Hummer started life as a military truck that civilians wanted badly enough for AM General to sell it in 1992. GM took over the name, shut it down in 2010 and brought it back as an electric GMC.
- Country
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United States - Active
- 1992 to 2010
- Website
- Official website ↗
A military truck that went shopping
Hummer was never meant to be a car brand. It began as a soldier’s truck. AM General built the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle for the US military, an awkward name that soldiers shortened to Humvee. After the truck saw combat in Panama in 1989 and in the Gulf War, the public wanted one too.
In 1992 AM General gave them one. It started selling a civilian version of the Humvee, and called it the Hummer. Arnold Schwarzenegger is part of the legend: according to History Hit, he spotted a military convoy while filming Kindergarten Cop and urged AM General to sell the vehicle to the public. The early trucks were aimed squarely at off-road enthusiasts and, according to SlashGear, initially used a 6.2 litre turbodiesel.
General Motors takes the keys
In December 1999 General Motors reached an agreement with AM General that gave GM sole worldwide rights to the HUMMER name. The original truck became the H1, and GM quickly widened the family. The H2 was assembled for GM by AM General in Mishawaka, Indiana, and a smaller H3 followed.
The good times did not last. GM put Hummer up for sale and agreed a deal with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery of China. On 24 February 2010 GM announced that Tengzhong was unable to complete the purchase. GM said it would wind the brand down in an orderly and responsible manner, while continuing to honour warranties and supply parts and service. Production at GM’s Shreveport, Louisiana plant had already stopped in January, and GM said it would focus on four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.
That turned out to be a pause, not an ending. Hummer came back in 2020, but not as a brand of its own. It is now a GMC model line.
Six letters and a row of slots
The Hummer logo was about as plain as the truck was square: the name HUMMER in capital letters. Neither AM General nor GM published an official story behind the lettering, so we won’t invent one. The name itself simply grew out of Humvee.
The real face of the brand was the grille. According to Autoblog, every Hummer before the electric era wore a grille with seven vertical slots, a layout also found on many Jeep models. That likeness caused friction: Autoblog recalls a 2001 lawsuit from DaimlerChrysler, then Jeep’s owner, over the H2’s grille, which GM rejected.
Under GM the model names leaned on the letter H, from H1 to H3. The electric revival kept that idea. According to Auto123, GM filed a trademark in 2020 for a logo combining an H with the letters EV, much like the old H plus number badges.
On the GMC HUMMER EV, the HUMMER lettering moved into the front end itself, set in a thin horizontal light bar. How many slots it echoes depends on how you count. Autoblog counted six sections, one per letter, divided by seven pieces of trim, while Auto&Design described seven slits. Either way, the link to the old grille is hard to miss.
From the parade ground to the power socket
Hummer’s lineup is short, but almost every entry changed the brand’s direction.
Landmark Hummers, decade by decade
- 1992: Hummer (later H1). AM General’s civilian version of the military Humvee, the vehicle that started the brand.
- 2001: H2 SUT concept. Shown at the New York Auto Show in Times Square, with Arnold Schwarzenegger on hand.
- 2004: H2 SUT. GM added this pickup body style to the H2 line, assembled by AM General in Mishawaka, Indiana.
- 2020: GMC HUMMER EV. Revealed on 20 October 2020, billed by GMC as the world’s first all-electric supertruck.
Hummer lived its whole GM life alongside sister brands such as Saab, which GM also planned to sell in 2009. Today the name sits under GMC. For the bigger picture of how badges like this are made, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
Who made the Hummer?
AM General, maker of the military Humvee, launched the civilian Hummer in 1992. In December 1999 General Motors gained sole worldwide rights to the HUMMER name.
Why did Hummer stop making cars?
GM tried to sell the brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong. When that deal collapsed in February 2010, GM announced it would wind Hummer down.
Is Hummer still a brand?
Not on its own. Since 2020 HUMMER has been a GMC model line, starting with the electric GMC HUMMER EV revealed in October 2020.
What does the Hummer logo mean?
The logo is the HUMMER name in capital letters, a name that grew out of Humvee. Neither AM General nor GM published a deeper meaning. The seven-slot grille of the earlier trucks was just as recognisable as the lettering.
Humvee to supertruck: the facts
- Founded
- 1992
- Country
- United States
- Parent company
- General Motors (GMC)
- Current emblem
- The HUMMER name in capital letters; on the GMC HUMMER EV it sits in a light bar across the front
- Known for
- Civilian Humvee, H2 and the electric GMC HUMMER EV
- Status
- Revived
- Website
- Official website ↗
