Hummer's feeling a little misunderstood

0 Comments | USA TODAY, February, 2008 | by Sharon Silke Carty

DETROIT -- General Motors wants people to start thinking about Hummers as big old trucks built to do a job, instead of as gas-guzzling SUVs for the rich.

In the six years since GM rolled out the Hummer H2, the brand has become a lightning rod for environmentalists. Owners complain of finding their vehicles keyed in parking lots, being sneered at by neighbors and feeling as if the tide of green angst is being channeled in their direction.

A survey by J.D. Power and Associates last year said SUV buyers avoid the Hummer brand more than any other, mostly because they believe the trucks are gas guzzlers.

"Hummer has an image of being the big, ponderous vehicles," says Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power. "Really, it gets about the same or as good...