Hummer Dealers Beef Up Security

Hummer dealers across Southern California were taking measures to protect their inventory -- adding security, alerting employees and, in one case, moving cars out of sight Saturday, one day after vandals attacked four car dealerships.

Radicals who claimed to represent the Earth Liberation Front, a loose association of militant environmentalists, destroyed or defaced dozens of SUVs on Friday. Most of the vehicles were Hummer H2s, apparently chosen for their relatively poor fuel efficiency.

Managers at the Hummer dealership in Huntington Beach hid their inventory, moving their entire stock of Hummers onto a back lot not visible from Beach Boulevard, which the dealership fronts. They also hired an extra security guard to patrol the lot all night.

“We are concerned,” said Josh Sage, a sales manager at Huntington Beach Chrysler Jeep and Hummer. “If people want to look at Hummers, we just walk them back there.”

One of the dealerships attacked Friday, Clippinger Chevrolet in West Covina, sustained an estimated $1 million in damage after two fires were set on its lot, destroying 20 H2s and significantly damaging another 20.

Authorities on Saturday were still searching for two men caught on a surveillance video at a Duarte Ford dealership as they ran across the lot spray-painting vehicles. The men were described as young and thin, one wearing light clothes, the other dark clothes. The FBI, which is leading the investigation, would not comment Saturday.

The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility on its Web site for the attacks, boasting that the organization had struck three times in one night against SUVs. In addition to the dealerships, four privately owned cars were damaged in the San Gabriel Valley. The ELF has earlier claimed responsibility for the 1998 torching of four ski lifts and outbuildings at a resort in Vail, Colo. It claims to have vandalized SUVs in the past, including an arson attack on a dealership in Erie, Pa., in January, that destroyed several vehicles.

Henry Smith, CFO of the Hummer Club, a national organization of Hummer owners, said that he thought the vehicles had been targeted because of their high-profile status on the road. “I think the visibility is just the Hummer image,” he said. “It’s easy to get attention by chastising the owners of those vehicles.”

The 8,600-pound, $50,000 Hummer H2, which gets an estimated 11 to 12 mpg, was introduced last summer. The sheer excess of the H2’s height, weight and mechanical prowess, combined with a price tag that is half that of its predecessor, the H1, quickly attracted an eager fan base.

Smith said that membership in his 8-year-old organization has jumped from 500 to 1,500 in the last year, in part because of the large number of H2s being introduced to the market.

About 80,000 Hummer H2s have been manufactured, according to Smith -- far more than the 10,000 Hummer H1s built so far. The H1 is the civilian version of the Army Humvee fighting vehicle that gained prominence during the first Gulf War.

At Casa Automotive Group on the corner of Beverly Glen and Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, the H2 is a hot seller. About 70 to 100 are bought each month, according to Manny Duron, a salesman.

After the attacks, the dealership took extra steps to protect its inventory of 100 Hummers on site, Duron said. The fire department and police had been there most of Friday, surveying the dealer’s two multi-acre lots with a helicopter. In addition, Casa increased the number of security guards patrolling at night from one to two.

Duron worried that other SUVs sold by Casa might also be targeted.

Saturday, he said, “Usually we are jammed. But today, it’s slow. I think that’s because of the weather, and because people are concerned about the attacks. I would be concerned also.”

Mark Hicks, sales manager of Mark Christopher Hummer in Ontario, said that his dealership also has “beefed up security. We’re also having our own employees paying attention; if they see anything, to be on alert.”

Other dealers said that they were relying on similar strategies.

“We are being extra careful with our merchandise,” said Nick Andrews, a sales manager at Parkway Hummer in Valencia. “We are aware of the situation, but what can you do? You can’t avoid these kinds of things.”

One dealer, Cerritos Pontiac, GMC, Buick and Hummer, was relying on its regular security, said general sale manager Eric Beck, who said he thought the attack on the San Gabriel Valley dealers was “tragic.”

He did, however, ask a reporter to please not hang around. “We’d rather not draw attention to the dealership,” Beck said.

Duron, at the Sherman Oaks dealership, said that ultimately, he did not think that the ELF attacks would do anything to dissuade customers from walking through his doors. The extra security would protect the cars, he said. And the sheer reputation of the H2 would do the rest.

Saturday, he called any slowdown because of the attacks “a temporary thing. I am sure it will be over pretty soon.”