General Motors plans to offer a smaller Hummer model than the current entry-level H3, according to Hummer General Manager Martin Walsh. “It will be another GM platform that will allow us to build a smaller vehicle,” he told GoAuto.
Reports ahead of January’s Detroit auto show suggested GM would unveil a concept version of the H4 at the event, but the vehicle never materialized.
Walsh’s comments are the first official confirmation of a smaller Hummer model. Previously, GM’s Bob Lutz said Hummer “needs some more products,” but did not say what those would be. In early 2006, Lutz admitted Hummer was again considering a rival to the Jeep Wrangler — after scrapping the idea once — but at the time he would not confirm plans for production.
Walsh recently told Reuters the first new Hummer model will arrive in 2009. It’s not clear if he was referring to the H4, or an H3-based pickup.
He said the vehicle would “have unparalleled off-road capabilities [...] like our current Hummers it would be recognizable from a distance.”
His comments to GoAuto about the H4 are very similar — Walsh says the vehicle must have “iconic design” and leading off-road ability.
