Skip to main contentAt first glance, it was a bummer for the Hummer: The 2003 Hummer H2 ranked dead last in a survey of new owners, with 225 reported problems per 100 vehicles sold, far more than the industry average of 133. Although the media jumped on the bad news for the controversial vehicle, the survey's implications are unclear (see also "Endless Hummer," WW, April 30, 2003).
J.D. Power surveyed 52,000 new car owners, quizzing them on 135 problem symptoms. The most common complaint among H2 owners was excessive fuel consumption (22 complaints per 100 vehicles). The H2, which gets 8-14 miles per gallon, is classified as a light truck and thus not required to report its fuel efficiency to the government nor post it on its dealer sticker. Brian Walters, director of automotive research for J.D. Power, says given rising gas prices, fuel economy is now the second-greatest concern among respondents.
Dan Gorrell, an auto industry analyst with a competing firm, Strategic Vision, says the J.D. Power survey is misleading. He points out that in terms of customer satisfaction, the H2 still ranked in the top third overall in the survey, despite its many reported problems.
Moreover, Gorrell says, although fuel economy is a concern among the Hummer's target market, that doesn't mean it's a pressing one. Folks who can afford the H2's $48,000 base sticker price are less concerned with fuel costs. Sales, he says, is how manufacturers measure a vehicle's success. "If it isn't selling," he says, "they'll probably do something."
Walters, however, thinks there may be a mechanical malfunction with the Hummer: "They really ought to check it to see that it's not using more gas than it should."
WWeek 2015