GM is swerving away from trucks and SUVs, its long-time profit mainstays, and toward small cars; it also may sell its Hummer division. High energy prices have altered the U.S auto market, and chairman Rick Wagoner characterizes the changes as “long-term and permanent.”

Photo Gallery: GM’s Hard Turn – Latest News, Features, and Reviews – Automobile Magazine

With gasoline surging toward $4 per gallon and massive SUVs falling massively out of favor, it would seem that GM’s Hummer division would be entering the autumn of its years. But according to J. D. Power and Associates, the brand captures and retains owners better than most, so it’s worth nurturing. The trick is making hugeness less of a calling card – a process that started with the demise of the H1 – but preserving extreme off-road ability. As anyone who has done any serious off-roading can attest, size is your enemy on the trail, so a smaller but still off-road-ready Hummer, perhaps like the HX concept (below), makes perfect sense. The HX gives us a good look at the upcoming H4, and if that new entry has all the off-road gear of the show car, it’ll be a strong addition to the lineup. The HX sports full-time four-wheel drive (naturally) with locking front and rear differentials, 35-inch tires, a 3.6-liter direct-injected V-6, and an electronically disconnectable front antiroll bar – not to mention that unmistakable blocky styling.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Hummer H4 – Latest News, Features, and Reviews – Automobile Magazine

GAME OVER.
After almost half a century of fighting battles, America’s Big Three – the Moderately Large Three, if you prefer – have at long last lost the war. Yes, it’s official. From this day forward, fuel economy matters. From now on, judicious use of fossil fuels trumps road-hugging weight. Too bad Detroit carmakers weren’t prepared. They only had fifty years to get ready.

Photo Gallery: The Big Three American Auto Companies – GM, Ford, Chevrolet – Automobile Magazine

Hummer has now given us a look at the HX concept ahead of its unveiling at January’s 2008 North American International Auto Show. The HX is a look at the brand’s next step, a two-door, four-passenger open-air SUV smaller than the H3.

Photo Gallery: 2008 Hummer HX Concept – Latest News, Reviews, and Auto Show Coverage – Automobile Magazine

You’ll never hear auto writers complain that a Lotus Elise can’t ford a two-foot-deep creek or climb a 60-percent grade, so why persist in deriding the lackluster on-pavement performance of off-road-focused SUVs and trucks? Probably because, image aside, most of these rough riders never meet anything more challenging than a heavy rainstorm or a gravel driveway. That includes General Motors’ megamacho Hummers. Nonetheless, just as Lotus always conducts its press launches at racetracks, Hummer chose the rocky trails of Moab, Utah, for the first drive of its new four-door pickup, the H3T.

Photo Gallery: 2009 Hummer H3T – Latest News, Features, and Reviews – Automobile Magazine