General Motors’ Hummer brand has had a turbulent year to say the least. Due to rising fuel prices and the overall green movement, the iconic off-road brand has seen a 47 percent decline in sales, prompting GM to put the marque up for sale. But it looks as though that GM might have a tougher sale than first thought as one of the brand’s largest dealerships has decided to close its doors.
Dan Towbin Hummer of Las Vegas – one of the biggest Hummer stores in the country — has announced that it will be closing its franchise, according to the Wall Street Journal. While losing one of its biggest dealers is definitely a blow to Hummer and GM, what it says about the state of the brand could be even more detrimental. Sin City is known for being over-the-top and the home to all things luxury, so if Hummer can’t make it in Las Vegas, does it have a shot anywhere else in the U.S.?
Unfortunately for Hummer, Towbin is the eighth dealer to close its doors this year, accounting for 5 percent of the brand’s dealer network. Although this might not seem like a big deal since sales are down so much this year, it actually hurts GM’s chances of selling the brand. One of Hummer’s biggest selling points was its dealer network, which would have given foreign automakers easy access to the U.S. market.
Perhaps a perfect snapshot of the times, Towbin will be closing its Hummer dealership only to open Las Vegas’ only Smart store.
09/09, 7:41 PM
posted by:
VWgrouP
The only people who buy Hummers in Las Vegas is the CSI team.
And Hummer is not going to be around for to much longer.
09/09, 7:54 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
I’m fairly certain that if you still want a hummer while in Vegas it won’t take much effort.
09/09, 7:54 PM
posted by:
tyler_is_aero_tt
Nobody cares about Hummer anymore. Get them out of here.
09/09, 8:00 PM
posted by:
A4
who buys a car in vegas? i mean cmon… it cant be that big of a market.
09/09, 9:27 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
I hope that everyone connected to Hummer in any way loses their shirt.
09/09, 10:12 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
Hey, Johnny, 4th and Fremont!
Towbin Hummer is turning into a Smart dealer. Go figure. From one extreme to the other.
“who buys a car in vegas? i mean cmon… it cant be that big of a market.” – Yeah, I know. Not one single person lives here. At all. We just fly in and stay at the hotel / cas¡no properties every now and then. There really isn’t 2 million people in the Las Vegas Metropolitan area. We just make that figure up to sound cool.
Dude, we’re no New York or Los Angeles, but we are the 28th largest city in the U.S, and we are the fastest growing city in the U.S. as well. All the Californians are moving in and taking over. Our city population has more people than Portland, Miami, St. Louis and Cleveland, just to name a few. Metropolitan population, we are larger than Columbus, Nashville, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, and many others. And since L.A. is only a 5 hour drive away, many people from there come here to buy cars (which is a bad idea because our dealers are terrible). However, if you want a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, this is the place to buy it.
A lot of cars are actually sold here in Vegas. And so are a lot of car batteries. They only last about two years here. But cars last forever. It’s so dry, they never rust. If you want a good used car, come here and get one. It won’t be rusted.
LLN won’t let me say cas¡no properly.
09/09, 10:21 PM
posted by:
zoomzoomer
johnnycanuck.. LOL! I got it, even if everyone else didn’t..
Two or three years ago, Los Angeles county’s biggest Cadillac dealership (Casa de Cadillac) decided to move its Hummer franchise out of their shared showroom space and into its own custom-designed building a few blocks away, complete with Hummer facade, tough-looking riveted detailing, showroom space for 4 big vehicles, and additional office space upstairs. There was also a much smaller used car office sitting right next door that had room for one vehicle and a few desks.
Today, Hummer is now in the used-car building (but they don’t fit inside!)… and Subaru has taken over the custom showroom.
09/09, 11:24 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Sigh…GM screwed up the Hummer from the start. They never should’ve given them those stupid big gas engines to begin with. These 6,000+ lbs. behemoths were made for Diesels. You’d have to be a dork not to realize this. And when they ended production of the one true Hummer, the H1, I knew it was all over for this brand. Now it’s nothing more than a shell of its old self, its former glory is but a distant memory for those of us who still remember it.
Besides, it ain’t *all that* to own a Hummer anymore when any Joe Average can walk into a dealership and buy a dumber clone (H2) of the original for half the price. Don’t get me started on the fact that many Humvees are being blown up in Iraq/A’Stan to smithereens. Their purpose there has been vastly superseded by other superior vehicles like the Cougar. GM better get off their asses soon and think of something fast, ’cause everything is going downhill quickly for this brand and they’re dragging GM down with them.
09/10, 2:34 AM
posted by:
The Stig
Nice one Johnny.
09/10, 7:40 AM
posted by:
MercMark
Why would GM want to give easy US market access to foreign companies?
09/10, 3:10 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
In L.A. almost all Hummer dealers are now high-end used car lost, used Bmmers, Benz, Lex, and so on…
09/11, 8:21 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
You know, it’s funny, but since the beginning, it’s always been possible to get a Hummer at the Mustang Ranch…