RUMBLING TOWARD VALENCIA HUMMER DEALER COMING.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

VALENCIA - It weighs more than three tons, can carry two tons of cargo through raging rivers and up nearly vertical grades, and soon will be available in Santa Clarita for under $100,000.

A Hummer dealership is expected to open next July at the Valencia Auto Mall behind the Parkway Cadillac dealership on Magic Mountain Parkway.

``It's a unique vehicle and I think it's very exciting for the Santa Clarita Valley,'' said Don Fleming, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Automobile Dealers Association. ``And the more dealers we have out here the more shoppers we'll get.''

In the works for more than a year, the new Hummer franchise will be located in the Parkway GM Supercenter, which recently purchased three acres for the new dealership.

While current Hummer models range in price from the low $80,000s to the upper $90,000s, a smaller, more economical Hummer will debut at the new dealership in July 2002, officials with Parkway Supercenter said.

The new, scaled-back H2 SUT will be priced in the $50,000 range and will be a mere shadow of the original Hummer's military legacy - with a power-operated soft top, a night vision system, and computer and cell phone docking stations, said Norm Shier, the West Coast Hummer factory representative.

``It's an all-new vehicle that's going to appeal to a different category of people,'' Shier said. ``We're building a lot more of them and expect the market for them to be much larger.''

Those who purchase the current Hummer models - the four-door wagon and open top - tend to be upscale consumers seeking the top of the line in off-road vehicles, Shier said.

``Hummers are bought by people who are fairly well-heeled and already have several vehicles in their garage,'' he said. ``They have the income and the intention to own the best.''