Did the General really cave to a bunch of hybrid-huggers? I'm not so sure . . . A search of the North American sales database of AutoNews turned up the following sales numbers for the H2 during its lifespan, which I've rounded to the nearest thousand: 2008: 4,000 (projection based on February YTD sales) See a trend here? With sales sliding so badly downward, and with more stringent CAFE standards set to take effect in 2010, I suspect that the vengeful wrath of Prius owners didn't play a huge part in GM's decision to discontinue the H2. To be sure, the vehicle garnered a lot of negative press, much of it undeserved. On the other hand, GM didn't help the Hummer's reputation in the public eye by consciously cultivating a bad-boy image for it in its initial advertising campaigns (remember the "Happy Jack" soap box derby?). And the U.S. tax code, which let you deduct close to 50% of the purchase price of the vehicle in the first year of ownership if you could prove you used it for "work" purposes, was certainly generous to H2 buyers. In the end, I think GM simply did the math, saw a Loss Leader in the making, and decided that the money they were spending to make and market a vehicle that few people wanted anymore would be better spent elsewhere---like R&D'ing a new H4, perhaps? Just a thought.
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