AM General to produce wheelchair-accessible transit vehicle
While General Motors looks over a stack of offers for its HUMMER brand, the fate of AM General hangs in the balance. The military contractor developed and built the original Humvee until the rights to the HUMMER name were bought by GM, who then contracted AM General to continue building the H1 (until it was discontinued) and then the Chevy Tahoe-based H2. (The Chevy Colorado-based H3, meanwhile, is built entirely by GM at its Shreveport, Louisiana plant.) With the future of its General Motors contracts uncertain, AM General has announced a new deal of another kind.
Starting in 2010, the Indiana-based company will begin producing a new series of wheelchair-accessible transit vehicles for the Vehicle Production Group, LLC. Although, as VPG points out, the usual development gestation period for such vehicles is two to three years, VPG and AM General intend to get the ramp-equipped para-transit vehicle to market in less than 24 months. Over 3,500 units have already been ordered, leading VPG to project that annual production will well exceed that number, while AM General intends to use the same workforce it currently employs for the new project. As for what the para-transit vehicle will look like, no one knows, but there was word of AM General developing a new version of the Standard Taxi (see above) with a low ride height and large doors that appears as if it could easily accommodate wheel chairs.
[Source: Detroit News]
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Epyx 9:39AM (8/14/2008)
Where are they now?
Zack "The Lego Manic" now designs Taxi Cabs for AM General.
Reply
Chris 9:39AM (8/14/2008)
These guys should not be allowed to build anything that the general public will see.
It's called aerodynamics, guys. Look it up.
Reply
Epyx 9:41AM (8/14/2008)
"As for what the para-transit vehicle will look like, no one knows"
And isnt this the point.
Reply
John B 9:44AM (8/14/2008)
Don't tell me, let me guess, AM General fired all of their designers as part of some great cost-cutting exercise some time ago?.......
This has to be the worst piece of industrial design I have ever had the misfortune to lay my poor aching eyes upon. They could have given the design brief to any teenager with half an ounce of creative energy and they would ahve come up with something a thousand times better than this monstrosity.
Surely this isnt a serious proposal?
JB, London
Reply
Avinash machado 9:50AM (8/14/2008)
Maybe they could buy back the Hummer name from GM along with the SUV line and sell Hummer SUV's as a niche vehicle.
Reply
homunculus 10:01AM (8/14/2008)
some people just have faces begging to be punched
this is the automotive equivalent.
Reply
Hank 10:09AM (8/14/2008)
Personally, I find it insulting to those in need of wheelchair accessible cabs that one would think they should ride in such a monstrosity.
Reply
MemphisNET 10:12AM (8/14/2008)
If it had a slab-face like a city bus, it wouldn't be as bad. I know they're trying to save money and make it easy to build, but this is a bit rediculous.
BUT if it is functional, easy in and out, and fuel efficient in the city, (I doubt this vehicle would routinely see extended hwy driving anyway, thus the aerodynamics are mostly a non-issue) then it will be a hit for Taxi services.
Reply
Toddo 5:51PM (8/14/2008)
Is this the 2009 Pontiac Aztec?
Reply
Yar 10:19AM (8/14/2008)
"Chevy Tahoe-based H2"
No offense, but the H2 has more in common with a 3/4 Ton Silverado than it does a Tahoe. In fact, mechanically, I can't think of a single thing the H2 and Tahoe share.
Reply
MGBYG 10:28AM (8/14/2008)
A VW Thing crashes into a Rubbermaid factory...
Here is where people who want a real Mobility product should go:
http://www.vantagemobility.com/
Reply
TJ 10:29AM (8/14/2008)
I am continually amazed/disappointed by both the blog authors and the commenters here.
Authors: "AMG will be building a vehicle that no one know what it will look like... here, lets show an unrelated vehicle from the company looking to contract the work"
Commenters: "That looks horrid!"
How can reading comprehension elude so many.
Reply
jamie 11:03AM (8/14/2008)
Look ma, it's a HUMBLER!
Reply
Dave King 11:41AM (8/14/2008)
Is this story a late April fool's joke? That bus is uglier than the Russian state vehicle Putin drove all those years. If this is the best their design department can do, I hope the bus is a colossal failure and AM General is put out of its misery!
Reply
jjp001 1:29PM (8/14/2008)
AM General should consider purchasing technology from someone else, such as London Taxis International (http://www.lti.co.uk/). Their products actually look more decent than their hideous prototype of a taxi. What's more, LTI actually builds the taximeter into the headliner, and not placed as an afterthought on the dashboard. They're also comfortable and spacious, too.
Reply
N 2:03PM (8/14/2008)
....not to burst the bubble, but the London taxi's are diesel powered and 'barely' compliant with Euro IV emmissions legislation - so they would never meet the US Tier 2 Bin 5 regulations. They are woefully inadequate in terms of safety for pedestrians and passengers and to top it all off they cost something in the order of $70 000.
Given that US taxi drivers tend to buy ex-cop cars for 1/10 of the price of a new London cab, I think this is a bit of a non-starter.
Beat-it-nerd 2:39PM (8/14/2008)
That is a sharp piece!
Reply
tbone 2:32PM (8/22/2008)
AM general did not design the h2 or the h3. We did not design the taxi either. As for the tahoe. they have the same frame rails and in most case run on the same assembly line as the tahoe and suburban. Am general is hiring.
Reply