Humming into town

The HUMMER H3 represents the next chapter in the growing HUMMER legacy. General Motors (GM) has established a plant in Port Elizabeth to manufacture this new kid on the block – it is the sole manufacturer of the right-hand drive HUMMER H3. This follows an investment of over R650 million in facilities for H3 production, and the HUMMER project has created 500 new jobs in the Port Elizabeth area.

With its iconic shape and tremendous offroad capabilities, the H3 also boasts premium interior design, a 3.7 litre engine, the choice of a manual or automatic transmission, and a full-time four-wheel drive system. GM announced the sizeable investment in its South African operations 18 months ago.

Robert Socia, president and managing director of GM South Africa, describes the project as "one of the most important milestones in the history of GM in South Africa". He says, "It's significant that GM chose to place the H3 contract with South Africa, as it says a lot about the confidence GM has in our ability to deliver."

The brand has grown from selling roughly 1 000 vehicles per year in 2000 to more than 60 000 in 2005. It's worldwide sales nearly doubled in 2005, paced by the launch of the mid-size H3. While much of this growth was in the United States, HUMMER also saw significant expansion in other countries around the globe.

Likes:
The right-hand drive version of the H3, manufactured in South Africa, is exported to markets in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The H3 is the first HUMMER to offer a choice of either manual or automatic transmission – auto transmission has been the standard until now. The HUMMER H3's interior is stylish and modern with a blend of premium cues and world class craftsmanship.

Dislikes:
Even though the HUMMER H3 has been scaled down and is approximately 90 percent of the size of it's larger H2 sibling, it's still very, very big.

The HUMMER H3 price starts at R374000.