These days, the worse the vehicle's efficiency; the more likely it is that sales numbers for that vehicle are dwindling. Phrases like "truck-based" or "body-on-frame" or simply "real SUV" stand in stark contrast to increasingly common terms like "crossover" CUV" or "crossover utes". 

Does the perception match reality if applied to the smallest examples of tall-bodied, lofty-drive driving position, usually all-wheel drive vehicles? In a word..... yes. While not necessarily the most fuel efficient or least fuel efficient drivetrain combinations for each vehicle are applied here (many transmission choices make little or no difference these days; sometimes the engine doesn't either), this sampling of vehicles are relatively well known and position themselves as tough or carlike. 

(Check out AutoEnergy to see the real life difference between the Nissan Xterra and Nissan Rogue)

Except for one, that is. Suzuki wants you to think that its Grand Vitara is in between; merging the best of tough with the best of car.  Guess what - the fuel efficiency story agrees with Suzuki, dropping the Grand Vitara in between the tough SUVs and the more car-like CUVs.

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Hummer H3 V8 - 14mpg

Jeep Wrangler 6-spd man - 16mpg 

Toyota FJ Cruiser man -16mpg

Nissan Xterra man - 17mpg

Dodge Nitro 4.0L - 17mpg

Suzuki Grand Vitara man - 18mpg

Ford Escape - 19mpg

Hyundai Santa Fe - 19mpg

Kia Sportage - 19mpg

Toyota RAV4 - 21mpg

Honda CR-V - 22mpg

JOE ABUTEL'S WEIRD PRIUS PURCHASE

CNN's Deb Feyerick is covering the story of decreasing 'green' car availability. Joe Abutel is a Manhattan dude that downsized from a Hummer to a Toyota Prius. (No options in between?) Clearly Joe was pretty serious about the environmental impact of the car (something that has been placed in doubt before, remember) and not just the savings at the pump. 

How do ya figure that? Well, Abutel spent nearly $24,000 on the used and slightly damaged hybrid Toyota after spending some $2,400 on fuel last month in his Hummer. The Ford dealer where the Prius had been accepted on trade - indicating somebody wanted something better - had started eBay bidding at $15,000. Not only that, but Joe Abutel was contacted by three other bidders who figured he'd continue the sales chain at slightly above $24,000.

My question: Despite the increasingly hard-to-find car that the Prius is, how does Abutel justify paying more for a used Prius than the upper-level Touring model is when new? Moreover, if downsizing from a Hummer to a more fuel efficient car is necessary - which it probably is - why spend an inordinate amount of cash on the car side of the equation? Put another way - wouldn't 10,000 fewer dollars spent on the vehicle be a handy gas cash pouch? Ya know, the Good 12-winning Honda Fit, for example. 

If efficiency is the genuine objective, a $24,000 Prius isn't the answer to your Hummer problem. Check out the CNN.com video here.

DOMESTIC AUTOMAKERS MAY/08 RESULTS

It was a common belief at the beginning of May, when automakers released their sales date for April, that the first couple days of June would reveal bad news, as well. The commonality of any belief does not prove that belief to be true; however, the statistics manifest as proof that the common belief held true.

In a month where total vehicle sales fell over 10%, car sales climbed over 2%. Small cars were especially successful. Two cars that have not grabbed critical acclaim, Ford's Focus and the Dodge Caliber, jumped 52% and 7%, respectively compared with May of last year. 

It doesn't seem that long ago that America's love affair with truck-based SUVs and cheap gas led to a majority of vehicle sales being classified as trucks. In the 31 days of May, that former majority dropped to the low 40s%. Here are the Numbers for American automakers and their sub-brands in America in May... in agony.

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37.8 - posted percentage loss for Buick for May 2008 compared with the same period one year earlier

26 - posted percentage loss for Cadillac, May/08 against May/07

27.1 - posted percentage loss for Chevrolet, May/08 against May/07

28 - posted percentage loss for the whole Chrysler group, May/08 vs May/07

16.6 - posted percentage loss for Ford, May/08 against May/07

38.8 - posted percentage loss for GMC, an all truck and SUV brand for May of this year against May/07

61.7 - posted percentage loss for Hummer, an all heavy-duty SUV brand that GM is interested in selling, for the May/08 vs May/07 comparison

42 - percentage loss for luxury brand Lincoln for May of '08 against the same period last year

28 - percentage drop in sales faced by Mercury, Ford's pointless brand, for May/08 against May/07

25.9 - percentage drop in sales for Pontiac, a brand featuring some new models, for this May against last May

28 - percentage drop in sales for GM-owned Saab for May/08 against May/07

32.7 - percentage plummeting in product sales for Saturn, featuring its best model lineup ever, for May/08 vs May/07

24 - percentage drop in sales for Ford-owned Volvo for May/08 against May/07

18,455 - lead, in sales, that the Chevrolet brand had over the whole Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep group in May

15,603 - combined sales in May for FMC's luxury duo (Volvo and Lincoln), out-performing GM's Swedish-American dup (Saab and Cadillac) by 107

97.5 - Pontiac Vibe's percentage points lead it held over the Pontiac brand as a whole in May-vs-May sales

23.4 - average decline in sales for Ford's four main SUVs, the Escape; Edge; Explorer; and Expedition

44.3 - jump in sales this May vs last May, measured in percent, for the Chevrolet Aveo

SECOND DEEPER LOOK AT THE AMERICAN MARKET

Details are wonderful things. After all, the forest is made up of many trees. To see yesterday's look at the American automotive marketplace (circa 2007) click here. For today's look... umm, keep reading.

Although the large pickup market fell 7% last year, Chevrolet Silverado sales were down just 3.1%. That leaves the Silverado with 618,257 units sold; more than a quarter of all Chevy's.

Nissan is beginning to successfully ride the coat-tails of Toyota and Honda. The midsize Japanese duo should really be considered a trio now, with Altima sales up 22.1% in '07 to 284,762.

General Motors bosses were rewarded for making obvious (and correct) decisions with Saturn sales in 2007. Few would be surprised by the fact that sales were up 5.7%. The lineup is completely different than it was just a couple years ago. L-series now equals Aura. Ion was replaced with Astra. Vue is new. Outlook is Enclave-lite. Sky never used to be. Expect Saturn to improve again this year, or in case of economy troubles, to struggle less than other domestics.

Check out AmericanTrucks.com and their

large selection of Ford Truck Wheels

That note above about Silverado sales not falling as sharply as the sector it competes in? Ford's F150 tumbled 13.5% last year. Ouch. Officially, the F150 is still the best-selling vehicle in America with 690,589. Technically, the combined effort of what is basically the same truck (Silverado and GMC Sierra) forms 826,500. So, Ford has the single best-selling vehicle, but General Motors sells more light-duty pickups.

In 2007, Hummer sales were down 22%. Enough said. Well, actually, for more on that, click here for The Good Car Guy's test drive of an H2.

Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, could use some help from the G35's teammates. With the FX35 and FX45, M35 and M45, QX56, and new EX lux-cute-ute, the G's 54,015 units sold seems fine. But last year, the other non-Good 12-winning elements of Infiniti's lineup combined for just 73,023 vehicles sold. That needs to improve.

THE GENERAL'S NEWS

Conventional thinking and official General Motors releases would lead you to believe the upcoming Corvette ZR1 will be priced like an inexpensive supercar (or a very expensive Chevy sports car), but conventional thinking is wrong this time. The first ZR1 sold for 10x the MSRP. The Barrett-Jackson produces big numbers every time this year, and a Corvette ZR1 for a cool million bucks is one of those big numbers, indeed.

Overt, startling, and distracting to the point of appreciation - the Cadillac CTS coupe concept will become a production car in 2010. Expect Cadillac to build 15,000 at the Lansing Grand River facility every year.

The port at Benicia, California is about to accept four ships full of Pontiac G8's from Down Under, mate. By launch time, Pontiac hopes to have 7,000 G8's in America. This first batch is near equally split between V6 and V8 models.

Speaking of Oz, a blue police-liveried Hummer H3 is on active duty at community events in Australia. Police hope to 'foster relationships between police and local youths.' The Australian Conservation Foundation's Phil Freeman sounds disappointed in Victoria's police. "We would much prefer to see Victoria Police encouraging kids to ride bikes both for their environment and their health."

Forget the Volt - Saturn wants to sell you a full-on plug-in hybrid in SUV form in 2010. (December 31st of 2010 is 35 months away.) The Vue plug-in would recharge at your home's electrical outlet in less than five hours and would achieve twice the fuel economy of any SUV on the road today. Well, well, well; we shall see.

As described here on GoodCarBadCar, the previously mentioned Pontiac G8 sportwagon will not be sold in North America, but the genuine Australian article, Holden's Commodore wagon, will be offered in seven versions.