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GM wants consumers to start looking at Hummers as trucks and SUVs that are built to do a job, instead of gas-guzzling SUVs made for the rich and hated by environmentalists everywhere. Ever since GM rolled out the Hummer H2, owners have complained of getting mean looks from their peers and finding their giant vehicles keyed in parking lots.

A survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates last year said SUV buyers are avoiding the Hummer brand more and more mostly because they believe they are gas-guzzling vehicles.

“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 gas mileage as several others. … The name Hummer connotes a much more gas-guzzling vehicle than really is on the road today.”

Hoping to get rid of some criticism, Hummer stopped production of its five-ton H1 vehicle and started offering the H2 and H3 making them lighter and a little more fuel-efficient. The EPA rates the Hummer H3 at 14mpg, comparable to the Chevrolet Suburban which gets 16mpg and is powered by the same 5.3 liter engine. Future Hummer commercials will now pitch a more ‘Built Ford Tough’ style campaign where GM will try to persuade buyers that a Hummer to can be a friendly vehicle.

Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales, service and marketing for GM says he’d love for consumers to begin thinking of the Hummer vehicles as tools to get a job done. “No one criticizes a bulldozer for its gas mileage. That’s because it’s built to do a job.”

Hummer also showed the HX concept at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. The HX Concept is an open-air, two-door off-road vehicle along with a convertible body via a pair of removable panels. Power comes from an E85 FlexFuel 3.6L SIDI V6 that produces 204 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque.

Just out of curiosity - do you guys think of Hummer as the first truck when you think of getting a tough job done or the first when you want to show off some bling-bling?