Many buyers of this low-end Hummer, called the H2, sound like evangelists and speak of other modern sport utilities as the vehicle of soccer moms -- tame family haulers little different from zoo-bound wildlife too long in captivity.
And that same truck platform supports a herd of big Chevy, GMC and Cadillac S.U.V.'s, as well as the smaller, gentler-driving Hummer, called the H2, and the Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT -- essentially sport utilities with pickup beds.
A newly released version of the Hummer, called the H2, intended for a wide audience, gets about 13 miles a gallon and is representative of the bulking up of the American automobile fleet.
The "earth pull-away shot," as Megan Stooke, the marketing manager at Hummer, calls it, has appeared in every one of its TV spots since 2001.
Clearly this involves ascribing meaning, motive and morals to Hummer critics, who are portrayed in the comments that Luedicke collected as narrow-minded hypocrites — particularly those who drive a Prius, or as some Hummer fans call it, a Pious.
John Bruno Jr., sales manager at Hummer of Manhattan, called it "an expression of a personality".
Last week, the company showed a new prototype called the Hummer H2H, a Hummer powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that will be on loan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, the first civilian to buy a Humvee, long before the retail Hummer brand was created.
Other introductions were for offshoots of existing products: a pickup version of the Hummer H3, to be called — here's a leap of creativity — the Hummer H3T; and the Chevrolet Traverse crossover, a bowtie-badged sibling of the Buick Enclave and Saturn Outlook.
The new junior member of the Hummer family, to be called H3, is seen as critical to the survival of a brand that has been treading water this year, as the novelty of the two-year-old Hummer H2 has faded.
Main courses demonstrated versatility, with Mr. Thieltge ranging far with grilled lobster (hummer, as it's called in German), served in a light, foaming curry sauce that seemed to celebrate the sweet meat, with couscous flavored with anise and currants.
In 1992, AM General stepped up production of a civilian version, called the Hummer, which became so popular that in 1999 General Motors acquired the marketing rights to the name and signed a manufacturing agreement with AM General to build a smaller version, the H2.
