Spreading awareness about the dangers of SUVs.

A Huntington Beach police officer checks out an SUV that winds blew onto its side in the parking lot of Peter’s Landing Marina in Huntington Harbour. No one was in the vehicle when it tipped over.

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The Chinese heavy machinery maker that agreed to buy General Motors’ Hummer brand may find the biggest stumbling blocks to the deal in its home country.

Following last week’s surprise announcement that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery and GM had reached an agreement, analysts and Chinese media were buzzing with talk that the two companies might have jumped the gun.

Reuters newsagency says the pitfalls range from regulatory to financing issues.

GM said a day after its bankruptcy filing that it did not expect any regulatory scrutiny from the US government on the deal, part of its attempt to restore profits by focusing on four core brands: Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Chevrolet.

According to Reuters many China watchers say that resistance could actually come from China itself, as Beijing pushes for development of more energy-efficient technologies that go contrary to Hummer’s lineup of big SUVs.

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GM has sold the Hummer brand to a privately owned Chinese company, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery.

Specializing in heavy industrial and construction machinery, Tengzhong is based in the Schuan province and should have the deal wrapped up by the third quarter of this year.

Although the exact details and amount of money changing hands with regards to the deal are still secret, Credit Suisse is representing Tengzhong whilst America’s Citi bank is acting as financial advisor to GM.

Hummer’s 150 US dealers are expected to survive, yet with its unbundling from the GM stable, new manufacturing facilities will be needed, with the Shreveport, Louisiana plant (responsible for H3 and H3T) still on contact until the end of next year.

GM’s South African manufacturing facility in Port Elizabeth, which built right-hand drive H3s, is in the process of shutting down Hummer production.

AM General’s Mishawaka plant, located in Indiana, faces an uncertain future as it produces the oversized H2 Hummer derivative.

Although US workers will be glad the brand’s core management and dealership network remains, Oriental analysts are at a loss trying to understand the value of the deal. Tengzhong has no experience in the car industry and Hummer is a poisoned chalice of sorts in a world turning away from brash, inefficient, SUV vehicles.

One of the deal sweeteners is a long-term GM supplier agreement for Tengzhong, which could perhaps offset a loss-making Hummer purchase against high revenue supply contracts.

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What an asshole…

VEHICLE MAKE/MODEL: 2009 HUMMER / H3T

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V080000

Summary:

GENERAL MOTORS IS RECALLING 1,738 MY 2009 HUMMER H3T VEHICLES. SOME OF THESE VEHICLES HAVE A CONDITION IN WHICH THE FUEL TANK FRONT SUPPORT STRAP MAY FRACTURE. IF THIS OCCURS, THE FUEL TANK WOULD BE SUPPORTED BY THE REAR SUPPORT STRAP AND STONE SHIELD ONLY. CONTINUED USE OF THE VEHICLE MAY EVENTUALLY FRACTURE THE REAR SUPPORT STRAP AND SHIELD FASTENERS.

Consequence:

THE FUEL TANK COULD SEPARATE FROM THE VEHICLE INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy:

DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW-DESIGN FUEL TANK FRONT SUPPORT STRAP FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR BEFORE APRIL 10, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HUMMER AT 800-732-5493 OR OWNER CENTER AT WWW.GMOWNERCENTER.COM.

Notes:

GENERAL MOTORS 09048. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

Have you seen the Cadillac commercial for the Escalade Hybrid where they claim it has the same gas mileage as a MINI Cooper? Consider this a lesson in how deceptive and desperate SUV commercials can be.

The Cadillac Escalade in the commercial is a hybrid model. Automotive.com reports the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Sport Utility at 21mpg highway and 20mpg city. The base model Escalade gets a dismal 14mpg highway and 10mpg city. Anything is an improvement over that. Regardless, fuel economy in a luxury SUV is an oxymoron.

The voiceover in the commercial simply states that the comparison is made against a MINI Cooper, but doesn’t clarify which model. However, in the hardly legible fine print that briefly rests at the bottom of the screen you might notice that the MINI Cooper they Cadillac compares it to is the Cooper S, which is MINI’s turbocharged model. But Cadillac doesn’t want you to know this. You are led to believe it’s the regular economy car. Regardless, according to Automotive.com, the 2009 MINI Cooper S Hatchback gets 34mpg highway and 26mpg city. Unfortunately, Automotive.com does not have the mileage listed for the convertible model, but MINI’s site claims the same fuel efficiency with a 2-3mpg difference between manual and automatic transmissions. The base model gets 37mpg highway and 28mpg city! Obviously Cadillac wouldn’t compare their hybrid’s gas mileage to that fuel economy.

You also need to take into account that the Escalade Hybrid has a sticker price of over $75,000 – $80,000. The Cooper S, on the other hand, has a sticker price of under $24,000. If you really want to compare apples to oranges as GM did in their commercial, without the blatant lying, there is also a platinum edition (non hybrid) Escalade that is over $80,000. You could almost buy four base model MINI Coopers for that price, as pointed out in the comments here!

Green living blogger Max Gladwell found on his test that the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, driven around Beverly Hills, CA got only 10.3MPG (see below) during their five mile journey! On what planet is that better than the 26mpg the MINI Cooper S gets in the city?

Now, I’m not a MINI owner, so I was curious as to what comments from true enthusiasts about this blatant false advertising would look like – check out five pages worth at NorthAmericanMotoring.com!

Governor Deval Patrick said today he is looking at a Hummer tax — adding higher registration fees for gas-guzzling cars and offering discounts for those that do less harm to the environment. One industry opponent said it would be the first such fee in the nation on the state level.

The suggestion comes as Patrick prepares to unveil a fuller version of his much-awaited transportation plan on Friday. While he would not release details today, Patrick said at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce appearance that any gas tax increase would be coupled with a freeze on toll rates.

Environmentalists applauded the registration proposal, saying it would encourage people to buy smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, which are increasingly seen as key to curbing global warming. Similar proposals have been proposed in Massachusetts since at least 2001, but without the prominent backing of a sitting governor.

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“Hello, Abu Dhabi? Yeah, this is Taste. I’m outta here.” Well, you can’t really blame Taste now can you? There’s only so much abuse a sense can take, and the motorists of Abu Dhabi – the same gulf emirate that ordered up the gold-plated Rolls-Royce – have taken things one step too far. Several, actually.

Your eyes do not deceive you, and this is not available for rent to drive your kids to their homecoming. This custom HUMMER H2 convertible was spotted at the Emirates Palace Hotel, a location whose overdeveloped sense of opulence is rivaled only by the horrid monstrosity parked in front.

A topless HUMMER? Okay, the original H1 was available without a roof, but not with a seven-seat, red leather interior, a matching tribal pattern paint job, blistered wheel arches housing chrome wheels and what appears to be a hood scoop packed with a row of driving lights. You know, just in case someone could have missed this tooling around the streets of Abu Dhabi at night.

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