Ask Jim Part 4: HUMMER Dealers

In 2002, General Motors awarded the HUMMER franchise to a handful of top-tier dealers that had strong reputations for customer service and sales success. As HUMMER becomes independent and grows its international presence, several have questions about their local dealerships, and HUMMER CEO Jim Taylor answered their questions.

Check back for our final installment tomorrow, when Jim answers questions about HUMMER’s off-road ability and owner events.

Questions & Responses

Name: Brandon Reisch, New Hampshire

Question: Now that the brand has been sold [Editor’s note: The sale is still awaiting regulatory approval], will HUMMER try to expand on the dealer network a little. The closest dealer to me is over two hours. I’m worried that I will have to travel great distance to either buy new vehicles or have warranty work done. I also prefer to have regular maintenance performed by the dealer I purchase from. Thanks!

Jim: We believe the current dealer network is the appropriate size for the number of vehicles we expect to sell on an annual basis. We will continue to evaluate the dealership locations to ensure that we have the optimal coverage to meet customer needs. However, we do not want to put the company or dealers in a position where we would need to close dealers in the future, as many auto companies have been doing over the past year. It could be that we need more service outlets. Please send your specific location to nick.richards (at) gm.com so we can include it in our possible future service outlet plans.

Name: Francisco Mauricio – Portugal

Question: Hi Jim. I´m from Portugal and my passion are Hummers, but in Portugal, is rare to see one. Is Hummer thinking about dealing Hummers in Portugal or something like that? I believe that the Portuguese people would accept Hummer in a very positive way. Thank you

Jim: The international market is extremely important to HUMMER and we expect that sales outside the US will account for nearly 30 percent of our volume. We are currently selling vehicles in 37 countries and will continue to look for new markets where consumers need vehicles with the capabilities of a HUMMER. In the near term, we will be working to regain traction in our existing markets. Once that occurs, we will focus on introducing the brand to new markets. Portugal is one of the markets on our list for possible future introduction, and the addition of a new diesel H3 in 2010 will improve our possible sales in markets, like Portugal where vehicle taxes are based on engine displacement. I will pass your message, and others like it on to our international sales team for follow-up.

Name: Bill Scurry , Bozeman, Montana

Question: Who do I contact about signing on as a HUMMER dealer?

Jim: Great question. Fortunately, we have created a hand-picked dealer network that represents some of the most capable auto dealers today. I’ll be sure to pass your question and interest along to the head of our sales team, Russ Clark who will contact you directly.

Name: Mark Giacobone, Bloomfield Hills,MI

Question: With all of the recent talk of the sale of HUMMER to another company I and several other HUMMER owners have personally noticed that GM is becoming very short sighted (deny, deny, deny) on their warranty issues as pertaining to HUMMER. I have an 20O8 H3 Alpha $44K 5yr/100K warranty with several onroad/offroad related warranty issues that have been denied (premature side curtain airbag deployment included).

What is the HUMMER Brands official take on the lack of GM warranty support for customers and dealers? What ever happened to GM/HUMMERs “good faith” warranty service?

Jim: While I cannot speculate on individual circumstances without more information, I can assure you that our team will work directly with our dealers and GM to ensure that customer service exceeds customer expectations. Thank you for the question and rest assured that I will provide this feedback to our customer relations team to remedy the situation.