HUMMER is King on Russia’s Dangerous, Rough Roads

As car sales in Russia plummet 50%, the HUMMER brand is doing something remarkable: Doubling their sales numbers when every other automaker is down double digits.

NPR had a story this morning about the trend and what may be behind it.

They interviewed one of the founders of the Russian HUMMER Club, and he said that success has much to do with the fact that “Americans, as well as Russians, like freedom. This car gives you a feeling of freedom because you can go deeper into the forest…the places where normal, or any other car would stop.”

He also explained that the HUMMER is very useful on city roads in Russia, which have a reputation to being extremely rough. Couple that with dangerous Russian driving habits, and HUMMER’s safety features become even more desirable.

HUMMERs have been built in Kaliningrad, Russia for several years, and NPR is reporting that sales in Russia have doubled every year to the current 900 per year – twice as many HUMMER sales as the rest of Europe combined.

Touting over 800 members, the Russian HUMMER Club has created a strong fan base in the country. When responding to questions from HUMMERGuy.net readers, HUMMER CEO Jim Taylor stressed that Russia is “an extremely important market for us and will continue to be in the future.”

Source: NPR