Hummer Adds SUT for '04GM has announced it will add another model-the sport/utility truck, or SUT-to the Hummer H2 lineup for 2004. Derived from the current H2, the SUT will have what GM calls a "folding bulkhead" at the rear of the passenger compartment. It "allows customers to have the flexibility to reconfigure this area for carrying people or cargo," says the General. Sounds like the Midgate found in Avalanche and Escalade EXT, doesn't it?
The SUT will be built in Indiana by AM General and is expected to go on sale in the second quarter of 2004.
Quote/Unquote"GM will not allow its world-famous trademark rights to be violated."
-Charles Ellerbrock, GM trademark lawyer, regarding the General's fight against Avanti Motors' H2-lookalike Studebaker XUV. Does anyone see any irony in the fact that GM recently won a similar legal fight with DaimlerChrysler about the H2's Jeep-like grille?
Environmental & Political WatchThe battle for and against SUVs wages on. First the good news: In a recent study conducted by the Kelley Blue Book people, more than half the respondents said the negative press surrounding SUVs is hype. Almost three-quarters of those responding felt the groups critical to SUVs "ignored their positive aspects." Take that, Arianna Huffington.
Good SUV news, part 2: In an analysis of traffic fatalities in 2001 (as reported by the Chicago Tribune, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that the death rate in SUVs fell to the lowest of all types of passenger vehicles.
Now the bad news: In that same study, the IIHS noted that an SUV's size and weight are likely to kill or injure the passengers in other, smaller vehicles during a collision. "A larger vehicle provides you with greater protection but puts occupants of other vehicles at greater risk," said Adrian Lund, chief operating officer of the IIHS.
And the Los Angeles Times recently reported on an analysis of traffic fatalities that looked at the data in a new way by assigning a "combined risk" value to vehicles. This number was defined as the death rate for the vehicle's driver, plus the death rate of those drivers crashed into. By using the combined risk numbers, the study's authors found that, while SUVs may do a good job of protecting their drivers, the damage they do to other drivers gives them a high combined risk number. This study also found that SUVs actually do no better job of protecting their drivers than do midsize and large cars.
The worse news: According to this study, pickup trucks are far more lethal to their drivers and to others than are SUVs. So are our pickups next on the hit list for the anti-SUV crowd?
Calendar Of EventsMay 16-18 18th Annual Advance Auto Parts Spring 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals, Lima, OH. Information: 317/236-6515, www.familyevents.com
May 16-18 11th Big Bear Jeep Jamboree, Big Bear Lake, CA. Information: Jeep Jamboree USA, 530/333-4777, www.jeepjamboreeusa.com
May 16-18 North American Rock Crawlers Association event, Avalanche Ranch, CO. Information: CalROCS, 530/622-0370, www.calrocs.com
May 16-18 2nd Ozark Mountains Spring Jeep Jamboree, Potosi, MO. Information: Jeep Jamboree USA, 530/333-4777, www.jeepjamboreeusa.com
May 16-18 15th Palo Duro Jeep Jamboree, Amarillo, TX. Information: Jeep Jamboree USA, 530/333-4777, www.jeepjamboreeusa.com
May 17 Austin's Auto Accessories 4th semi-annual auto show & shine & swap meet, Gulf Breeze, FL. Information: 850/916-7100
May 17 MDR Ridgecrest 300 off-road race, Ridgecrest, CA. Information: Mojave Desert Racing, 626/442-9320, www.mdrracing.com
May 17-18 4x4 Jamboree Series, Kielder Forest, Northumberland, England. Information: Richard Potts, 01670/730732, richard.d .potts@exxonmobil.com
May 17-18 North Eastern U.S. Rockcrawling and Off-Road Championship, Paragon Adventure Park, Hazleton, PA. Information: 570/384-0550, neuroc.com
May 22-24 RCAA event, location TBA. Information: 801/288-2574, www.rockcrawler.org