New markets open for Hummer exports

ED RICHARDSON GENERAL MOTORS South Africa (GMSA) is shaking up the luxury sports utility vehicle market in South Africa with the introduction of the Hummer H3 starting at R374 000. This is well below the R400 000 plus of most other vehicles in that sector of the market. The pricing was announced at the launch of the righthand- drive Hummer H3 at General Motors in Port Elizabeth recently, where the vehicle is being assembled for local and international markets. GMSA has been exporting left-hand drive Hummer H3 vehicles from Port Elizabeth to The Middle East, Europe and Israel since November 2006. Markets for the right hand drive model include the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Africa. Exports will start this month (May) says the company’s planning director Ian Nicholls. “In addition to this there are a number of markets to which we are currently not exporting that have recently shown an interest in the vehicle. These stretch from Asia to South America,” he says. Nicholls said it was too soon to speculate on whether GM South Africa would be awarded additional export contracts. “We are now involved in the early stages of global vehicle development programmes which have created opportunities for South Africa to be part of the global assembly footprint. We will therefore, on an ongoing basis, be assessing opportunities to further grow our business through the acquisition of vehicle export programmes.”