So long, Hummer? Say it isn't so

I know some of you are tired of reading about rising gas prices on this blog, but I'm not tired of writing about the subject. News items:

From the L.A. Times: "The average cost of gasoline in California, climbing 37% in four months, reached a record $4.24 a gallon Monday and helped drive the national average to the brink of $4, the Energy Department said. ... Pump prices in the state were the country's most expensive, according to the department's weekly survey."

In related news, from the Associated Press this morning: "General Motors is closing four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles. ... CEO Rick Wagoner also said the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued."

Analysis: No other vehicle comes close to the Hummer as a symbol of the days of cheap oil and cheap credit of the late '90s and early 2000s. If you took all 28,000 comments posted on this blog, and searched them for rants about the toys that Americans bought with equity extracted from their homes, no toy would be mentioned more often than the Hummer.

What do gas prices have to do with L.A. Land? If they keep rising, they will change the way we move across L.A. Land, and where we live.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo: Reuters file photo shows Arnold Schwarzenegger giving a thumbs-up at the world premiere of a 2001 model Hummer.

Comments

[Ron Ross]

Oh my God! They are gonna close the Hummer plant in Indiana. Now I won't be able to say to my girlfriend when a Hummer drives by, "there goes a pig".

[Brad Neal]

Yeah, it's about time. The American auto manufacturers deserve to go bankrupt for their lack of vision and leadership.

[Douglas Paulino]

People don't care about gas prices! If they did, they would stop going 85 mph on the freeway. Make the observation yourself and drive ( not rush hour) from LA to San Diego. The average speed of most folks on the freeway is 75 mph. About 30% are going 80+. Since this is LA, perhaps the attitude is, " I'm rich, I can afford it". Yea right, you heavy in debt turkey!

[150 multiple choice questions]

What's really amazing is how fast things change and how much more they change than people thought possible... anyone predict the Hummer going away two years ago?

[Ragnar]

Even with high gas prices, it will probably only be the uber-wealthy who will drive Hummers. Just like crazy exotic sports cars, the Hummer will always attract a certain crowd with a certain amount of cash. Perhaps GM needs to develop a hybrid hummer to attract new buyers? :)

Peter, any numbers on how many Hummers (H1, H2, H3) GM has sold in the past few years and how those numbers have been trending? Or how many were financed using HELOCs?

[Randy Adams]

I'm not tired of you posting about gas prices, Peter. I agree that fuel costs are quite relevant to the real estate market, both locally and across the country. People have always paid a premium to live near their jobs and this will now intensify. And the probable demise of Hummer? Those vehicles never said one single good thing about their owners.

[TakeFive]

“…the iconic Hummer brand may be discontinued."

Hopefully we’ll also see the end of the Hummer Kitchen – those monstrosities outfitted with a massive stainless steel sub-zero freezer and six burner commercial oven.

What’s ironic is that when Schwarzenegger rose to prominence, one of his outsider, tough-guy quirks that charmed the public was that he drove a Hummer. A real one – not one of those punk H2’s. Now he presides over a state on the brink of fiscal implosion from irresponsible spending.

In the future when we see video from this decade, which will look sillier: the soccer mom in the Hummer, or the guys that walk around with their pants below their butt cheeks?

[PREFAB SPROUT]

I haven't been in LA in a few years-does anyone still drive Hummers there? I thought they went out of style about the same time as the Viper room did (circa 2004)....

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

from a Hummer to a Passat (taking the bling out of
bling bling).
Soon, the new status symbol will be a Schwinn with
balloon tires.
from corn to Ethenol to $5 bread.
Get in line....as in the bread line.
This global warming cult is leaving me cold.

[yours truly, Johnny Dollar]

"What does this have to do with LALand?"
This time next year, a lot of us will be living
in our cars. (think LALand...yacht: sleeps 3).

[ottnott]

"Analysis: No other vehicle comes close to the Hummer as a symbol of the days of cheap oil and cheap credit of the late '90s and early 2000s."

The Hummer also is a symbol of ridiculous Federal policies like the extra-generous tax writeoff for business purchases of vehicles - but only for vehicles weighing at least 6000 pounds.

That's on top of the longstanding break on CAFE standards for "trucks", a category which includes such well-known...ahem..."cargo haulers" as the PT Cruiser.

[Joseph C]

Hey, that looks to be the gas station, across the street from PCC! My wife and I used to go there often when we lived in Pasadena.

We moved to Boulder a year ago because of a job relocation, and we miss L.A. dearly. We gotta admit that traffic and air quality are much better in Boulder; but we miss the food and activies from back home...

[eternal summer]

personally, i love the posts on the rising gas prices. i think they fit nicely with the current housing discussions.
as a potential buyer, the gas prices are making me think twice about where we will choose to live, when we will buy, and how much we are willing to pay. where we buy must have ample activities, restaurants, and schools in walking distance (which we currently have). i would like to leave my car parked all weekend-heck, all summer long!

[TrojanDLA]

That's right! The world WOULD BE a better place if everybody who drove a Hummer drove a Porsche Boxster instead: at 21-27mpg, how much fun is that?

[JEREMY]

Hummer's are also THE symbol of apathy and waste in American culture. I say "good riddance"!

[aldo818]

This is very relavent considering the amount of miles that people drive to work in L.A.
I was just thinking about how I am spending $300 a month on just gas and it has affected what my lifestyle can afford.
I'm sure others drive much further than me and must be spending a lot more as well.
What does this mean? I think that the price of homes have to come down even more than what is anticipated.

The way I see it, incomes have not gone up. So, mortgage payments have to come down enough for people to afford the drive to work again. Public transportation only does so much for the L.A. region so it is not an option for many.

How much dos everyone here spend on gas a month?

[dontmatta]

you're right, I am getting sick of the posts about rising gas prices :P

[vipness]

My SUV driving buddy thinks MPG = minutes per gallon, so if he goes faster he'll get farther... I think the sales guy told him that. BTW his IQ is about 95.

vipness

[Inland Empire]

Ugly? Gas hog? Hard to park in small spaces? Did I mention ugly? Overpriced? Over rated?
Don't worry - people who drive these will find some other obnoxious thing to take its place.

[m]

gas prices are essential to the real estate picture. i live downtown and work downtown and i pay $0.50 a day to take public transit to and from my place (25 cents each way). while my employer provides free parking i just cant justify the fuel costs to drive (and i have a healthly income). say what you want about downtown LA living, but the proof is in the bank.

[anony]

I work for one LA County department. We should be having optional work-at-home program but for years the management would not consider it because of "security" issue.

Come on! If banks can do on-line banking where money and social security number are involved, why can we put our database on-line (most are public records anyway)?

When average rank and file in my department get paid less than $60,000 gross a year, they can't afford to keep up with the commuting (many live out there for affordable housing).

Something has to done to strive a win-win-win situation where rank and file can save money and time, the department can save expense items paid on NNN office leases and mileage money, and the environment gets cleaner from less cars driven.

[Giacomo]

Another vote for "sick of the posts" on gas prices.

But if you insist--
This isn't the apocalypse, it's a transition. Yes, for the middle-class, gas-guzzlers will be going out of favor -- gradually. Take out your calculators: it still probably makes financial sense to keep your poor-MPG SUV and pay the increased fuel cost rather than take a big hit trading for a Prius or the like. Better to drive the ol' Escalade into the ground, and make a more considered purchase next time.

Douglas is correct, if the new prices REALLY hurt, I wouldn't have to drive in the slow lane to be able to stay under the speed limit. Looks to me like most commuters are opting to cut back on Starbucks, not Shell.

The gas price /real estate link is still really weak, IMO. Seems like it's popular among those with strong social-political agendas (i.e., corporation-bashing, anti-development, Green, urban Elites), and I think there's some wishful-thinking going on. It's legit to hold those opinions, but intellectual honesty requires a different mode of thinking.

[moots]

Please keep posting gas prices, as they are directly relevant to the housing market. Folks do a lot of driving here. Gas prices are relevant to how much you pay for a house located in an area that requires a lot of driving, especially to work. As I think about it, areas like the IE and Lancaster could become ghost towns if gas gets expensive enough. There simply isn't enough industry to support those areas, and it will be too expensive to commute to LA or OC from there. And that indicates downtown LA could thrive as more people move closer to their jobs. Keep up the good work, Peter.

[Lisa]

I actually get angry when I see someone driving a Hummer and if I could, I would tell the driver that they're an a**hole. I couldn't be friends with someone who owned a Hummer, because I would think that they were a) selfish and polluting our environment and b) a fool. I don't want to be friends with a fool.

[Ace]

There was an article in Wired (I think) comparing the Hummer to a Prius as far as ruining the earth. The strange thing is that the Prius uses so much more energy to manufacture because of it's battery.

The article said that if you replace a regular Toyota with a Prius, you would have to drive the Prius 100k miles to make up for the energy used to manufacture the Prius.

This article does not say that they will stop producing Hummers... only that GM is trying to sell the brand. Hummers are lame but I never understand why people care so much about how much gas they consume. Many people drive conversion vans, 1970's Caddys, and giant RVs. I think a Ferrari gets 8 miles per gallon.