Even though both the Saturn and Hummer brands are being phased out, General Motors has reportedly revived production of both the Outlook crossover and H3 SUV to meet consumer demands.

Last month, GM assembled 1,037 Outlooks at its Lansing, Michigan facility, which is where the crossover’s Lamda platform stablemates (Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia) are built. A spokesperson for GM states that production was reinstated to utilize the rest of the Saturn-specific material at the facility, and that the automaker will continue to assemble the Outlook for a few more weeks.

Hummer, on the other hand, will produce 849 H3 and H3Ts to fulfill an order placed by a fleet company. GM’s Shreveport, Louisiana plant will commence production of these vehicles on April 12, and the automaker says that this order will be completed no later than May 13. After that, the Shreveport plant will continue to only produce the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, though the fate of those vehicles is rather shaky, as well.

General Motors will stop the H3 and H3T lines at its Shrevenport assembly plant until after it completes a sale of the off road brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. GM says that the H3 and H3T accounted for less than 25 percent of the Shreveport plant’s overall production. It is unclear how many workers will be affected by the idle time. More than 2,100 Hummer H3s remain in dealer inventory as of January 1, about a seven month supply given the sluggish current sales rate of the H3 and H3T. Tengzhong’s offer was only for the current designs and marketing rights, not assembly plants, although the company indicated that it would contract with GM to build Hummers for at least the foreseeable future.

What could be the reason for these jaw-dropping sales results? The greenies or the thirsty H3 engine?

Texas represents an important market to HUMMER as the brand prepares to launch its newest product.Texas also represents a significant percentage of HUMMER’s national sales. In 2007, HUMMER sales in Texas represented 11.6% of HUMMER national sales, up 24.9% from 2006.

The H3T features a full crew cab and a separate 1.5 meters bed and it will not lose the attributes of a HUMMER,including exceptional off-road capability and a premium interior.

The current HUMMER customer adds three-to-four accessories to their vehicle at time of purchase, and GM research shows that the average truck buyer will add accessories up to a year after they purchase the vehicle. In 2007, H2 customers purchased an average of $1,800 worth of accessories per vehicle, while H3 customers spent an average of $600 per truck.

At start of production,there will be offered approximately 75 Genuine Accessories for the H3T,like brush guards, roof rack crossbars, off-road lamps, assist steps and an extensive cargo management system of bed-mounted storage boxes that mount to the trucks standard aluminum bed rail system.

HUMMER will introduce a new line of HUMMER Officially Licensed Accessories for the H3T.That means that there will be other 50 functional accessories,developed by some of the industry’s most respected automotive aftermarket suppliers, including SnugTop, Defenderworx, Truck Vault, MileMarker, Bushwacker, Boomerang and DiamondBack Truck Covers.

The Land Rover Freelander is in for some serious competition as Hummer presents its HX concept, a smaller, lighter SUV.

This new model, which will probably be named the H4, has a revolutionary design that allows the owner to take off part of the car’s roof, and even the rear C pillars, thus giving the car three unique looks.

Unveiled for the first time at the Detroit Motor Show, HX Concept is smaller than its predecessors, at the same time borrowing many of the design elements that make Hummer look so aggressive. One thing that stands out at the HX Concept is the huge wheelarches that allow a clear view of the car’s suspension system; although some may say they’re really enormous, I for one like this touch very much. The interior of the car has a metallic theme, with metal insertions everywhere in the front panel, even in the headrests of all the neoprene seats.

The HX Concept is powered by a 3.6 litre Flex Fuel V6 engine, that runs on E65 bioethanol, making this SUV ecofriendly. That doesn’t mean however, that it packs less of a punch, the car has full 4 WD, and locking rear deferentials, that make it a reliable off-road vehicle. If everything goes according to plan, the new Hummer will be going into production in one year.