Hummer's feeling a little misunderstood

DETROIT -- In the six years since GM rolled out the Hummer H2, the brand has become a lightning rod for environmentalists. Owners complain of finding their vehicles keyed in parking lots, being sneered at by neighbors and feeling as if the tide of green angst is being channeled in their direction.

A survey by J.D. Power and Associates last year said SUV buyers avoid the Hummer brand more than any other, mostly because they believe the trucks are gas guzzlers.

"Hummer has an image of being the big, ponderous vehicles," says Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power. "Really, it gets about the same or as good gas mileage as several other (SUVs). … The name Hummer connotes a much more gas-guzzling vehicle than really is on the road today."

In an attempt to deflect some of the criticism, Hummer stopped making the military-based, five-ton H1, and each new model — the H2 and H3 — has been lighter and more fuel-efficient. (The EPA rates the 5.3-liter-engine H3 at 14 miles per gallon, a comparable Chevy Suburban at 16 mpg in combined city-highway use.) Still, H3 designers intentionally maintained an intimidating look.

Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales, service and marketing for GM North America, says he'd love for consumers to begin thinking of Hummers as tools to get a job done. "No one criticizes a bulldozer for its gas mileage. That's because it's built to do a job."

Initial buzz was double-edged

Hummer's image always has been outsized in relation to the number on the road. GM has sold only a few more than 250,000 H2s and H3s since it took over the brand in 2002, compared with 760,000 Ford F-150 pickups sold just in 2007.

Yet Hummer's initial appeal fed today's image crisis. It drew wealthy baby boomers who wanted a big, strong SUV that attracted a lot of attention.

And attention it got.

Some was good: Trend-setting athletes and rappers were instantly drawn to the brand.